{"id":50768,"date":"2026-05-18T08:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=50768"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T12:37:28","slug":"zach-galifianakis-warns-ai-could-be-humanity-biting-the-apple-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/05\/zach-galifianakis-warns-ai-could-be-humanity-biting-the-apple-again.html","title":{"rendered":"Zach Galifianakis Warns AI Could Be Humanity &#8216;Biting the Apple Again&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_50771\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50771\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/05\/Zach-Galifianakis_credit-Team-Coco-YouTube.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50771\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/05\/Zach-Galifianakis_credit-Team-Coco-YouTube.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50771\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Team Coco \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Zach Galifianakis is raising concerns about the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, warning that society may be repeating the same mistake described in the biblical story of Adam and Eve.<\/p>\n<p>During an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zIXdKMLsPVY\">appearance<\/a> on the &#8220;Conan O&#8217;Brien Needs a Friend&#8221; podcast, the 56-year-old actor and comedian reflected on humanity&#8217;s growing dependence on technology and questioned whether people are losing touch with both creation and one another.<\/p>\n<p>Best known for his role in The Hangover, Galifianakis said he worries AI is pushing the world toward another &#8220;Garden of Eden&#8221; moment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is where humans are going with AI,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;m old-fashioned or maybe it&#8217;s &#8217;cause I&#8217;m 56 now, but I think this whole AI thing \u2026 it&#8217;s another, like, biblical, in the biblical term of &#8216;biting the apple&#8217; again. I just am very afraid of it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Galifianakis clarified that he sees positive uses for AI in areas like medicine, but said his larger concern is how the technology could reshape human relationships, culture, and society. He also expressed skepticism about the tech leaders driving the AI movement, appearing to reference figures like Elon Musk and Sam Altman.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s very little wisdom coming out of that pocket of the world,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Almost none.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The actor also spoke about creation, nature, and humanity&#8217;s responsibility to care for the world around them. Though he described himself as agnostic, Galifianakis questioned why people would not honor the Earth if there truly is a Creator behind it all.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I want you to pay attention to how much concrete is around you versus greenery,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If there&#8217;s a God that made all this stuff, why not respect it and the other things that this God has made?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Galifianakis, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrities\/zach-galifianakis\/\">reportedly baptized<\/a> in the Greek Orthodox Church as a child, said he fears modern technology is weakening authentic human connection. Comparing the current AI boom to a chaotic frontier period, he expressed hope that stronger guardrails and regulations will eventually emerge.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I worry about the lack of human connection with that stuff,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This tech stuff, I&#8217;ve always worried about it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, Galifianakis&#8217; latest creative project moves in the opposite direction of the digital world he fears. The actor recently launched &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/05\/11\/nx-s1-5818153\/zach-galifianakis-netflix-gardening-show\">This Is a Gardening Show<\/a>&#8221; on Netflix, a series inspired by his decades-long love of gardening and self-sustaining living. Each episode closes with a simple message that seems to reflect his broader philosophy: &#8220;The future is agrarian.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zach Galifianakis is raising concerns about the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, warning that society may be repeating the same mistake described in the biblical story of Adam and Eve. During an appearance on the &#8220;Conan O&#8217;Brien Needs a Friend&#8221; podcast, the 56-year-old actor and comedian reflected on humanity&#8217;s growing dependence on technology and questioned&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":50771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Zach Galifianakis Warns AI Could Be Humanity &#039;Biting the Apple Again&#039;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zach Galifianakis warns AI could become humanity&#039;s &quot;biting the apple&quot; moment, raising concerns about faith and human connection.\" \/>\n<meta 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