June 15, 2026
We and our pets share many emotional qualities: love, loyalty, concern, fear, attentiveness, jealousy, joy, playfulness, anger, and others. None of these are shared (yet) by machines. Artificial intelligence can only emulate human emotions, not actually feel them. AI can describe the components of this photo but not react emotionally. We may respond, “Aww, cute.” But AI might say, “Dog with cat.” It doesn’t understand context or human responses for which it has not been instructed. Digital systems provide information but not real emotions. They are not alive. They do, however, mirror their creators.
Used as a tool, AI can be programmed for good or ill, not by itself as yet, but deliberately by humans. AI can teach and wonderfully assist our activities, but can, like any tool or system, be used to manipulate, control, even deceive and obstruct. That is evident by malware and AI-altered imagery on the internet. We now have impersonal warfare, video “games” of drones attacking humans in vehicles or on battlefields. But humans still pull the trigger.
If our sinful nature chooses to make it possible, robotic weapons may soon be able to detect, assess, and destroy people without human control. Drone-against-drone warfare is already happening, supposedly to avoid human casualties. But human emotion and reflection are absent. No more needed are courage, self-sacrifice for one’s nation or comrades, or striving for a better world. What becomes of morality? Of our sense of right and wrong? AI and drones have none, but their operators do. Those entrusted with such leadership or control are the ones who could choose to unleash digital damage or destruction. We are ultimately accountable for who we choose or allow to have such power.
