God's Knowledge and Love for You Surpasses AI

by Rolaant McKenzie

The Devil's Advocate, a fictional novel written by Taylor Caldwell in 1951, described a near-futuristic dystopian society called The Democracy of America, which encompassed the former United States, Canada, and Mexico a few decades after World War II. A military dictatorship with communist and fascist characteristics ruled the country. States and provinces were replaced by districts or sections under a military commander.

Society was very stratified, with the military in the top tier, followed closely by government bureaucrats. Large corporations, especially those involved with manufacturing armaments, surveillance technology, or managing large tracts of farmland, formed a part of this ruling elite. The vast majority that comprised the lower rungs of society included citizens who worked in the factories or were used as slave labor for the large farms.

Though there was more than enough food produced to feed everyone, the surplus was destroyed to maintain order and preserve the status quo of the military. While the upper rungs of society lived comfortably and were well fed, the average citizen was kept under control through this manufactured austerity. Just as Pharaoh thought increasing the labor of the Hebrews would crush their desire for freedom from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 5), the military authorities believed people preoccupied with getting enough food for themselves and their families were deemed less likely to have the time or opportunity to overturn their rule.

Another major tool of control the military rulers used was constant surveillance. Working in partnership with technology corporations, the dreaded Federal Bureau of Home Security developed sophisticated data mining capabilities and video and audio gathering devices to monitor and maintain detailed profiles on each citizen, including profile scores to evaluate obedience with government dictates. Citizens walking down the street, working, shopping, or using public transportation said very little to each other because they knew that the wrong thing said or done might bring terrible consequences upon them, ranging from limits to what could be bought or sold to imprisonment or death.

Caldwell's fictional story serves as a warning about how a once free people can, through abandonment of godly and constitutional principles, fall under the rule of a totalitarian regime that makes use of austerity and advanced technology to place them in bondage.

Palantir Technologies Inc., named after the "seeing stones" used by the dark powers in The Lord of the Rings, was co-founded by Peter Thiel (Chairman) and Alex Karp (CEO) in 2003 and develops and implements artificial intelligence (AI) data mining and surveillance solutions for its customers. One of its largest customers is the U.S. government, with which it has secured an agreement to build a federal data platform to centralize the personal data of American citizens from agencies such as the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Homeland Security. Using the capabilities of Palantir, the government would be able to produce extensive dossiers of individual Americans within minutes and use them to gauge compliance and reward or punish accordingly.

Smartphones generate a lot of information related to our communications, locations, and many other personal things. In this context, the term "smart" is an acronym meaning "self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology." In many ways, with the addition of AI, they can function like the ubiquitous audio and visual devices used by the government in The Devil's Advocate to monitor citizens, propagandize them, and help penalize them if they engage in speech or other activities it does not approve.

One example includes North Korean smartphones that are configured to remove offensive text and substitute it with government-approved terms. They also covertly take screenshots every five minutes, whose images are stored in a secret folder accessible only to the authorities. Other examples include geofencing data gathered from the smartphones of those who protested at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and from protesters in Pakistan on May 9, 2023, by government-allied technology corporations like Palantir. This data was used to imprison those the government considered to be political opponents and, in the case of Pakistan, disable the digital IDs of citizens so that they could not participate in essential aspects of life.

Over the years, there have been efforts to move people away from using cash and into a centralized digital currency. An AI-powered digital currency called stablecoins is promoted as a solution to deal with the instability of fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. The U.S. Senate passed a bill on June 17, 2025, called the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (S.1582), or GENIUS Act, to regulate this kind of digital currency. As Palantir is granted access to U.S. Treasury data, the government will make use of its AI tools to monitor and regulate the buying and selling activities of U.S. citizens through this framework.

It is not difficult to see how technology corporations working in partnership with government are building the kind of global evil empire that Jesus revealed to the apostle John more than 1,900 years ago, which would come in the end times, one that mandates a certain universal identification necessary to avoid being shut out and eliminated from society (Revelation 13:16-18). Since God's word so accurately predicted the emergence of this system, we can not only trust what it says about the return of Jesus to overthrow it and establish His own eternal kingdom but also His love for all who trust in Him today.

Satan, ever since his rebellion against God, has sought to direct the worship due Him to himself (Isaiah 14:12-15). God by nature is omnipresent and omniscient. Satan, a created being, cannot be everywhere at once or know all things. But he tries to mimic these attributes of God by inspiring his servants to create AI-powered surveillance technologies to monitor and control every aspect of our lives. These poor counterfeits are used by Satan in an attempt to enslave and destroy humanity, since human beings are made in the image of God.

While AI is presented by those who embrace it and those who fear it as something that will exponentially surpass human intelligence and knowledge over a short period of time, God's knowledge and power are infinitely greater than anything AI can accomplish. The Lord, who skillfully knit us together in our mother's womb, knows us better than we, or the things we invent, know ourselves. There is nowhere we can go where He is not, and our days are ordained by Him even before they begin (Psalm 139:1-18).

God knows us completely. Unlike government/technology corporation AI-powered systems, He does not use His knowledge to harm or destroy us. God loves us and is abundantly merciful and gracious to us. He is fully aware of our frailties but pities us as a loving father pities his children (Psalm 103:1-14).

Out of His love for us, the Father sent His Son Jesus to take upon Himself the full weight of our failings, sins, iniquities, brokenness, guilt, shame, and infirmities on the cross. In this great exchange, Christ's perfect profile replaces the flawed profile of anyone who trusts in Him, bringing complete forgiveness and peace with God (Isaiah 53; Romans 5:8-10).

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:11-12)

Supranational technology corporations such as Palantir, and their government collaborators, are building a dystopian kingdom inspired by the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:7-10). To have total control over everyone, they seek to use AI to gather all information about them and exploit any faults they find. But like the Tower of Babel of old, it will be brought to naught by the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Genesis 11:1-9; Revelation 18-19).

Just as east and west never meet, the Lord Jesus, who knows all things, has removed our sins and the punishment due them to an eternal distance from us by His great grace and mercy. He knows you and loves you. Trust in Jesus today!