- The CEO of the far-right social network Gab wants to build an explicitly Christian AI.
- Andrew Torba accused ChatGPT of being "satanic," and advocated for an AI built "for the glory of God."
- ChatGPT is not meant to have any beliefs, and told Insider it does not consider itself satanic.
Andrew Torba, the CEO of the far-right social network Gab says ChatGPT is "satanic" and that Christians need to instead build an AI that glorifies God.
Torba wrote an article titled "Christians Must Enter the AI Arms Race," in which he detailed the many ways that Christians should be fighting back against artificial intelligence.
The article was published on January 27, and contained the bold, unsubstantiated claim that every AI system — including OpenAI's ChatGPT — is "skewed with a liberal/globalist/talmudic/satanic worldview."
OpenAI says ChatGPT is not meant to favor any group or have beliefs of its own, and has modeled it to try to avoid "tricky" topics.
Nonetheless, OpenAI has said that some biases do exist and said it is working to fix them. Insider asked ChatGPT whether it thinks it is satanic, to which it said no.
In his article, Torba asked: "If the enemy is going to use this technology for evil, shouldn't we be on the ground floor building one for good?" (OpenAI says ChatGPT is meant to benefit "all of humanity").
"If we don't build and gain ground now, our enemies will dominate this powerful tool and use it for evil," he said, terming AI "a weapon against the minds of the people" built by the "demons in Silicon Valley."
"We need to build AI for the glory of God," Torba concluded.
Torba also claimed in his article that "no company" other than Gab is positioned to create a Christian AI, citing what he said was the company's advocacy for free speech.
Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Insider asked ChatGPT what it thought of Torba's article, and wa told it was "misguided."
"AI development is a complex and interdisciplinary field that requires expertise in a variety of areas, including computer science, mathematics, and engineering. It is not clear how being a Christian, or adhering to Christian values, would give someone an advantage in developing AI systems," ChatGPT told Insider.
ChatGPT also noted that Torba's idea that Christians should enter an arms race "seems antithetical to Christian teachings of peace, love, and nonviolence."
"Instead of focusing on building better weapons, it would be more productive to focus on creating AI systems that promote human flourishing, regardless of one's religious beliefs," ChatGPT said.
It is worth noting that there is no evidence that Gab has the expertise required to build an AI.
Indeed, its technology has at times come into question: it was the target of a massive hack back in February 2021, which exposed the personal data and password of former President Donald Trump. Gab admitted that the data breach occurred, but blamed it on "demon hackers."
Since its launch in 2016, Gab has also been accused of spreading hate speech by companies like Apple and Microsoft. In 2016, Apple blocked the Gab app over pornographic content and hate speech. In 2017, Gab was also banned on the Google Play Store. And in 2018, Microsoft threatened to remove Gab from its Azure cloud computing service after anti-Semitic posts were spread on the platform that called for "vengeance" against Jews.
It is unclear if Gab has any serious designs on the mooted project. Torba in his post asked for "an engineer who has experience with AI" to "get in touch" with the company via email, to apply for a position.
Torba did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.