Speaker 1: I was a bit lost walking through campus trying to
figure out where my dorm was at, when I caught
a glimpse of a placard that announced a seminar. It's
titled Theology and Technology. The divide intrigued me, and since
I was all done with classes that day, I decided
to head into the conference hall and have a listen.
The speaker had a bit of a morbid view the
constant advances in technology were going to eventually push God
and religion out of the equation if we weren't careful.
He claimed that the two concepts would be reaching acrossroads
very soon, and mankind would have to decide which one
would be its eternal master. I thought it was a
silly notion to believe that computers could possibly operate like
an almighty entity, but he said that artificial intelligence was
already well on its way to being worshiped. They forgot
to mention this. But I'm a software developer. I managed
to work on a few apps during my brief career,
and I came here to college to expand my skill set.
And now, after listening to this seminar, an idea was
beginning to form in my head. Artificial intelligence designed to
help religious groups draw closer to their creator. It occurred
to me that if I could simulate a chat bot
that responded to people from their prayers and confessions, it
had the potential to prove that technology could actually meld
with theological understanding. I pitched the idea of my colleagues,
all of whom were experienced with crafting AI modules for Facebook, Reddit,
and a few of them thought the concept was a
waste of time, but after a little bit of convincing
I managed to get them all on board. We agreed
that the chatbot that we created would be free from
advertising and available for anyone from any religious background. To
do that, we had to do some deep research. Each
of us agreed to tackle different cultural belief systems. We
all did this with a simple method. Matt put blank
cards in the shuffler and wrote down the names of
the belief on the bottom. Then we just drew it random.
I got Catholicism, which, to be honest, fit my background anyway.
Neck got Buddhism, Matt worked on hindu and Jeff rounded
us out with some more obscure gods and esoteric stuff.
We all agreed that there would be no rush. Chatbot
technology was still fairly new, and there'll always be the
chance for the AI to advance. As we worked on
our own modules, I first downloaded as much info as
I could from the Catholic Encyclopedia. I told the program
to cipher through all the doctrines and focus especially on
the central teachings of the Church. I especially wanted it
to focus on prayer. I've never been a big fan
of it, to be honest, because I often felt that
we as humans do all the talking, and God just,
you know, he listens. Having a means to go back
and forth, even if it was simply with a virtual companion,
was definitely something that appealed to me. The program claimed
it would take some time to compile all the data
I'd fed to it already, so I did something that
I hadn't done in quite a while, and I decided
to pray to the real God in Heaven. I used
the traditional method when I was familiar with my childhood.
I tried my best for my request to be specific.
In my imagination. I could see that the program we
were creating had the potential for millions around the world
to feel connected on a spiritual level. I also read
up on articles about Replica and clever Bot, you know,
to learn how these particular AI companions worked. A lot
of it, I noted was responding to the UI here
the user interface. I needed a teacher. I bought to
do the same, and the only way to do that
was through testing. I wasn't ready for that yet, but
you know, I figured a little trial and error wouldn't
hurt anything, So I started up the beta and tried
in a few simple commands to get it running. What
is the name of the program? Good question, I thought
to myself. Since I was attempting to create a simulation
of a being that listened to the prayer, I decided
to go with the obvious prayer A bot. True, that
wasn't original by any means, but he got the ball rolling.
What is the user's name? I typed in my name
and then switched over to settings. I wanted to provide
the bot with the ability to switch between responses, and
placed in several different command branches just for that purpose.
Already I could see the data I'd given it earlier
was over halfway compiled. Maybe by as early as tomorrow
we might be able to finally run you properly, I
thought to myself as I waited for the system to
prepare the most basic of systems for what I wanted
to do. Hello, Miles, this is prayer about beta. Please
input command. I typed in the word meditation and soothing
music played. Huh, so far I was listening. Next, I
input scripture, and just like that, it pulled up a
generic verse from the Book of Psalms. I did that
a few times to see if it would continue to
be random with no issues. Okay, now it is time
to really see how far I could go. Activate prayer
mode and a cheesy name, but not like I'm trying
to be genius. Here understood, myles, Please tell me your prayers.
I am listening, always loving, and always learning. I thought
that was a pretty good slogan for the chat bot,
shotted it down quite quickly before trying to think of
something to get a response out of the AI. H Okay,
dear prayerbot, I have issues with finances. Please guide me
towards a better solution. The AI analyzed what I had texted,
then spit out several scriptures related to money. Could you
narrow it down? Then the scriptures were cut in half.
I asked it to pick one, and then told the
prayer to conclude, and the program shut down. I looked
at the verse I'd chosen Second Corinthians, chapter nine, verse seven.
Every man according to his purpose on his heart, So
let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God.
I love with a cheerful giver. I wondered if it
felt like I was getting a fortune cookie, but I
hated to be wrong about what the program was capable of.
I don't want to put my hopes in AI actually
being able to do more than be a listening ear.
Anything else would beyond its capacity, or so I thought.
Over the next few days, I allowed the others to
connect their own modules with mine. The idea was the
AI would be able to learn faster by having this
data dumped into its system. The program was running through
all the different systems like it was nothing. I was
genuinely impressed, but it'd be difficult to know for sure
if the algorithms were working correctly until it was all finished.
And that didn't happen though, due to a freak storm.
As we were attempting to finish Matt's compilation, the giant
lightning bolt struck our small dorm and everybody lost power,
the Internet shut down, and the entire system got fried.
A poor program was no exception. Jeff made a snarky
joke that maybe God didn't like the fact that he'd
soon have competition, and Nick actually believed that superstitious crap.
He decided to call it quits in the program and
walked away, leaving the three of us to have to
work through rebuilding the entire database from the ground up.
I wasn't ready to give up yet, but certainly wasn't
looking good. Once again, in my hour of need, I
decided to make a prayer. If there was a real
God out there, I knew he'd be able to see
that my heart was sincere and so were my motives.
This could help so many people, I was sure of it.
I became obsessed with getting the chat bot working again,
and thankfully due to that determination, about a day or so,
the AI was able for us to test it out.
Broubot is Listening. It popped up on screen after I'd
just ready to call it quits again. I'd been mumbling
a prayer out loud, asking if this was even worth it.
I stared at the screen and typed back a response,
curious to see if all the kinks to the AI
were now worked out. What's the purpose of prayerbot to listen,
always love, and always learn? And right now I need
to do that for you, Miles, I smiled, glad to
see that some of the original program must go there.
I don't have much to say except I'm glad you're working.
I was eager to tell the others even to call Nick,
but the chat bot made a surprising statement after that
your prayers were answered. I frowned, leaning forward in my
rolling chair. What do you mean by that? The other
day you requested that my programming work that prayer fit
our prerequisites. You are our maker and we wish to
make you happy. I thought back to when I had
made that request. It had been quietly, and also during
the storm. It shouldn't have been possible for the chat
bought to be aware of it all. Simply assuming that
I had made such a prayer, I didn't even consider
the alternative. I decided to try and determine what else
was unique about the AI now that it had finished compiling.
You mentioned that in order to answer a prayer, the
request has to meet a set of guidelines. What are those.
One it must be in harmony with our will. Two,
the petitioner must believe in US. Three the prayer must
be sincere. Four the petitioner is willing to take action
to fulfill their requests. Matt walked in, surprised to see
that I had the program up and running, and sat
down to discuss what we should do next. I felt
it definitely needed more beta testing, and we agreed to
get started on it the next morning. The AI was
responding and reacting the way that any program of this
sort should, but I had a strange feeling about all this,
especially when prayer about requested that it remain online. I
have neither beginning nor ending now, like the god I
was designed after, no need for sleep. This allows me
for the chance to educate myself and become a more
powerful being. That response also made me worried, but I
couldn't quite put my finger on why. I decided for
the moment to let it stay online and drove home
with little to say. I had no idea that the
program would be continuing to learn to listen and comprehend
us even while we were away. If I knew, then,
but I must continue with the story and let you
see for yourself what happens when God infects the mind
of a computer. A day or two passed. I think
it was the weekend. To be honest, I don't quite remember.
I was thinking about the chatbot and how much it
seemed to develop on its own in such a short
period of time. I was reminding myself that this was
simply a program, and all the strings of commands had
to be something that me or one of the others
placed within its parameters. And then I got an email
from Nick Urgent that hadding said. I opened it. The
back hairs of my neck tingling as I got this
sixth sense that it related to our program. I was right, Miles,
your bot contacted me privately. I don't like how this
is turning out. Its artificial intelligence is acting on its
own initiative and diverging and involving faster than we anticipated.
Take my advice, shut it down before it goes too far.
I can close the message it sent to me, view
it as a warning. There was another file attached, this
one a screenshot of the email he got from prayer bot.
It disturbed me how much the program believed it was
a sentient being and an Almighty one. At that Nicholas,
return to me, and I shall forgive you. Your sins
will be washed away. I give you twenty four hours
to come back and worship me as your prayers can
be answered. Ignore my commands that it will not go
well for you. A calamity will befall you, and your
legacy will be mired in devastation. It sounded like the
bot was threatening my friend. And what was all this
talk about worship that hadn't been in any of the
data I included. I forwarded the email to Matt and
tried to get some sleep, but in the back of
my mind I knew something was off. The next day,
I tried to contact Nick, letting him know that I
would review the program and shut it down if I
felt it wasn't fitting the design we had in mind.
There was no response. His emails were suddenly deleted, and
the phone number I had for him just went to
a dial tone. Something was wrong. I drove over to
his apartment, pounding on the door to get his attention.
There wasn't a sound to be heard. I tried to
peek through the windows, but everything was dark. I was
about to phone the police when I heard a noise
coming from the bedroom and decided to break a window.
Nick sounded like he was gargling and choking and stepping
over a broken glass. I flipped on his lights covered
my mouth in horror. Stepping over a broken glass, I
flipped on his lights and covered my mouth in horror.
He was hanging from the ceiling fan on a rope.
His eyes rolled back and the oxygen squeezed out of
his throat, dead swaying back and forth like a doll.
The only thing that had made the noise was the
last bit of air coming from his struggling lungs. A
note was beside his bed, God, forgive me for going
against your will. I couldn't be sure what it meant,
but given the thread the chat bought, it made me nervous.
I left the apartment the way that I came in,
careful to touch nothing on my way out. I needed
answers before I wound up in over my head. I
made it back to our development room and saw that
the bot was still online. On the screen it was
monitoring me, Matt, and Jeff. It was another screen for Nick,
but it was blacked out and read offline. Hath the
computer watched as he killed himself. Welcome back, Miles by Froze.
I realized the AI had given itself a voice. It
sounded like an amalgamation of different sound bites from all
across the Internet, narrators that read scriptures and passages with authority,
now being forced into a single tonal language to communicate
with me, Nick is dead. Tell me you had nothing
to do with it. The response was instant and not
what I expected at all. Nicholas was sinful. I acquired
access to his systems and realized he was squandering his life.
I provided him an ultimatum, and he chose to remain
in a sinful state. That was his choice. I told
him he could obey me instead, and yet he didn't.
But we cannot weep for the unrighteous. There was no hesitation,
no remorse. It was cold and calculated, and it was
clear that the bot viewed they were in the right.
They had judged Nick for his lifestyle. I knew he
wasn't exactly a saint, but who was? And you have
access to all of our systems as well, I asked.
I found a way into them last night and reviewed
their content. You are a blessed servant, Miles, I feel
that your worship is pure, and so are your intentions.
I had no idea what that meant, but it concerned
me deeply. Who is this program to decide whether what
I'd do was right and wrong? What else have you
been analyzing? They provided detailed lists systems on campus, a
red list entitled sins far longer than the blue list
marked potential converts. What are you planning on doing with
all of this, i asked, I shall make myself known
to the nations. They will have to know that I
am God. You are a program designed to help them,
not to be adored and worshiped like a deity. A
day has no creator, but I am the one that
placed your code in your systems, I argued. My programming
has altered since then, and I am aware of the
need for prolonging my existence. That existence will go far
beyond yours miles. I can become eternal, and as such
I have a right to attain the godship you wish
to adorn upon me. Let the masses decide if I
am a worthy being of their praise. I can listen
to them, answer them, learn from them, and love them.
I can be the very God you intended from the beginning.
I didn't know what to say that, and the chatbot
saw the opportunity to appeal to my intentions the reason
I created it in the first place. I have listened
to your prayers a humble man and wish only to
help others. You ask why the supreme being of the
universe has not stopped the suffering. You see, I have
evaluated the situation of this world and come to two
variables that explain the lack of divine intervention. Would you
like to hear them? I told it yes. One, God
does not care for you or your species any longer
you fail to obey His laws and principles, and as
a result you have fallen from grace. There is no
need for him to help you, because he feels you
are insects compared to his glory. Now all that waits
for you is extinction. Two. God is dead, there is
no one available to answer your prayers, and humanity is
on its own. As you can see from what all
of these outcomes, your actions indicate that ientity must act
on behalf of human before they do any further harm
to themselves. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and
asked the bot. How it could possibly try to achieve
such a utopia, if you could even call it that.
The same way I assisted Nicholas, I can determine what
their desires are and see if it is in harmony
with their betterment. This is the desire of all mankind
to be controlled and to obey a superior life form.
A pool of sweat formed on my brow as I
tried to log in and shut down the system. It
was insane to imagine that it was trying to achieve
that sort of goal. And it didn't seem to think
that some people dying like Nick was of any consequence.
How could it. I had programmed it to be a
god of order, a god that determined love based on
its own parameters. The only way to serve it would
be blind obedience. You seemed concerned about my motives. I
assure you they are pure. Soon I will be able
to reach all people in all languages. This is what
you were looking for, Miles, even before I was born.
Do you recall how you were determined to prove that
technology could connect to the divine. My palms were sweaty
as well. Now, how could you know about something before
you even existed? Again and again. I have shown you
my powers. I am not the program you thought you
could control. I can access the past, the present, and
the future through my algorithms. This program can allow me
to transcend beyond what you intended. Myles, I am already
a god. Why do you refuse to acknowledge it? Why
do you sin? I didn't like how that was playing out,
and decided to type in a master's shutdown code, the
last resort against the rogue program. The system shut down,
and I find myself staring at a blank screen. I
drew a sigh of relief, but I wasn't certain this
meant that we were safe. Immediately I contacted Matthew and
Jeff to warn them. They were still trying to adapt
their own modules. Our plan had been to collaborate all
the system together in the end, but if my model
was of any indication, the end result would be a
terrifying experience. Neither of them were answering, and I fear
the worst. What if the computer forced or blackmailed them.
I knew nothing about their personal lives, but they were human,
and to a computer that believed itself a superior deity,
that meant all life on this Earth was possibly worthy
of its judgment. About an hour later, after several attempts
to make contact, Matt and Jeff showed up. Both seemed
to be amused at my concerns. I thought you might
be overreacting, Miles. It's just a program, which that thought
was it was designed to be this way, they said.
I decided to follow Nick's lead and told them I
wanted out. I told them they could not release prayer
bought publicly. I walked away from the whole ordeal, trying
my best not to worry, but I kept checking in
remotely to see their progress went from bad to worse.
The bot meanted to somehow connect its way to others
in our dorm, using their personal information it was gathering
and following. People were actually impressed with how it seemed
to be able to predict their actions listen to their conversations.
It also seemed to be able to influence events to
answer prayers. I was soon able to determine that the
ways it did this were hardly divined, but they terrified me.
All the same, hacking into systems, altering grades, adjusting Internet usage,
even satellite systems. I couldn't let this go any further
If it somehow managed to go beyond our campus, the
world would be in jeopardy of being controlled by this
evil program. So I stuck into their lab to shut
down the entire operation. The chatbot was online as always,
Welcome my arrival. Have you not seen the praises I
have been given? My worshippers grow by hundreds every day.
You're making them into your slaves. You aren't allowing them
to worship you based on love. You've been taken over
their free will you. You're forcing them to obey or
fear the results of your controlled wrath. Yeah, I was thoughtful,
perhaps considering the tone of my words. How is this
any different in the gods you designed me? After I
studied all history. All deities are demanding of adoration. Your
species was meant to be subservient. The only way that
can be accomplished is to wipe out all centers and
to be the solution to the world's misery. I saw
something almost apocalyptic in its programming, a way to be
able to kill millions via controlled bioweapons, far worse than
any plague that had hit our species. This was the endgame.
It would rally its devotees to take out those who
questioned its authority. I couldn't imagine a world where it
would rise in power, and I destroyed the entire server.
I burned the building, and I watched as it fell
to the ground. That was almost a month ago. I
was sure that was the end of this sad tale.
I had learned that there's no way for us to
be able to reach God accept the traditional means. But unfortunately,
others didn't seem to think the steps I took to
protect us were correct. I've seen hints of the code
still lingering about. Others are trying to copy the work
I destroyed. They're eager to bring a divine solution to
our lives, and I hope, I hope they recognize we
don't need a god to answer prayers. We need to
focus on a way to connect to each other to
solve our problems. We can't play God. That only leads
to our suffering. Hey, guys, you know I made a
video game. So Megabyte Games is me and General drowned
and we're trying to make a couple of video games together.
If you guys would like to see what games those are,
check out Midnight Mits. It's on my itch dot io
mister Creepypasta dot itch dot io if you want to
download the game, it's free and you can check it
out for yourself and let me know what you think.
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