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Paper short abstract

This paper will look at the prophetic elements of contemporary discourses around AI and develop a concept of technological prophecy through the example of tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s lectures on AI regulations and the Antichrist.

Paper long abstract

Recent years have seen a surge in the development and a wider discourse surrounding Artificial Intelligence. Public imaginaries around what exactly the technology means and the opportunities and threats it represents are still developing, and they include social and religious components that shape and direct our discourses, with those advocating for AI taking on an increasingly prophetic tone and rhetoric. The AI industry and its supporters are connected to a wider political-religious nexus that increasingly dominates politics throughout the US and Europe, billionaire AI tech entrepreneurs like Peter Thiel for example giving lectures on the Antichrist. This project will interrogate the religious and prophetic elements of contemporary AI discourses by combining perspectives of the Sociology of Religion and Science and Technology Studies. It will aim to formulate a new theoretical perspective on technological prophecy, linking Weber’s characterization of the prophet with insights from research in science popularization on how we make sense of new technological concepts.