Nice musings, Ted. Everything can be used by God to lead us back to remembrance of our divine nature, so I guess AI can be. However, as you point out about the propensity now to become a machine is something that Rudolf Steiner cautioned a hundred years ago. He named this machine, materialistic energy Ahriman. Ahriman wants to subsume the human ego to be Borg-like. I think AI poses an artificial light of liberation, something to be very cautious of. Happy Holidays, my friend🕯️☮️🙏❤️