The Jetsons Saw it all Coming!
I remember growing up watching a show called “The Jetsons.” The Jetsons lived in the Sky Pad apartments in Orbit City, Outer Space, and possessed futuristic amenities including a robot maid named Rosie. Even as a little girl, watching it had me dream of the day I wouldn’t have to clean my room and a Rosie would do it for me. George Jetson had an hour a day – two-day work week, and yet came home exhausted. The show would sometimes show how the labor-reducing devices would break down and then everyone complained of how difficult life was.[1] (Nothing has changed here!) Matt Novak writes, “The Jetsons” show stands as the single most important piece of 20th-century futurism.”[2]
I’m sure the creators of The Jetsons had no idea how quickly so much of their futuristic thinking would become a reality in the 21st century. In just 63 years, we are now experiencing artificial intelligence in ways that are incredibly sophisticated and breathtaking. AI can think quickly on the spot and come up with well-crafted letters, responses, information, next steps, and human-like interaction. There are SMART vacuum cleaners, SMART phones, SMART toys, SMART cars… However, even with all these advancements, there are areas where it falls miserably short. Eva Poole, in her book, Robot Souls: Programming in Humanity” takes a strategic look into what lacking and asks the reader to look deeper within themselves to ask why.
Poole’s thoughts regarding AI, its implications, and how we view ourselves in our hopes of replicating ourselves cause the reader to pause and question how intricately a human is created. Poole mentions “self-awareness is still different from consciousness, and consciousness in turn is distinct from soul.”[3] But what is a soul? As Poole states, “the soul is not a ‘knowable item.’[4] Poole provides a bit of a historical sketch of what others have thought regarding the soul. “For Plato…the soul was the essential life or breath of a being. Because it was the soul that seemed to provide life, it must somehow be life, and must be immortal.”[5] Aristotle differed in that he saw all living things as having a soul including plants and animals.[6] In bringing in St. Augustine and Aquinas, Poole further shows how the soul has fascinated human thought throughout the centuries and at times served to enforce certain ways of living.[7]
This subject has always fascinated me personally as well. Last year I taught a seminar on emotional health and in the process took a deeper look at Mark 12:30, “And you shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (NASB)
The heart, soul, mind, and strength seem to denote our full human embodiment, and yet each is so complex. They all work together and yet are deemed separate. Just the other week, I was asked what was meant by “soul.” I mentioned it was our eternal spirit that differentiates us from any other living creature connecting us with God himself. Even as I was describing it though, I thought, I need to investigate this definition more.
This mystery is what Poole seems to target as the missing link in AI. She cleverly uses the metaphor of “junk code” which is the “redundant code that could be deleted or rewritten in shorter syntax without affecting the execution of the program.”[8] Have we dismissed some very crucial areas as junk code in programming AI? Her list includes emotions, mistakes, storytelling, a sixth sense (intuition), uncertainty, free will, and meaning. She then prefaces that all these must function in a sustainable community.[9]
Until these are acquired, Poole surmises that AI won’t hit the mark. Caterina Moruzzi in her white paper “Artificial Creativity and General Intelligence” discusses the growing disapproval of the state-of-the-art AI. She mentions that the disapproval is not in its ‘narrow’ intelligence, but rather that it promises something it can’t live up to. It does not have the capacity of feeling and experiencing like a human” …but then she also adds the word “yet.”[10]
However, will “yet” even be an option? The Matthew Henry Commentary describes the soul as “a spirit, an intelligent immortal spirit, an influencing active spirit, herein resembling God, the Father of Spirits, and the soul of the world. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. The soul of man, considered in its three noble faculties, understanding, will, and active power, is perhaps the brightest clearest looking glass in nature, wherein to see God.”[11] This is a mystery beyond comprehension. The aspect of the soul being a connection to God Himself, his image in us, might be the very core component that AI cannot replicate, no matter how advanced we become.
[1] “The Jetsons,” in Wikipedia, January 8, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Jetsons&oldid=1194257030#Science_fiction_themes.
[2] Matt Novak, “50 Year Os the Jetsons: Why the Show Still Matters,” Smithsonian Magazine, September 19, 2012, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/50-years-of-the-jetsons-why-the-show-still-matters-43459669/.
[3] Eve Poole, Robot Souls: Programming in Humanity (Bacon Raton, FL: CRC Press, n.d.), 2.
[4] Eve Poole, 71.
[5] Eve Poole, 65.
[6] Eve Poole. 66.
[7] Eva Poole, 67.
[8] Eve Poole. 74.
[9] Eva Poole, 94.
[10] Caterina Moruzzi, “Artificial Creativity and General Intelligence. Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts.,” Journel of Science and Technology of the Arts 12 (December 2020), https://doi.org/12. 10.34632/jsta.2020.9481.Caterina Moruzzi, “Artificial Creativity and General Intelligence. Journal of Science and Technology of the Arts. 12. 10.34632/Jsta.2020.9481.,” 2020.
[11] Mark 12:30 – Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Bible Gateway,” accessed January 16, 2024, https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Gen.1.26-Gen.1.28.
About the Author
Esther Edwards
Esther has served in ministry leadership for over 35 years. She is an ordained minister, an ICF and CCLC certified coach, and licensed coach trainer. Her and her husband have launched their own coaching practice, Enjoy the Journey Leadership Coaching and seek to train ministry leaders in the powerful skill of coaching. Esther loves hiking, reading, and experiencing new coffee shops with friends and family. She enjoys the journey with her husband, Keith, their four daughters, sons-in-law, and their five beautiful grandchildren.12 responses to “The Jetsons Saw it all Coming!”
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Esther, I agree with your conclusion. I don’t think it will ever be possible to code the essence of soul into AI. How can finite beings (humans) take what the infinite God of the universe has creatively crafted into his creation — a creation that is “fearfully and wonderfully made” — and code it into AI? Perhaps there will be a component that mimics what Poole describes as humanity’s junk code, but the finitude of humanity will eventually “catch up.” After all, as you pointed out from Poole — “the soul is not a knowable item.” We can observe some things and make deductions, but would it really be possible to reverse engineer something that is truly not knowable? Nonetheless, that would make for an interesting conversation with an expert coder.
We know the impossiblity, but, you are right, an expert coder would probably love the challenge. Your podcast could become a you tube sensation.
Hi Esther you wrote,
“The aspect of the soul being a connection to God Himself, his image in us, might be the very core component that AI cannot replicate, no matter how advanced we become.”
Of course if you don’t believe in a God or have faith, this connection to God remains an enigma.
The missing element “junk code?” is fascinating way for Poole to add in something “other”. (p.74).
I personally became hung up with the terms ontology (fact), and epistemology (how).
Her table on page 92 Table 5.1 List of Epistemologies – or what can go wrong will go wrong was hilarious.
The crown for me was page 93, the algorithms that identified openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism…leading to the Myers Brigg Test and one wonders the Enneagram? So many people sign up for the AI generated algorithms. And swear it defines them. Sigh is my cynicism bleeding through.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Shalom…
Russell,
I am one of those who loves to take the personality assessments so you make me laugh. We all fall prey to algorithms that we trust are accurate but can anything be totally accurate?
Esther,
I had to laugh because images of Rosie and the Jetsons came to my mind too, especially episodes when their dinner just flew out of the center of their space-dwelling/home. I remember thinking as a child “That will never happen” and “Could that ever happen”. I love how the Lord uses our “junk code” to transform us. I don’t think that humans will ever be able to code soul into AI. We don’t fully understand it ourselves and in some respects, I feel like the soul is God’s workmanship uniquely in each individual therefore its code is God’s and it cannot be replicated.
Cathy,
We went to Disney World in the 1970s and I remember going through Spaceship Earth and being mesmerized by them talking to each other on the phone but it being on a tv screen. I also thought, “That could never happen,” and here we are face-timing daily. The world has changed so much over the last 50-plus years.
I do love your last statement “I feel like the soul is God’s workmanship uniquely in each individual therefore its code is God’s and it cannot be replicated.” I agree. It’s actually a bit comical to think that we think we could replicate a soul when out of all that he created, the seas, the earth, all the creatures, man was his most valued creation, created with such complexity.
I agree with you (and those who have commented) that the soul probably is not something we humans can replicate. The other question niggling in the back of my mind is “Should we try to?” It makes me think of the Tower of Babel- in fact, maybe that is a good idea of the safety measures God has in place for us when we stop swimming in our lane and swerve into his? Just some thoughts with no theological basis behind them!
Jen,
The Tower of Babel came to my mind too. After all it wasn’t the action of their building a tower but rather their intent to become like God that was the problem. Where do we cross the line? I liked your analogy of swerving into God’s lane.
I do not think much of conspiracy theories, but in our technological age, I wonder how we would survive if suddenly all technology was taken over by a cyber attack. The last of the generation is almost gone that did not fully engage with the computer. (My father was one of those. He was not scared of it, he just liked having his economic status kept private.)
My last thought is that of Kim’s post. The need for God’s wisdom is what is crucial in navigating AI as we move forward.
Esther, I loved the Jetsons too!
Ok, we got that out of the way.
You did a great job concisely summing up Poole’s thoughts, especially bringing together those 7 things that set us apart from AI: emotions, mistakes, storytelling, a sixth sense (intuition), uncertainty, free will, and meaning. Did any one strike you as most essential or most “impossible” to code or even attempt to code into AI ?
Kim,
That is a tough question. I actually thought through each one and each one would be impossible to code in my opinion. Each one brings a deep dimension to the complexity of human thought. If I had to choose, perhaps it would be free will since AI still always needs to be programmed and can only make decisions regarding what was programmed which eliminates free will. Now on to my Design Research Plan…
Oh, I LOVED the Jetsons as a kid! I was so intrigued by a phone that allowed you to actually SEE the person you were talking to! Now we have Facetime and Zoom and so much more…
You and Jen have a conversation above about whether or not we should try to replicate the soul. I can’t even wrap my mind around trying to replicate the soul – what exactly is the soul after all? Spirit? Breath? Essence? Being? Can it be clearly defined?
Also, I remember learning in philosophy or at some point in seminary that the idea of a separation of the body and soul came from the Greeks and is not actually biblical? That is all I very vaguely remember though. But does that impact junk code and AI?
I love that you also focused on the idea of “soul”. It is so difficult of a concept to “capture” but I love how you found different ways to do just that. When considering the soul I end up finding that a lot of my work around hope for those facing end of life has to do with the health of soul and belief. I think what AI will never be able to do is experience the Mystery or the Mystical! Thanks for a beautiful post Esther