Ep. 1 How Religion Shapes My Approach to GenAI
Ep. 1 How Religion Shapes My Approach to GenAI
A student conversation with Diana Zalph
Welcome to the first podcast episode of Cyborgs Writing. This grew out of a conversation I had with
, one of my students, who interviewed me about religion and technology for a class project. When she mentioned the word “podcast,” I realized this would be the perfect opportunity to try out the podcast feature recently added to Substack.So in this episode, you'll hear Diana ask me thoughtful questions about how my religious background shapes my perspective on and approach to artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. I hope that this conversation provides an insightful window into how our beliefs inform the ways we engage with technology in our teaching, writing, and everyday lives.
I may invite other students to join future episodes as we continue to unpack the complex relationship between technology, communication, and what it means to be human. For now, grab a warm drink, settle into your favorite chair, and enjoy this thought-provoking discussion.
Synopsis
In this wide-ranging discussion, Diana and I explore how technology and religion shape and influence each other, using examples like the printing press and its role in the Reformation. We discuss how technology facilitates religious practice, from ancient song and poetry to modern church websites and online tithing. I share how my Eastern Orthodox faith shapes my view of technology as a tool that can be used for good or ill depending on context and application.
Key topics include:
The interplay between religion and technology as "co-constitutive" forces
How technologies like the printing press have affected religious doctrine and practice
The influence of individualism on contemporary religious interpretation
Concerns about AI threatening religion by promising digital immortality
The need for wisdom in discerning the right uses of emerging technologies
Hopes that technology can help people become more virtuous and foster human flourishing
I explain how my religious perspective makes me hesitant to attribute true rationality or ethical capability to AI systems. But I argue the solution is not to shun technology, but to thoughtfully integrate it in ways that enrich our shared human values. I may just invite students to join me for future episodes as we continue to unpack this complex and fascinating terrain.
Ep. 1 How Religion Shapes My Approach to GenAI
When I was studying at the Graduate Theological Union at UC Berkeley in the early 2000s, a group of scholars pondered the question whether imago dei would one day apply to human-machine networks. I don’t know if they were worked out a solution. If I remember right: the conservatives found the concept blasphemous, and the liberals worked around the accusations by deconstructing the creator-created distinction by rethinking the concept of ex nihilo. Interesting prescient days!
I love it. The response has the perfect sentential architecture of GPT but with your ideas definitely embedded. While I personally have drifted with time into agnosticism and Buddhism alternatively, I very much respect your position. I think imago dei requires maintaining some serious distinction between creator and created. How one handles ex nihilo may depend on one’s hermeneutical framework, but regardless of how one works through the interpretive and textual issues imago dei should take precedence. Big thumbs up! But you do leave an interesting loophole. What about self determining AI? Heaven protect us from that is my serious opinion on the matter. When the mirror is broken all bets are off. Ha!