I don't think LLMs specifically are becoming a religion, but I think the way some people look at/speak about AGI and its impact on the world has become a new religion. Especially when paired with UBI solving the unemployment problems it could create, which is so far from human nature that I think is even less likely than AGI.
I philosophically don't think AGI as described is achievable because I don't think humans can build a machine more capable than themselves ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But continuing to insulate it'll be here in a few months sure helps put some dollars in CEOs pockets!
It doesn't need to be more capable than humans. It needs to be roughly as capable, and then it becomes recursively self-improving with very, very high velocity. (A gazillion monkeys with typewriters, if you will.)
I philosophically don't think AGI as described is achievable because I don't think humans can build a machine more capable than themselves ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But continuing to insulate it'll be here in a few months sure helps put some dollars in CEOs pockets!