A recent Tribune article quoted LDS Apostle Gerrit Gong speaking of the promise and dangers of A.I. Concerning the dangers, such as fraudulent “deepfake” images and bogus and false writings, Gong said the best way for everyone to tell truth from error was to listen to the Spirit. “The Holy Ghost only attests to truth,” he said.
At the risk of ticking off some good, decent people, I can’t help but remember the many, many fraudulent and counterfeit “documents” that Mark Hofmann sold to top church leaders. And I mean the very top of the LDS hierarchy. Certainly, before laying out tens of thousands of dollars repeatedly to Hofmann (which they did), some of the General Authorities must have prayed about whether they were the real thing. Not only did the church purchase many of the documents, but some were widely hailed in LDS papers and publications. To me this is the quintessential example of discerning truth from error. I suggest that anyone interested read the Wikipedia article on Mark Hofmann, or watch the Netflix series, “Murder Among the Mormons.”
Artificial Intelligence is going to require some clear thinking to keep the “dark side” of it reined in.
Kim Johnston, West Valley City
Correction: An earlier version of this letter misspelled Mark Hofmann’s last name.