Welcome to Theology and AI Blog

I recently completed my Doctor of Ministry (DMin) from Bethel University. My thesis was on "Creator God, Humans, and Artificial Intelligence: Framework to Address Theological and Relational Issues".

I will be using this blog to share my thoughts on Theology and AI.

I look forward to posts related to my research and my thoughts on recent developments with AI.

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AI and Christianity

From the Christian perspective, there are different arguments about the possibility of AI and its implications when compared to the creation of humans by God. In April 2019, sixty evangelical leaders released a statement addressing AI. The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention spent nine months working on “Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles,” a document designed to equip the church with an ethical framework for thinking about this emergent technology. [1] The goal of this document was to help the church to think about AI from a biblical viewpoint. Leaders of many Christian institutions signed this document. Russell C. Bjork is a professor of computer science at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, argues that theologically that the soul may emerge from bodily processes. [2] He also argues that in Christian teaching, human specialness need not be based on what humans are, but rather on what God intends for them. As

Impact of AI on Society

Narrow or weak AI has already impacted how humans interact with each other, share information, and how they access information. Home automation, including security, has been achieved using AI, and it is being used now in health care and other industries, which have proved to be very beneficial to society. There are many ethical issues raised by AI. Eliezer Yudkowsky suggests that AI researchers need to focus on producing humane AI, which he calls Friendly AI. He says that if AI researchers create intelligence without morality, super-intelligent AI could threaten humanity. The advances in computing power and nanotechnology mean that the creation of inhumane AI is a real possibility. [1] The issue with viewing AI as humane or inhumane is that machines cannot be considered moral or immoral. Humane or inhumane would not be an inherent characteristic of the AI itself. AI could be humane or inhumane only in the sense that it produces a positive or negative impact on humankind. Noel Shar

Why should religious leaders care about Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

When I started with the research on AI and theology for my dissertation, I mentioned the topic to some people. Many people were impressed with my topic. I also got strange reactions from people who thought I was going to work on an issue that does not have anything to do with religion or theology. Someone commented, “at the end of the day, it is a machine, and you can take out the power plug.” I do not think they understand the issue or questions raised by AI. I will be highlighting many issues in future posts. Let me give you one reason to start. It is the view on religious services or gathering. Online services have become standard for many years now, and many attend a church or religious service online. With COVID-19 and lockdowns, everyone went online to conduct their services. Many who opposed online services in the past started worship services over Zoom, Skype, Facebook live, Youtube live, etc. Even some people started doing communion online. Still, there are people i

Theology and AI (Efficient or Humanistic Society)

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