Last week, I noted in this column and on the radio program that a prominent leader in the development of AI quit his job and walked away from the industry, warning that unless scientists get control of AI, it could kill us all and destroy our world civilization within the next 10 years.
ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and Fox also covered the story throughout the day
Yesterday we were told that "Scientists have calculated the likely timeline for the end of the universe based on groundbreaking scientific research."
You may remember that the late Stephen Hawking's end-of-the-world prediction was even backed by NASA.
Be informed, not misled.
Last week I wrote the following in this column:
Jacob Coxon announced his resignation from Anthropic Tuesday in a chain of posts on X, saying he had spent the past three years conducting pre-training research at the two AI giants.
Coxon posted this on X following his resignation:
I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.
Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains, and progress is not slowing.
The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible - but I hear the same people express fear privately. No other human activity poses this level of danger.
First, it was cult-like leaders; now it's scientists predicting when the world — and the universe —will end.
"Scientists have calculated the likely timeline for the end of the universe based on groundbreaking research. The findings come from experts at Cornell University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other academic institutions", they now say.
Dubbed the "Big Crunch," this phenomenon would essentially be the inverse of the Big Bang - the widely accepted theory that the universe emerged from a singular point, creating matter, space, and time as we know it. It comes as scientists warn that humans could be into their final 10 years on Earth after a chilling new AI warning.
The scientific team, however, predicts the Big Crunch will occur in approximately 33.3 billion years.
Given that the universe is currently 13.8 billion years old, they say, Earth and all other planets have roughly 20 billion years before complete annihilation, according to the findings.
The study builds on a theory that the universe will continue to stretch like a "rubber band" until the elastic force becomes stronger than the expansion itself, causing everything to snap back inward.
The key to their predictions is, they say, dark energy, a mysterious force that makes up about 70 percent of the known universe.
For years, scientists have regarded it as the driving mechanism behind cosmic expansion.
However, recent discoveries have led some experts to suspect this force may not be constant after all. This indicates there's a limit to its expansion before it begins shrinking again.
According to a new theory proposed by scientists, the universe will continue to expand but at a progressively decreasing rate.
When it reaches its peak size - roughly 69% bigger than it is today - a gradual contraction will begin.
It's unlikely that Earth will still be around when the universe collapses back to its original point.
In 20 billion years' time, our Sun will have burned out, and our galaxy will have collided with neighboring Andromeda - based on separate predictions.
Takeaway
Here's what the Bible says:
The biblical account of the end of time and the earth describes a sequence of earthly trials, the return of Jesus Christ, the destruction of the physical world by fire, and the creation of a new heaven and earth.
Signs of the End Times
- Wars and Disasters: Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 24:6-7 that the end will be marked by wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes
- Deception and Peril: II Timothy 2 and Timothy 3:1-5 warn that "perilous times shall come," with men loving money and pleasure more than God.
The Return and Judgment
- The Second Coming: Luke 21:27 states that mankind will see the "Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
- The Day of the Lord: According to 2 Peter 3:10, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
The New Heaven
- The New Heaven and Earth Passing Away of the Old: The physical heaven and earth are destroyed or replaced after the final judgments described in Revelation 20 and Revelation 21:1.
- A New Creation: John sees "a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away" (Revelation 21:1). God then dwells with humanity, wiping away all tears and ending death, sorrow, and pain (Revelation 21:4).
The scientific predictions are helpless and hopeless. The end is annihilation.
The Biblical, prophetic promises bring hope and peace for all who accept Christ as Lord and Savior. The end is a new beginning: Spending eternity with God in Heaven,
And there is this:
The biblical account of the end times expands significantly across specific books, primarily detailing prophetic visions, a period of severe global tribulation, and a final 1,000-year reign before the ultimate renewal of existence.
Prophetic Books and Parallel Visions
- The Book of Daniel: In Daniel 7, Daniel sees a vision of four great beasts representing powerful earthly kingdoms, culminating in the "Ancient of days" sitting in judgment.
- Daniel 12:1-2 foretells a "time of trouble, such as never was" and the resurrection of the dead, some to everlasting life and some to shame.
- The Olivet Discourse: Recorded in Matthew 24, Jesus outlines the timeline of the end, warning of the "abomination of desolation" spoken of by Daniel and stating that "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world... and then shall the end come."
- The Book of Revelation: Written by John on the Isle of Patmos: Revelation uses rich symbolism to chart the final conflict, beginning with the opening of seven seals, the sounding of seven trumpets, and the pouring out of seven vials of God's wrath
- Rise of the Beast: Revelation 13 describes a beast rising from the sea with seven heads and ten horns, representing a blasphemous world ruler (the Antichrist) who is given power for 42 months. He requires all people to receive a mark on their right hand or forehead to buy or sell.
- The Great Tribulation: A period of unprecedented global devastation. Stars fall, water turns to blood, and plagues ravage the earth (Revelation 8-9).
- The Battle of Armageddon: The kings of the earth gather at Armageddon to wage war against the armies of heaven, resulting in the decisive defeat of the Beast and the Kings of the earth by Jesus Christ (Revelation 16:16; Revelation 19:11-21).
The Millennium and The Great White Throne Judgment.
- The 1,000-Year Reign: Satan is bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). Christ reigns on earth with his saints during this period of peace, known as the Millennium.
- The Final Rebellion: After the 1,000 years, Satan is loosed for a short season to deceive the nations (Gog and Magog) for one final battle, but fire comes down from God out of heaven to devour them. Satan is then cast into the lake of fire permanently (Revelation 20:7-10).
- The Great White Throne Judgment: The dead, small and great, stand before God. The books are opened, including the Book of Life, and individuals are judged according to their works. Anyone not found written in the Book of Life is cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death (Revelation 20:11-15).
We should know how the Earth ends, but it is far more important to know how we end,
Is your name written in the Book of Life? If so, you will spend eternity with God in Heaven.
If not, you will spend eternity in hell.
Our name is written in the Book of Life by confessing our sins to Christ, asking His forgiveness, and accepting Him as our Lord and Savior.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Faithful. Be Courageous. Be Prayerful.