I’m trying ChatGPT on a sample of historical and theological questions (one is below, in italics). The answers are well phrased and nearly immediate. They tend to be prudent and reflect common wisdom, for instance the insistance on Jesus as a spiritual and ethical leader and the eschewing of a political side. The machine uses simple devices to keep options available: multiplicity of interpretations, for one, symbolic approach, for another, and reformulations of questions, for instance. Even the costs of human life are not shirked if one pursues the question of suffering. The engine is structured to learn, for instance regarding the epithet of “good” that Christianity has long affixed to the Samaritan of Luke 10 as a summary of the good neighbor. The machine or chatbot accepted my correction that the word “good” does not appear in Luke 10. It apologized for the oversight and thanked me for bringing it up. It then rephrased my own formulations. Another surprise was to realize that my own style changed rapidly—for instance my use of qualifiers—as I thought, perhaps wrongly, that there was no moral intention behind the answers.

What will happen to knowing when this paid farming of information and creativity overpowers all other tools of knowledge, say extensive and thoroughly edited tools like wikipedia and standard encyclopedias? What will the ever so acceptable lack of evidence and sources lead to? An ever smaller common denominator?

I tried a very general historical question:
Is monotheism a historical event? When did it happen?
This is what the machine answered as of today and without any feedback on my part (there would be much to say!):

Monotheism is a belief in a single, all-powerful deity or God. It is not a specific historical event, but rather a concept that has been present in various forms in various cultures throughout history. The origins of monotheism are not fully understood, but it is thought to have emerged in different parts of the world at different times.

One of the earliest examples of monotheism is believed to be the ancient Egyptian religion, which featured a single, supreme deity named Amun. Other ancient cultures that practiced monotheism include the ancient Hebrews, who worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the ancient Persians, who worshipped the supreme deity Ahura Mazda.

Monotheism has also played a significant role in the development of modern world religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These religions all believe in a single, all-powerful God and have had a major influence on the development of Western culture and thought.