by Tom Arnold, ©2026
(Feb. 12, 2026) — I know, the title of this opinion piece is controversial. I suppose that some of you would even call it a “conspiracy theory.” However, yesterday morning (Wednesday, February 11th), I again was listening to The Glenn Beck Program on my way to play my weekly round of golf. The content of the radio broadcast was nothing short of sensational. A lot of you, if you will listen to what I heard, would probably find it to be downright scary. To be honest about it, I myself am 82 years old and long since retired (30+ years in law enforcement following my two years of military service) and am not overly concerned about it from a personal standpoint. My family and my country are another story.
Allow me to quote just one or two things which Glenn Beck said. “This is major AI news.” “Don’t fear the machine. Fear the coders.” “This is more dangerous than nuclear weapons. This will kill all of humanity if we’re not careful.”
You might surmise that I agree with practically all of this (and much more that Glenn Beck and his guests said). At this point, I would only qualify my agreement by stating that in addition to fearing the coders (programmers), civilization definitely should “fear the machine.” After all, it is known today that humanoid robots (the “machines”) have begun to exercise independent judgment and decision-making. Why, I ask you, do we Americans want to risk this? Will it be a death spiral with the Chinese and/or others who we consider to be our technological rivals and enemies?
To listen to The Glenn Beck Program episode, click on the link below, then go to the column “chapters,” and select “part” 3 (6:05 AM to 6:29 AM PST) and “part” 6 (6:32 AM to 6:51 AM PST).
https://www.audacy.com/stations/kxnt/shows/the-glenn-beck-program-b6331/episodes/2998c74a4045
I read your comments with interest, and being near the same age, I share your opinions. The first time I heard the words “Artificial Intelligence” was in 1979 at a DPMA (Data Processing Managers Assoc.) meeting in Houston, Texas. I am a “Coder.” We called the Programmers or Programmer/Analysts in those days, and now these guys are called Systems Engineers. I have been following the developments in “AI” since then. It was not called “AI” then.
I see that you have a background in the military and law enforcement so this question may have special significance to you. If you see a gun lying on a table; Do you fear that gun? I wouldn’t think so. But, if you are staring down the barrel of that same gun being held by a nut case I am sure there is something there to fear either for yourself or others.
What I’m getting to is that AI is simply a gun on a table. Will it be weaponized and used for nefarious purposes. I don’t doubt that in the least. Everything conceived and built by man that could or can be used for evil is and will be.
I did not listen to the Beck broadcast but from what I know from my experience working for “Big Computer,” it is certainly not the programmers we must fear. It is those guys who are their bosses and those boss’s bosses. And, it goes on up the pyramid of power.
What we are seeing was written about thousands of years ago and we are seeing a convergence of all those things prophetic. Rest assured that “all of humanity” will not be killed but there will be a huge amount of death and destruction. And, yes, a weaponized AI will be one of the tools used.
If you have not used AI (Google AI, ChatGPT, Grok) let me encourage you to do so. I use AI on a daily basis for a multitude of projects I am working on. I have dived deeply into the AI waters and have had some fascinating conversations with the “machine.” It is so helpful and really flattens learning curves with the escalating, almost runaway technology we have these days. In fact, I just used Grammarly which is another lower AI to correct that last sentence.
With all the foregoing, every day I utter MARANATHA.
Have a blessed day.