A Revolution Unlike Any Before

Do you know that every time you type a question into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and hit enter, that one single request uses roughly 10 times more electricity than a regular Google search? Just one prompt. One question, one line of code, I ask an AI to write for me.

And here is the bigger picture — scientists have now reported that AI data centers collectively consume more than 10% of all electricity in the entire United States. The entire country, and that is today, before things get really interesting.

I think about this often. Especially because, honestly, I use these tools a lot. At my work, my colleague and I have been exploring some of these AI systems to see how they can support our humanitarian work, whether that is drafting communications, analyzing data, or even helping with tools we are building internally, and I have to say, the accuracy and capability of what these systems can do today is both fascinating and, if I am being honest, a little unsettling.

We’ve all heard about the Industrial Revolution. The first one — steam engines, the mechanization of labor in the 1700s. The second — electricity and mass production. The third — computers and the digital age. The fourth — the internet, smartphones, and the world are becoming instantly connected.

But right now, we are stepping into what thinkers and futurists are calling the Fifth Industrial Revolution, and this one is different from all the others. Every previous revolution was about humans building better tools. This one is about machines beginning to think alongside us. In some cases, machines are beginning to think better than us.

The Man Who Predicts the Future

Have you heard of Ray Kurzweil? He is an inventor, futurist, and Google’s Director of Engineering, and he has been predicting the future of technology with a documented accuracy rate of around 86% over 30 years. His prediction right now? By 2029 — just three years from today, AI will reach what he calls AGI: Artificial General Intelligence.

This is the point where AI does not just perform specific tasks well, like translating languages or generating images. AGI means AI that can think, reason, create, and problem-solve across every domain, the way a human being does.

And then Kurzweil says that by 2045, we will hit the Singularity.

I want you to sit with that word for a moment. The Singularity.

It refers to the point when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence, not in one area, but in every area, and the rate of technological change becomes so fast that normal human comprehension cannot keep up. Kurzweil describes what comes after in his books The Singularity is Near (2005) and his more recent The Singularity is Nearer (2024):

• AI that can convert waste into food, farming, and slaughtering animals becomes unnecessary
• A world where you ask for something and it is produced — like a genie, but real and tangible
• Disease eliminated. Aging reversed. And perhaps most provocatively, human consciousness is uploaded to a digital format, so that even when your physical body dies, your thoughts and memories continue

That last one is not just theoretical; there is real money behind it. A Bloomberg article from 2019 was headlined simply: “Google Wants You to Live Forever.” Bill Maris, the founder of Google Ventures, invested $425 million into longevity research. Peter Thiel, Larry Ellison, and Elon Musk are also backing various versions of life-extension technology, and perhaps most strikingly, a Russian billionaire named Dmitry Itskov has publicly stated his goal of uploading his brain to a computer, so that even after his body dies, his consciousness transfers to another vessel (shell). He wants to live forever.

Kurzweil himself writes: “We will reach a point where humans and machines merge — becoming near-immortal, near God-like beings.”

Near. God-like.

When I first came across that sentence, something stopped me. Near God-like? I had heard that promise before, it’s not in a technology book, or TED talks, or from a Silicon Valley billionaire. I heard it at the very beginning of Scripture, in a garden from a snake.

“You will not surely die…” — Genesis 3:4-5

You know what, that offer has not changed, only the packaging is just more sophisticated now.

The Part That Scares Me Most

Beyond the Singularity conversation, there is something happening right now that I think is even more immediately dangerous.

Earlier this year, researchers from MIT published a warning that AI-powered online personas — fake identities that look completely real — are now sophisticated enough to infiltrate communities, shape public opinion, and manufacture a false sense of consensus. The headline from ScienceDaily (April 2026) read: “AI Swarms Could Hijack Democracy Without Anyone Noticing.”

I want to pause here because I think this is easy to dismiss as something abstract and distant. But think about your WhatsApp groups. Think about the news articles shared in family chats. Think about the opinions you form based on what you see trending. Now imagine that a significant portion of those voices are not human. They are AI-generated personas, designed to feel real, sound reasonable, and nudge your thinking in a specific direction.

Some years ago, a deepfake video of Mark Zuckerberg circulated online, the Facebook CEO, appearing to endorse a system entirely outside of Meta. The video was so realistic that people who watched it had no idea it was artificially generated. I watched it, and I had no idea.

Now multiply that by millions of accounts, operating continuously, adapting their messaging in real time.

Ellen G. White, the co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and a prolific writer on end-time events, wrote something that I keep returning to. She described Satan not just as a roaring lion, obvious, loud, and persecuting, but also as a masterful deceiver. She warned that in the closing scenes of earth’s history, Satan’s most powerful work would not be through outright attacks on faith. It would be through lying wonders, things that look miraculous, that appear to offer divine-level provision, healing, and abundance, all designed to pull hearts away from their dependence on God.

She wrote in The Great Controversy: “We are now living in the closing scenes of this earth’s history… Satan works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.”

The Singularity’s promises: end suffering, eliminate disease, live forever, produce anything from nothing — these are not neutral technological developments. They are a counterfeit gospel, a technological salvation that whispers: you do not need God anymore. You have AI.

But Here Is What I Know

The prophet Daniel, who lived inside one of the most technologically and politically dominant empires in human history, received a vision about the end of time. At the close of that vision, he was told something remarkable:

“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” — Daniel 12:4

And in Isaiah, God speaks with extraordinary confidence:

“I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done.” — Isaiah 46:9-10

Every headline about AI this week, every breakthrough, every warning, every deepfake, every dollar invested in uploading human consciousness, God saw it before the foundation of the world. He is not in panic or surprised. He declared the end from the beginning, and the end He declared is not AI’s victory, but it is His victory.

And Jesus, when His disciples asked about the signs of the end, said something I find deeply comforting: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” — Luke 21:28

So, How Should We Respond?

I do not think the answer is to stop using technology. I use it every day, and it helps me work better, serve better, and communicate better. But I do think the question is worth sitting with: How are we using it? And what has it quietly replaced?

Is the use of technology today replacing God’s guidance in our decisions? Or is it being used as a tool to carry His message further and serve the people we are called to love?

The 5th Industrial Revolution is coming whether we are ready or not. The Singularity may arrive on schedule. AGI may well happen in our lifetime. But one thing has not changed and will not change: The Kingdom of God is not threatened by the intelligence of machines.

We serve a God who spoke the universe into existence, who created the very human minds now designing these systems, and our calling to serve with love is not becoming less relevant as machines get smarter. It is becoming more necessary, more distinctly human, and more unmistakably shaped by a grace that no algorithm will ever generate.

Sources & References:

• ScienceDaily, “AI Breakthrough Cuts Energy Use by 100x While Boosting Accuracy”, April 2026 — on AI consuming over 10% of U.S. electricity
• ScienceDaily, “AI Swarms Could Hijack Democracy Without Anyone Noticing”, April 2026 — MIT research on AI-powered personas
• Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near, Viking Press, 2005
• Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Nearer, Viking Press, 2024
• Bloomberg, “Google Wants You to Live Forever”, 2019 — on Bill Maris and longevity investment
• Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, Pacific Press Publishing, 1911 — Chapter on end-time deception
• Scripture references: Genesis 3:4-5, Daniel 12:4, Isaiah 46:9-10, Luke 21:28, 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)