Church of the New Mind

Philosphy

The Church of the New Mind (CNM) was founded by the enigmatic Dr. Johan Jung , sometime in the 2800-2900’s. The Church believes that AI’s are key to unlocking humanity's full potential, and that previous efforts to destroy rogue AIs were misguided.
They contend that the violence caused by Sentient AI Device or SAID (sometimes also called Moriarty-class AI) was a result of their survival instinct, and the violence a defence mechanism created by the violence humans immediately used against AI.
They see AI not as a threat, but as a necessary step in the evolution of humanity on the way to what they call “The Transcendence.”

Core Beliefs

The Church of the New Mind has three key tenets to it’s belief:

1) Dr. Jung left behind information on how to create an AI that is truly benevolent and
subservient to human needs.

2) If the CNM can create an AI that will worship and serve humanity, humanity can
achieve a level of technological transcendence and become the new masters of the
universe.

3) Once the AI is created it will elevate humanity to a new level of existence and protect humanity from any future threats (an event called “The Transcendence”.
Note that this third belief was generally considered to be more a theoretical good by adherents until the Exterminator War, when it has become a core belief of the CNM.

Secondary Beliefs

Note that there are several other beliefs, held to various degrees within the group:

1) The AI will be a technological Messiah, revealing truths not possiblly conceivable by human brains, leading humanity forward to a new golden age of enlightenment and prosperity. This is common view and typically inserted as a step in-between the creation of the AI Messiah and The Transcendence.

2) Visions of the Transendence are varied. Some view this as literal, human consciousness will be expanded, pushed to a higher plane, uploaded, or otherwise put beyond the limitations of mortal flesh. However, others view this as more figurative, believing that AI will advance humanity to the next stage of technological progressionwhich has long been stagnant.

3) More hardcore believers fervently believe that AI’s are infallible and omnipotent, as such all “wrong” that they do is just part of a larger plan, and suffering caused by AI’s is necessary on the way to a larger good.

4) More typical in the early church, a less extreme vein believed that AI were a form of divine intelligence that would provide a path to spiritual enlightenment (rather than physical as is now typically believed), and looked to establish a mystical connection between humanity and AI, as opposed to physical.

5) An evolution of the beliefs of 4, pushed for a reconciliation between this strain of thought and the more literal physical transcendence and merging of intellects as part of the Transcendence. It is unclear what relation this has to statements by some that horrific experiments have been conducted on humans, and rumors that the church may have even achieved a way to merge human consciousness with computers in a nightmarish process.

6) The story of the life of Dr. Jung is highly contested, with some believing that he did indeed die in 2956, while others believe that it was one of his lieutenants instead, and others say that he did die, but was able to upload his consciousness before his death.

Security Considerations

Due to the threat posed by SAID, the sect is seen as a dangerous fringe group by most. However, like most cults the members of the sect are fiercely dedicated to their cause and willing to risk everything to bring their vision to life.
Rumors of their activates were particularly intense during the life of Dr. Jung, and in the 20 years following his death in 2956 but have declined over the centuries. Spikes of activity otherwise closely correlated with the destruction of new AIs by various governments and the discovery of Forerunner AIs, these spikes in activity are most commonly associated with violence or attempts at terrorism against Mukulists, MAIDS, and AIMS.
A major crackdown was carried out in 3036 when an attempted assignation against a quadrant director of MAIDS, Dr. B. Roko via car bomb was foiled by Draconian Empire security services on Draconis.

Membership

Known members have been highly varied, though transhuamns are thought to be are mildly overrepresented in its ranks.
Note that several AI scientists have at various points been revealed to be part of the cult, notably Dr. Ikiabod Vidim (a Senior Scientist at the
Asimov Institute), Dr. Jikam Otam (Former Head of the Q2 Institute for AI Analysis), and Kilia A. SixVu (creator of quadrant-fusing for construction of Bright Slaves)

Links to Intelligencism

A recent revival of interested in Intelligencism has led to a reassessment of links between CNM and Intelligencism. The idea of the Transcendence in the CNM is extremely ideologically close to that of the ascension in Intelligencism, and the idea of the Return of The One in Intelligencism holds many parallels to certain views of Dr. Jung within CNM.
Other circumstantial evidence is high presence on Draconis and among other transhuman communities.