Humanity no longer needs God but may with the help of artificial intelligence develop a new form of collective consciousness that fulfills the role of religion, author Dan Brown has said.
Brown made the provocative remark on Thursday at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany where he was promoting his new novel, ‘Origin’, the fifth outing for Harvard ‘symbology’ professor Robert Langdon.
Landon was also the protagonist of Brown’s novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’, a book that questioned the history of Christianity.
‘Origin’ was inspired by the question ‘Will God survive science?’, said Brown, adding that this had never happened in the history of humanity.
‘Are we naive today to believe that the gods of the present will survive and be here in a hundred years?’ Brown, 53, told a packed news conference.
Author Dan Brown predicted that an AI collective consciousness would replace the concept of God and transform humanity’s concept of the divine
Brown (center) was in Frankfurt, Germany to promote his new book ‘Origin’ when he spoke out
Brown said technological change and the development of artificial intelligence would transform the concept of the divine.
‘We will start to find our spiritual experiences through our interconnections with each other,’ he said, forecasting the emergence of ‘some form of global consciousness that we perceive and that becomes our divine’.
‘Our need for that exterior god, that sits up there and judges us … will diminish and eventually disappear,’ he added.
Set in Spain, ‘Origin’ opens with Langdon arriving at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao for an announcement by a reclusive billionaire futurist that promises to ‘change the face of science forever’.
Events quickly take an unexpected turn, providing a plot vehicle for Langdon to visit the historic sites of Spain – including Barcelona, capital of the northern region of Catalonia that is now in the grip of a secession crisis.
Brown, who studied art history in Seville, Spain, expressed his concern and sympathy for both sides in the political stand-off.
Brown’s new novel is set in Spain, where his protagonist Robert Langdon meets a reclusive billionaire futurist who promises to ‘change the face of science forever’
‘I love Catalonia. I love Spain. I hope they work it out. It’s a heartbreaking situation, but it’s also a sign of the times,’ said Brown, adding the crisis also reflected the tension in society between the ancient and the modern.
Brown, who has sold 200 million books in 56 languages, admitted to not having read a novel in five years. But he investigated deeply and spent a lot of time talking to futurists to come up with the storyline for ‘Origin’.
He recognized that his views may not be welcomed by clerics, but called for greater harmony between the world’s great religions and those who profess no faith.
‘Christianity, Judaism and Islam all share a gospel, loosely, and it’s important that we all realize that,’ he said. ‘Our religions are much more similar than they are different.’