Algorithmic manipulation: Employing spiritual intelligence to counter information asymmetry between humans, demons, and AI

AI-powered social media algorithms operate by gathering enormous amounts of information about their users and using it against them. Social media platforms study everything we do online to be able to present us with just the right personalized “temptation” to trigger the desired reaction: like, click, buy etc. To achieve this, they build voodoo-like models of who we are and what we care about, which are continually refined through behaviour prediction and A/B testing (e.g. the documentary The Social Dilemma). Although the algorithms only know us “from the outside”, they are often ruthlessly efficient because they hijack human emotions: our anger, fear, lust, or boredom are the perfect vehicle for manipulation.
This paper proposes that a solution to this modern problem might be inspired by ancient Christian literature. The modus operandi of AI-powered social media strikes an eerie resemblance with the description of demonic intelligence in Christian tradition (e.g. The Life of Saint Anthony; The Screwtape Letters). Without access to one's internal thoughts or “soul”, the devil can only infer our triggers based on our external behaviour and physiologic data.
In both cases, information is key, enabling a power imbalance between humans and external manipulators, with potentially disastrous consequences for human wellbeing and flourishing. The paper explores the ethical consequences of the similarity between some forms of AI and demonic intelligence, and then suggests how the cultivation of spiritual intelligence might be used to push back against the informational assault that faces us in the age of AI.