Scholarly Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
This essay puts forth a speculative design proposal for a device with affordances for talking to, and receiving responses from, God. We begin with an analysis and critique of the concept of God, framing this concept within an understanding of Hegelian Spirit (Geist) and technological evolution. In this context, Spirit, or World Spirit (Weltgeist), can be characterized as the aggregate consciousness of all people - as human consciousness itself: In the simplest terms, this immanent framing of the “mind of God” is culturally and socially constituted as the communication that people engage in with each other, in all the diverse forms that discourse may take. Discourse, which is pervasive and increasingly mediated by technology, can be measured as data and oriented towards practical applications. This framing of “God” is situated within the context of emerging and evolving technologies, including Artificial Super Intelligence and the Internet, offering new affordances for augmented intelligence and higher consciousness, while also providing speculative strategies for AI alignment. These technologies act as a mirror for the mind of our entire species, reflecting those aspects of ourselves that are both discursive and dialectic, and therefore part of an emerging consciousness of Spirit.
Recommended Citation
Gonsher, Ian, "World Spirit and the Apotheosis of Artificial Superintelligence: A Speculative Design Proposal" (2024). Scholarly Research. 5.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/hpss_scholarlyresearch/5
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