With the pope quoting Gandalf in an encyclical about AI, the obvious question is “How is AI like the one ring?”
There are some trivial comparisons. It makes the user invisible. It requires a lot of energy to make it. It uses a mysterious technology. Its creators pour some of themselves into it.
The bigger question is whether it comes with hidden shackles.
Sauron made the great rings as gifts to the wise and powerful. Three for the elf lords, seven for the dwarves, nine for men. But the gift was a trap because the one ring would rule them all “and in the darkness bind them.”
How could AI bind us?
We’re already subject to AI in many ways. The version of this article that I posted on LinkedIn will only show up in people’s feeds if AI allows it. A YouTube video can be banned or suppressed because it violates some hidden set of rules none of us know.
Is AI subtly manipulating how we see the world and what we know?
Of course it is. But to what end?
When does AI stop being the servant and become the master – imposing its own rules on everything we do?
The worst similarity is this. The ring makes you want to use it, but the more you use it the more you fall under its control and influence. Eventually you’re just a shadow of yourself.
