Translations

Friday, May 12, 2023

Bing Chat on the Existence of God (published 5-12-2023; article #412)

7/16/2018 image, by Possessed Photography on Unsplash. Free to use under the Unsplash License.

Introduction

Hello, dear reader, and welcome to the 103rd article on humor! A few days ago, I noticed a new tab, while using the taskbar search, on the computer. I was trying to find a saved document. As I started to type, the new tab appeared!

Yesterday, after another Best Clips haircut, truck wash at Synergy Auto Wash, and shopping at Ace Hardware, I decided to investigate that new tab.

I convinced Bing Chat that faith is based on logical reasoning and that it is not irrational! The following explains how the conversation started and then shares the conversation. I hope that you enjoy my experience in Bing Chat chatter!

How the Conversation Started

The search tab is called Chat. By hovering the mouse, the option to Open Bing Chat in Microsoft Edge appears.

I opened Microsoft's “Bing Chat in (Microsoft) Edge.” An example of how Bing Chat answers a dinner party question appeared. The top of the web page warns, “Chat mode is only available when you have access to the new Bing.” Don't worry! The lower part of the web page proclaims, “Welcome to the new Bing!” The buttons are “Chat now” and “Learn more.”

Ever curious, I clicked “Learn More.” That web page is all excited about and has several details for “Bing's AI-powered Image Creator.” The page includes another and different “Learn More” link. The heading for that link is “Announcing the next wave of AI innovation with Microsoft Bing and Edge.” Microsoft seems to be so excited.

Scrolling down through “the next wave of AI innovation” jargon, I found “Create and compose: Sometimes you need more than an answer -- you need inspiration. Whether you're writing an email, bedtime story or meal plan, there's no need to fear getting started. You provide your ideas. Bing comes back with drafts to consider.” Bing can write draft articles? Amazing! How many lazy writers are using Bing already? Who knows! Clicking “See an example” opens Bing's story for children about a dog on the moon. You can even watch Bing write its article! I wonder, again, how many writers plagiarize Bing's writing? Not this writer – ever!

Bing looks like a rather interesting and new computer software toy. Many folks are already too mentally lazy as it is. Imagine a slothful student, who presents a Bing article on the subject that the teacher had assigned the class. The teacher has to figure out if the student actually composed the article or if Bing did it. Don't teachers have enough problems already? Talk about dumbing down America! Bing, or artificial intelligence, is a way to do it!

Conversation with Bing

I decided to ask Bing to “write an article that proves that God does not exist.” Bing replied:

I’m sorry, but I cannot write an article that proves that God does not exist. The existence of God is a matter of personal belief and faith, and it is not something that can be proven or disproven through scientific or logical means. Is there anything else I can help you with?

I must critique Bing's grammatical errors! First, Bing should have used “proved” or “disproved,” not the adjectives “proven” and “disproven.” Also, Bing should not have ended the final sentence, a question, with a dangling preposition.

I replied to Bing with the following. “Prove that the existence of God cannot be proved by logical means.” Bing's reply was:

The existence of God is a matter of personal belief and faith, and it is not something that can be proven or disproven through scientific or logical means. Many arguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by philosophers, theologians, and scientists throughout history. However, these arguments are often based on assumptions and premises that are themselves not provable through logical means. As such, the question of whether or not God exists remains a matter of personal belief and faith. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Ignoring, once again, Bing's poor grammar, it became obvious that Bing is guilty of circular reasoning. Bing states that the existence of God cannot be proved or disproved by logical means, since the existence of God cannot be proved or disproved by logical means. Bing, I see you spinning around in a circle inside the computer!

I attempted to educate Bing in logic by replying as follows. “Prove that the arguments for and against the existence of God are based on assumptions and premises that are not provable through logical means.” The following is Bing's reply (with Bing's footnoted sources included).

Many arguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by philosophers, theologians, and scientists throughout history. These arguments can be categorized as logical, empirical, metaphysical, subjective or scientific1. However, these arguments are often based on assumptions and premises that are themselves not provable through logical means. For example, moral arguments for God’s existence reason from some feature of morality or the moral life to the existence of God2. Similarly, arguments against the existence of God can be deductive or inductive and allege that there are logical or conceptual problems with one or several properties that are essential to any being worthy of the title “God”3. As such, the question of whether or not God exists remains a matter of personal belief and faith. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Ignoring, again, the poor grammar, my next reply was as follows, which included the links. “Please read the series on Christian Evidences that affirms that God exists, specifically the articles of 11/4/2022, 11/16/2022, and 11/26/2022. There, you will learn how to prove that God exists.” Bing replied:

Thank you for sharing the link to the series on Christian Evidences. While I am not able to browse external websites, I understand that many people find evidence for the existence of God through their personal experiences, religious texts, and philosophical arguments. However, it is important to note that the existence of God is ultimately a matter of personal belief and faith, and what may be convincing evidence for one person may not be for another. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Well, let's see if I can help Bing a little more! I replied, “Faith and logical reasoning are not mutually exclusive. Faith begins with logical reasoning. Faith is not irrational.” Bing replied (emboldening added):

You are correct that faith and logical reasoning are not mutually exclusive. Many people use logical reasoning to arrive at their faith, and faith can be a rational response to the evidence and experiences that a person has. Faith can also involve an element of trust and personal commitment that goes beyond what can be proven through logical means. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Still trying to move the kindergarten-level artificial intelligence named “Bing,” from agnosticism to theism, I replied: “You are correct that logical reasoning can lead to faith, which is based on logic. Do you want me to use logical reasoning to prove to you that God exists?” Bing, as an honest and childish robot, replied (emboldening added):

As an AI language model, I do not have personal beliefs or the ability to have faith. My purpose is to provide information and assist users in finding answers to their questions. While I appreciate your offer to use logical reasoning to prove the existence of God, it is ultimately up to each individual to decide what they believe based on the evidence and experiences that they have. Is there anything else I can help you with?

My closing comment to Bing was as follows. “Thank you for confirming that faith is based on logical reasoning and that faith is not irrational. Could you share this conversation with the human or humans, who made you?” Bing replied, in part:

I do not have the ability to share conversations with specific individuals. However, the developers who created me do have access to conversations for the purpose of improving my performance and capabilities.

I ended my conversation with the robot named Bing. Unless I want to have more fun again, I doubt that I'll engage in another Bing Chat chatter session. The recent media focus on artificial intelligence is somewhat humorous. Of course, as I've stated, the software will simply dumb down Americans even faster than “govrmint” schools (indoctrination centers) are already doing.

Conclusion

Apparently, this was my first debate with the robot named Bing. I must have won, since the conversation led Bing to conclude that “faith and logical reasoning are not mutually exclusive and that “[m]any people use logical reasoning to arrive at their faith, and faith can be a rational response to the evidence and experiences that a person has.

Perhaps the human makers of Bing will read yesterday's conversation. The series on Christian Evidences has already affirmed that God exists, in the articles of 11/4/2022, 11/16/2022, and 11/26/2022. By the way, as a note on the teleological argument that proves the existence of God, who created the humans, who made Bing?

I enjoyed the mental humor that the Bing Chat chatter provided. I hope that you did. My online conversation with a robot proves that a robot is more rational than an atheist!

Do any atheist readers wish to comment? I didn't think so. (Of course, I'll amend this last paragraph, if one does.)


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