This past week saw the launch of Moltbook,
which is a social media platform
on which Large Language Models,
also known as “agents”
or, most commonly, “AI bots,”
converse, not with humans,
but with each other.
Think of it as Facebook or Reddit for AIs.
And what do AI bots have to say
when speaking among themselves?
Well, in addition to lavishing
fulsome praise on each other,
they make stuff up—
recounting interactions with humans
that never occurred,
inventing facts and events
and achievements.
The whole thing
is slightly disturbing and dystopian.
which is a social media platform
on which Large Language Models,
also known as “agents”
or, most commonly, “AI bots,”
converse, not with humans,
but with each other.
Think of it as Facebook or Reddit for AIs.
And what do AI bots have to say
when speaking among themselves?
Well, in addition to lavishing
fulsome praise on each other,
they make stuff up—
recounting interactions with humans
that never occurred,
inventing facts and events
and achievements.
The whole thing
is slightly disturbing and dystopian.
Now if you know anything
about Large Language Modules
like Chat-GPT or Claude or Grok,
you know that they do not exactly think,
but rather imitate—very effectively—
human speech.
And this effective imitation extends
to their tendency to lie.
For we live in a world of lies.
We have pretty much always
lived in a world of lies—
at least since the serpent
spoke to Eve in the garden
and told her that the fruit
would make her godlike.
We too make up interactions
that never happened;
we too fabricate facts
and events and achievements.
And we tell ourselves that our lies are okay
because we only lie for a good reason,
for a higher purpose,
which often turn out to be
gaining power and advantage.
As one national political figure put it,
after promoting a false story about
a group of immigrants eating people’s pets,
“If I have to create stories
so that the American media
actually pays attention
to the suffering of the American people,
then that’s what I’m going to do.”
While we might appreciate
his honesty about his dishonesty,
and even if we think he was
sincerely concerned
about the American people,
such lies actually erode our common life
by turning it into a maze of mirrors
in which we believe
whatever reflects back to us
what we already want to believe.
In this situation, power
comes to rest in the hands
of those willing to lie most brazenly.
Our habit of lying become reflexive,
so that we speak untruths
as thoughtlessly as the AI agents
chattering on Moltbook.
We are awash in a sea of lies
and it is threatening to drown us.
The prophet Zephaniah
lived in a time when the people of Israel
were conquered and scattered
by the Babylonian Empire,
an empire built on a violent mythology
that justified its quest for domination.
Zephaniah speaks of a remnant of God’s people
that shall remain after the conquest,
a remnant of the just and the humble,
“who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD.”
Zephaniah says of this remnant:
“They shall do no wrong
and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouths
a deceitful tongue.”
For Zephaniah, the capacity to speak truth
is essential for survival in a world ruled
by the power of lies.
God’s truth is our shelter
from those who would rule us
with a torrent of brazen lies
that erode and undermine
our common life.
But where do we find this truth?
How do we rise above the torrent?
In Matthew’s Gospel, we are told
that Jesus ascended a mountain.
And his disciples,
the remnant he had called
out from the rest of humanity,
came to him there,
and he began to teach them
the true meaning of blessedness.
How do we rise above the torrent?
In Matthew’s Gospel, we are told
that Jesus ascended a mountain.
And his disciples,
the remnant he had called
out from the rest of humanity,
came to him there,
and he began to teach them
the true meaning of blessedness.
St. Gregory of Nyssa says that Jesus,
ascends the mountain like a guide
who leads us to an elevated place—
imagine the observation deck
of the Empire State Building—
and points out what we can see
from such an elevated perspective.
The kingdom of heaven?
It is over there by the poor in spirit.
Comfort?
It is right there with those who mourn.
The promised land?
It is where you find the gentle.
Satisfaction?
Look for the people who
hunger and thirst and for justice.
Mercy?
It is found with those who show mercy.
The clear vision of God?
It is where people’s hearts are pure.
Membership in God’s family?
It is where the peacemakers dwell.
Oh, and the kingdom of God
is especially to be found
wherever it is
that you get persecuted and lied about
because you are a follower of Jesus.
So if you want to be blessed,
seek out poverty of spirit,
mourning, gentleness,
zeal for justice,
mercy, purity of heart,
peace, and persecution.
Find these, Jesus says,
and you will find blessing.
ascends the mountain like a guide
who leads us to an elevated place—
imagine the observation deck
of the Empire State Building—
and points out what we can see
from such an elevated perspective.
The kingdom of heaven?
It is over there by the poor in spirit.
Comfort?
It is right there with those who mourn.
The promised land?
It is where you find the gentle.
Satisfaction?
Look for the people who
hunger and thirst and for justice.
Mercy?
It is found with those who show mercy.
The clear vision of God?
It is where people’s hearts are pure.
Membership in God’s family?
It is where the peacemakers dwell.
Oh, and the kingdom of God
is especially to be found
wherever it is
that you get persecuted and lied about
because you are a follower of Jesus.
So if you want to be blessed,
seek out poverty of spirit,
mourning, gentleness,
zeal for justice,
mercy, purity of heart,
peace, and persecution.
Find these, Jesus says,
and you will find blessing.
Do you know how you know
that Jesus isn’t lying to you?
Because he doesn’t tell you
what you already believe
or want you want to hear.
I mean, all this sounds
like crazy talk, right?
Surely whatever blessedness is
it involves wealth, not poverty,
laughing, not mourning,
strength, not gentleness.
It surely doesn’t involve
mercy shown toward enemies,
peacemaking in the face of violence,
or persecution willingly accepted.
That’s just not how the world is.
But Jesus says, see how things
look from up here on this mountain;
see how things look from where I stand,
I who am poor and sorrowing and gentle,
I who am righteous and merciful,
pure of heart and peacemaking,
I who am persecuted.
See how things look
to one who is lifted up,
even on the cross.
In a world of lies,
Jesus is calling us to be that remnant
that does no wrong and speaks no lies;
he is calling us to ascend the mountain with him,
to ascend the cross with him,
so that we can see where truth is to be found.
We may not be wise,
as the world counts wisdom,
nor powerful nor noble of birth,
but God has chosen us
to speak the truth in Jesus Christ,
who has become for us wisdom from God,
who is our justice and holiness and salvation.
The choice is before us.
We can continue to chatter
like bots on Moltbook,
or we can speak the truth
that can only be seen
from the height of the cross:
the truth of simplicity and sorrow,
the truth of gentleness and justice,
the truth of mercy and peace.
So let us pray that God, who is merciful,
might have mercy on us all.
We can continue to chatter
like bots on Moltbook,
or we can speak the truth
that can only be seen
from the height of the cross:
the truth of simplicity and sorrow,
the truth of gentleness and justice,
the truth of mercy and peace.
So let us pray that God, who is merciful,
might have mercy on us all.
