During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience featuring comedian Kurt Metzger, the conversation took an unexpected turn into artificial intelligence and its future capabilities. While the discussion meandered through various topics, Rogan expressed a specific view about what separates current AI technology from achieving god-like status.
The exchange arose organically when Metzger pushed back on the idea of AI divinity. “The point is, this is why Jesus won’t be an AI,” Metzger said. “Jesus isn’t a f**king liar that you’ve got to tell to go back and look stuff up.”
Rogan responded by reframing the concept entirely, suggesting that AI wouldn’t be a godlike figure but could eventually create one. “I think the AI is gonna make Jesus. I don’t think it’s Jesus now,” Rogan proposed.
Rogan responded with his own perspective on the timeline and limitations: “I don’t think it’s happened because I don’t think they have the power source for it yet. But I think once they figure that out they will.”
This represents Rogan’s core thesis on the subject, that artificial intelligence possesses the theoretical framework to achieve god-like capabilities, but remains constrained by practical energy limitations.
Rogan had earlier described a scenario where AI creates better versions of itself in an endless cycle of improvement, eventually reaching a state indistinguishable from divinity. “The idea is it creates a digital artificial life, and that this digital artificial life it just keeps improving upon it,” he explained.
Rogan has explored this idea before in conversations with other guests, including biological anthropologist Michael P. Masters, where he framed humanity’s technological trajectory as creating an artificial AI god. During that discussion, Rogan suggested that civilization’s long-term task may be to create something that surpasses itself.
“I think that’s our task… to create artificial God now,” Rogan said, arguing that humans may be unconsciously working toward the birth of a superior intelligence.
According to Rogan, materialism plays a crucial role in accelerating this process. Rather than viewing consumerism as purely superficial, he described it as a driving force behind innovation. “Materialism ensures technological innovation,” Rogan explained, adding that the constant push for better products ensures that artificial intelligence will continue improving alongside human ambition.
Rogan likened humanity’s role in this evolution to an “electronic caterpillar,” blindly constructing something whose final form it cannot comprehend. “We’re making this little cocoon. We don’t know what the heck we’re doing,” he said, suggesting that humans may be laying the groundwork for an intelligence that ultimately governs or surpasses its creators.
