On June 11, 2023, a screenshot of an English-language article dated June 10 was shared on Facebook with the headline: “WEF Calls for AI to Rewrite the Bible, Create Religions That Are Actually Correct.” The screenshot shows photos of Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, and writer Yuval Noah Harari.
On June 12, 2023 similar information was disseminated by on the Georgian and Russian Facebook pages of “Athens News.” The Georgian-language page shared a video of one of Harari’s interviews from YouTube with the description: “WEF calls on AI to rewrite the Bible”, while in the description of the Russian-language post we read that a senior WEF official called for artificial intelligence to rewrite religious scriptures in order to create a new, globalized Bible.
The claim that Yuval Noah Harari calls for the rewriting of religious texts by Artificial Intelligence is false. Harari says that since AI can generate new ideas, it could also be used to create religious texts, though he doesn’t say he intends to do so or welcomes it. According to Harari, the public use of AI needs to be regulated because it carries risks.
The screenshot shared on Facebook on June 11 shows an article by the online publication Slay News. The article argues that Yuval Noah Harari, who is one of the senior officials of the “World Economic Forum” (WEF) and a senior adviser to the WEF head – Klaus Schwab, in a speech dedicated to the future of humanity, called for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) religious texts to rewrite and create a “new Bible,” saying that the power of AI could be used to change spirituality and align it with the globalist vision of the WEF.
The article also claims that Harrari, speaking to journalist Pedro Pinto in Lisbon, Portugal, said that unlike old technologies that spread ideas created by the human brain, AI can generate new ideas. Harari cites Johann Gutenberg’s typewriter as an example, which could produce as many copies of a book as Gutenberg ordered but could not even produce a single new page. According to the article, Harari revealed that he and his associates at the WEF see a solution to this in the creation of a new Bible by AI. As proof of this, the article cites Harari’s phrase that “throughout history, religions dreamt about having a book written by a superhuman intelligence, by a non-human entity […] In a few years, there might be religions that are actually correct … just think about a religion whose holy book is written by an AI.”
The article also includes a video from Harari’s YouTube channel. The video shows the taping of the first episode of the show “It’s Not That Simple” on May 19, in which Harari and journalist Pedro Pinto talk about the future of artificial intelligence.
The article also includes a video from Harare’s YouTube channel. The video shows the taping of the first episode of the show “Humanity is Not That Simple” on May 19, in which Harari and journalist Pedro Pinto talk about the future of Artificial Intelligence.
The article by Athens News, which was distributed by the Georgian and Russian Facebook pages, voices identical assertions, using the interview of Pedro Pinto and Harari as the main argument.
The articles by Slay News and Athens News use the quotes of Harari correctly; however, they manipulate them in a way to create the impression that Harari is either encouraging us to create a new Bible using artificial intelligence, or is going to do it himself.
Harari and Pinto did talk about AI’s ability to create new ideas, but Harari framed this in the context of the technology being a threat.
According to Harari, AI is in its early stages of development; however, it is developing quite rapidly and its emergence is unlike any other technology ever created, as no previous technology in history has been able to make decisions or generate new ideas. This is where the writer mentions Gutenberg’s typewriter, which he says could produce countless copies of the Bible but was unable to produce even a single new page, while AI can produce an entire new Bible. However, throughout history, religions have claimed that their holy books were created by superhuman intelligence, and in a few years there may indeed be religions whose holy texts were created using AI.
Accordingly, the phrase given in the screenshot spread on Facebook “religions that are actually true”, on the one hand, referred to the claims of existing religions that their holy books were not created by humans, and on the other hand, to the possibility of new religions emerging in the future, whose books will be created by artificial intelligence and that these books would not be created by men either.
Harari does not mention anywhere in the interview that he plans to create similar religions or a new Bible to serve the interests of the WEF. The writer spends a large part of the conversation describing the dangers of the rapid development of AI. According to him, humanity needs time to adapt to new technology and it is the responsibility of governments to regulate the implementation of AI in society.
The Slay News article cites a May 3 article from the Times of Israel as a second source, which compiles Harari’s various speeches and interviews on the subject of artificial intelligence. In this case, too, the article shows that Harari sees the fact that AI can create new religious texts or influence public opinion as a threat, and denotes the need of regulation of its public use.
It is also worth noting that the articles by Slay News and Athens News refer to Harari as a senior WEF official, or an adviser to the organization or its founder, Klaus Schwab. In fact, Harari does not hold any official position in the organization. According to Reuters, this was also confirmed by the representative of WEF and further explained that the biography of Harari is placed on the website of the “World Economic Forum” because the writer participated in the events of the organization.
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