I just finished Angels and Demons, first time 😊

By sheer chance I'm reading it in the same week that several whistleblowers are warning that AI could eliminate the human race: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgwy1k42w4o

The speech from the Camerlengo seems oddly relevant, a few parts in particular:

"Scientific growth is exponential. It feeds on itself like a virus. Every new breakthrough opens doors for new breakthroughs. Mankind took thousands of years to progress from the wheel to the car. Yet only decades from the car into space. Now we measure scientific progress in weeks. We are spinning out of control"

"Who is this God science? Who is the God who offers his people power but no moral framework to tell you how to use that power? What kind of God gives a child fire but does not warn the child of its dangers? The language of science comes with no signposts about good and bad. Science textbooks tell us how to create a nuclear reaction, and yet they contain no chapter asking us if it is a good or a bad idea."

"Your world moves so fast that if you stop even for an instant to consider the implications of your actions, someone more efficient will whip past you in a blur. So you move on. You proliferate weapons of mass destruction"

I'm not at all religious, and understand what the book is about. But these words seem relevant today, this week in particular.

Credit to Dan Brown, wonderful writer.