• https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/1...

Since the launch of ChatGPT, religious rhetoric and metaphors have been part of the AI discourse. Fears of an „AI apocalypse“ have made this phenomenon even more pronounced. In my paper, I consider four possible interpretations for the supposedly anachronistic prevalence of religious rhetoric in technology discourses: 1.) The anthropomorphization and deification of technology has been an integral part of Western discourses since the nineteenth century, shaping our understandings and expectations. 2.) Religious metaphor is a foundation of our cultural canon and can therefore be used to put something abstract and incomprehensible into words – and images. 3.) Contrary to what is often assumed, tech pioneers themselves often do not share a wholly secular worldview; at the same time, the use of religious tropes and motifs can also go hand in hand with an increase in status and serve to abdicate personal responsibility. 4.) In current debates, talk of the „apocalypse“ can also be used to exaggerate the potential of a company’s products, to distract from the more obvious problems of the new technology, and to pre-empt government regulation.

If artificial intelligence (AI) can generate texts, was does that say about what a text is? What are the differences between texts written by humans and those generated by AI? What opportunities, limits, and risks will arise when AI-generated texts are henceforth accepted and recognized in scholarly discourses? This volume sheds light on these challenges from a wide range of disciplines.