Originally posted by asmeone2
Let's get hypothetical.
If we created artificial intellegence (whether intentionally or not) would it be subject to the same rules of salvation?
Let me get my usual disclaimer in place: My response is strictly my own opinion. It does not represent, in any way, the official policy of the
Southern Baptist Convention, nor of any doctrinal body.
In my opinion, no, an Artificial Intelligence wouldn't be "saved" or "lost" in the same way that a human being would be, primarily because I
don't think the constructed intelligence would have a soul, any more than my minivan or my PC has a soul (though I must confess that occasionally,
my PC does seem to be demon-possessed!

). It would be (at least at its activation), a machine, nothing more (or less) despite its
intelligence.
Could 'original sin' be eradicated from the programming?
Why would it need to be? The machine's ancestors had no part in the original sin, no matter how far back you trace their lineage. A constructed
intelligence has no connection to the original sin, therefore, it should carry no portion of the burden from it.
If we programed these machines to pray, woudl God listen?
Again, in my opinion, no. Then again, I don't believe Buddhist 'prayer wheels' work, either...for the simple reason that prayer should be an
utterance of the heart, not some simple, mechanical action. Prayer should be inspired by real need, or real gratitude, or real respect for
Divinity...not simply the turning of a crank, or the execution of a program. Also, in my opinion, coercive prayer, whether it be in the form of
forcing your children to pray, or (in the hypothetical set forth in this discussion) the execution of a program over which the machine has no control,
makes the 'prayer' nothing but empty words. As an old preacher once put it from the pulpit of my parents' church, "There are a lot of prayers that
don't make it to the Throne of the Almighty...there are a lot that don't make it past the church roof."
The interesting question (for me, at least) would be "what if the created intelligence started to pray on its own?". In that case, I'd have to
revise my opinion on whether it had a soul, and on whether or not God would be listening....
Imagien a supercomputer dedicated to nothing but prayer... would this influence world events?
In my opinion, no, for the reasons stated above.