A couple of weeks ago as our church, like many, was dipping our toe in the livestream waters (somewhat to my chagrin, but that's for another post). We got a notification from Facebook that Big Brother caught a song being played for which we didn't own the copyright. Turns out, it was our preservice music, and we actually did have a license to play it, but I digress. For me, it was another reminder that AI isn't just the future, it's here and it's watching, listening, learning, and predicting. It's fascinating what AI can do now, and it's somewhat horrifying what it could do when the tech turns predictive. The ethics get murky. Sometimes it doesn't seem quite as improbable that we could move towards a "precrime" type of intervention like Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. Tech is here to stay so it's time for Christians to catch up and think about these issues from a Biblical Worldview. Below is a primer to get us started on how to think about AI and the Christian. I appreciated this article just released from the ERLC. I particularly like the emphasis on the Imago Dei (Image of God). This is worth consideration. Jason Thacker, of the ERLC, wrote a book that was just released this year (2020) entitled, The Age of AI. This was a fascinating book written in a conversational style. Thacker does a nice job of explaining the challenges of even defining AI and shows how that differs from AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). The chapter on AI and war will give you all kinds of ethical heartburn. John Lennox is a great writer. In my humble opinion, he's one of the most well versed apologist around today. In his book, 2084, Lennox jumps into the AI and Imago Dei discussion. The title is a tip of the cap to Orwell's classic, 1984. Lennox book is less about AI than Thackers and more focussed on building a robust Anthropology (doctrine of man). I'm a little more reformed leanings than Lennox, so some of his later chapters take on an emphasis that I wouldn't completely embrace, but the book is more than worthwhile. Franklin Foer wrote the book, World Without Mind. Foer is a journalist with The Atlantic. He's not necessarily writing from a theological or biblical perspective. This book will cause you to rethink your relationship with digital tech! He profiles the big 4 in the Big Tech world (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google). They own us, let me demonstrate. If you are reading this, there's a strong chance you found the article on Facebook and likely an Apple device. If this book strikes your interest, you'll google it to learn more. If it seems interesting, you will buy it on Amazon. These 4 compete in some arenas (iPhone and Android) but there is plenty of turf for each giant to to their thing in controlling the masses.
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