Around 5 years ago, when we studied the Book of Daniel, we saw this powerful verse in the last chapter where, as a conclusion, an angel tells the prophet in 12:4, “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”
What we are told here is that many of the prophecies in this book can only be understood until their time of fulfilment, until the end of time. It is only after 2500 years that, today, we are beginning to perceive, to better understand many of these prophecies, not yet completely fulfilled, but visible enough to be telling us that we are so near.
For instance, it prophesizes that man will go back and forth, that is travel from place to place. Did you know that at any given moment there are about 8,000 commercial airplanes in the sky over North America. And there is an approximate average of 100,000 daily flights around the world.
But it is the other part of the prophecy I would like to attract your attention to: Knowledge shall increase. At the time we studied this prophecy, back in 2018, we saw that indeed, it corresponded to this massive amount of knowledge everyone has access to from the Internet.
Plug in any word or subject you desire to investigate, and thousands or hundreds of thousands of answers pop up. The problem is to process this information which is impossible for the human brain. They called this, Information Overload, also known as infobesity. However, since then, things have changed dramatically, and Daniel’s prophecy takes on a much bigger significance.
Have you heard of AI? Artificial Intelligence
Today they have created machines which can process this overload of information, but they are so powerful that the scientific world has started to worry about its strength and about how it could, as they say, take over our world. It looks like they have created some kind of a monster. Have you seen the movie 2001 Space Odessey? The story from the movie was written back in 1948, where a super-computer takes over man and descends into a murderous behavior. This movie captured the scenario very well.
Similarly, with AI, they say that it has surpassed human intelligence and that, with its ability to take in so much information, it can, by itself, develop ideas that man has never thought of. So much so, that many in the science field have issued an urgent warning about AI systems that could, according to them, destroy humanity. It is as if we are entering a new era of science-fiction.
Others more down to earth are venting the benefits of AI, for medical diagnostics or traffic control. However, they also warn that AI can take jobs away from man as it does things, faster and better. One recent study suggests that some 85 million jobs could be lost due to AI automation between 2020 and 2025. But another positive study indicated that with AI, another 97 million new jobs could be created by 2025.
As Bible believers, there is something major we ought to realize. That is, AI could be the perfect companion of the Antichrist. It seems that now, there exists a system the Antichrist could use to perform so many miracles or tricks, that the Book of Revelation predicted he could do.
For instance, one thing that worries many scientists is that with AI there is no more privacy. They say that the AI systems can be trained to recognize individual human faces, allowing them to potentially survey societies and exert control over human behavior. With AI, the Antichrist can easily implement his system of control over his kingdom where he will know and regulate what everyone is buying or selling or even doing, as we read in Revelation 13: 16-17, And he causes all, … to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Today we can see the full possibility of this prophecy to be fulfilled giving him incredible power over the state of affairs of humanity.
Furthermore, AI makes it now even more possible to have other prophecies to be realized. For instance, in the same chapter, Revelation 13:15 we read, And it was given to him – that is the false prophet – to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. This promotion of an individual such as the Antichrist, worldwide, becomes a sure reality with AI.
This is what they call today Deepfakes or simply Misinformation. A Deepfake is a convincing, computer-generated artificial image or video. Already today, many Deepfakes contain images or videos of celebrities, but they can also be used to create a variety of other types of misinformation or malicious content, including misleading news reports, such as uplifting an evil man like the Antichrist. Now we can see that this soon coming evil ruler, the Antichrist, will have it easy.
And notice, this mention at the end of the verse; to worship the image of the beast to be killed. That the Antichrist will be killed and resurrect is something that is repeated a few times in this chapter, because he will try to mimic the death and resurrection of the Messiah. Today with AI, he will not have much trouble to fool the people that he dies and rises again. This AI system, is so powerful that some even think that it is the Antichrist itself; but the Antichrist is a human being with a soul, whose end will be in the Lake of Fire. AI has no soul, it is just a machine.
Who knows Siri’s famous voice, the one from your phone or devise, the one who knows so much? She is the voice of AI. She knows who you are, where you are, and you can ask her any questions you want. She is always listening. AI has already begun to invade our privacy.
One thing we can count on though is that AI will never be able to steal our free will. In the tribulation so many will be forced to make a decision concerning the mark of the Beast. But that decision, whether they take the mark or not, has immense spiritual ramifications because any one who take the mark will never be granted redemption. God is such a respecter of the free will and this situation proves that He is always in control because salvation was, is and always will be the most important choice given to each human soul. And regardless of the dispensation, God desires that every man and woman be saved.
Let us then keep an eye on this development and always rejoice at the prospect of the soon coming of the Lord, for our meeting with Yeshua will precede the full revelation of the Antichrist in this world.