Overview

This book focuses on the idea of the imago Dei to engaging theologically with artificial intelligence (AI). It reflects on how enormous progress in the development of AI has raised some challenges to Christian theology. Questions explored include: is AI created in the imago Dei? If so, does AI challenge the uniqueness of the human being as the imago Dei? If not, could AI be incorporated into human communities as a human companion in the same way as a natural human person? Would AI eventually develop to have human-level consciousness and be capable of performing liturgies and ethical actions? Bringing to light the radical distinction between the imago Dei and the imago hominis, the book constructs a theo-ontological foundation for AI and draws on the Reformed theology of archetype–ectype as a metaphysical tool to deploy a holistic account of the imago Dei in theology–AI dialogues. The author argues that the imago Dei is the signifier of the beginning both of God–human stories and stories of human ethical performances towards others. From the perspective of the image of the imago Dei, it can be argued that AI can somehow participate into the narration of these religious and ethical stories. This book will be of particular interest to scholars of theology and those working in the field of religion and science/technology.

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9781032397832

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Reviews

“The Digitalized Image of God is a powerful, rich and urgently needed exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between artificial intelligence and human self-understanding, as mediated by our theological visions of the divine. In an era where marketing and media hype increasingly seek to obscure the distinction between ourselves and our machines, Xu’s analysis offers a clear and profound path through the fog.” - Shannon Vallor, University of Edinburgh “In this important study, Ximian Xu develops a nuanced theological ontology of artificial intelligence, and shows how that ontology can inform ethical reasoning about AI and its applications. The result is a valuable contribution to the literature on the theology and ethics of AI, offering many helpful insights into questions of growing importance for church and society.” - Neil Messer, Baylor University “Artificial Intelligence has had a number of winters and summers, but in recent years the technology has developed to such an extent that one can confidently say that it is here to stay. As such responses to it have moved from the speculative and sci-fi to measured critique. It is in this context that Ximian Xu has provided a thorough theological analysis and criticism of the state-of-the-art in AI, viewing it in terms of humanity’s relation (as ectype) to God (as archetype) via the imago Dei. Here humans become the archetype and AI the ectype creating an imago hominis. This provides the framework from which he reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the technology with respect to issues such as agency, morality and pastoral care. In this he has done a great service to the church, and I am sure that the insights and challenges presented will make this a ‘must read’ for theologians and informed laity for years to come.” - George Coghill, University of Aberdeen “The Digitalised Image of God is an important contribution to ethical explorations of the increasingly complex relationship between humans and AI technologies. The basic premise of the thesis is that such considerations must begin by contending with their theo-ontology. This move has yielded a constructive framework that can enable judicious reflection on how we can live well with our machines. Even as the technology rapidly develops, this book will no doubt remain an essential reference point for theological ethical reflection on AI.” - Jonas Kurlberg, Spurgeon’s College

Author Information

Ximian Xu is Duncan Forrester Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Before this, he was Kenneth and Isabel Morrison Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Theology and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in the University’s School of Divinity and Edinburgh Futures Institute. He is the author of Theology as the Science of God: Herman Bavinck’s Wetenschappelijke Theology for the Modern World (2022).

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