Anthony Levandowski, a self-driving car engineer and cofounder of Uber’s autonomous trucking company Otto, is the messenger of this religion, which he has so confidently named Way of the Future. While your imagination is likely running wild on the purposes for such a religion, documents filed with the IRS show that it’s primary focus will be “the realization, acceptance, and worship of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed through computer hardware and software.” In a world full of guerrilla marketing tactics and innovative PR schemes, it’s easy to be skeptical about the seriousness of this religion, particularly with Levandowski about to embark on what could be the trial of the year between Uber and Waymo, Google’s competing self-driving car company. However, with Levandowski foregoing a salary, it would appear he really just wants to get the word out about the intrinsic value of artificial intelligence, a dire necessity in the speedily evolving world of today. With fear of artificial intelligence becoming more common in laymen than the propensity to breathe air, religion might be the only way to adequately prepare the world for the inevitability of this futuristic reality. And now is the time to do it, before the technology evolves beyond our understanding. And, if you trust Levandowski, it will. As someone that read the original Wired interview with enough snark and skepticism to power a small city, I must now say this doesn’t sound like such a terrible idea. After all, I’m a Millennial living in a major city, and I know more people afraid of artificial intelligence than eat avocado toast, and I know a lot of people that eat avocado toast. People are most often afraid when they don’t understand something. And having a resource of information, even in the form of a religion, could do wonders for a technology boasting worse PR than Kid Rock’s campaign manager. Read more about artificial intelligence on TechCo Photo: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
