We have always had both priests and prophets but we are quickly growing beyond our need of priests who provide the rituals, religious texts, hymns, and institutions of organized religion. But the prophets, the ones who inspire us and challenge us to be and to do what it really means to be spiritual people, to embody courage, work for justice, and guide our society in ways of compassion, where will we find them when the church is no more?

Beyond the fear of A.I. taking over our nuclear arsenal and attacking us is the very realistic fear that A.I. along with automation and robotics, will quickly and dramatically end the need for human employees in very many parts of the economy. Left unchecked, the wealthy will reap a windfall from these changes and the working class will be plunged into poverty, unless we make changes to our economic system that will turn A.I. into a blessing rather than a fearsome curse.