Artificial Intelligence: Finding Human Hope Amid the Hype
Artificial Intelligence:
Finding Human Hope Amid the Hype
[Originally published October 31, 2025]
"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."
Genesis 1:26-27, ESV
Introduction
Our beliefs about who we are as human beings, and where we find our place in this universe, shape how we make our moral decisions. Humankind's distinctness goes without question among most Christians, because we have been created in God's image and given a purpose in life (Genesis 1:26-27). Herbert Simon offers a contrasting view of human origins and worth when he writes, "With Copernicus and Galileo, he [man] ceased to be the species located at the center of the universe, attended by sun and stars. With Darwin, he ceased to be the species created and specially endowed by God with soul and reason. With Freud, he ceased to be the species whose behavior was – potentially – governable by rational mind. As we begin to produce mechanisms that think and learn, he has ceased to be the species uniquely capable of complex, intelligent manipulation of his environment." [1]
Each of these historical shifts were paradigm-shaping, meaning they represented quantum changes in worldviews, albeit secular ones. They also are laden with moral meaning because they refer to who humans are and their role in the universe. Simon's words, penned in 1977, seem prophetic, considering the most recent new age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) where humankind possesses no special worth and where some even speculate that we will be replaced by machines!
The world of AI is rapidly evolving, and the notion of what it means to be a "human person" rests at the heart of this burgeoning technology. The Biblical view of "persons," as creatures fashioned in God's image, holds profound ethical importance in every age, especially in this age of Artificial Intelligence.
Despite the ever-present and advancing nature of AI, what the technology is and does often remains unclear to people. You may not know it, but it impacts far more than a conversation you may have with Siri on your iPhone or Alexa on your kitchen counter. This technology holds deep significance for human relationships with God, His creation, and other persons. This claim is a large one. It leads us to ask, "What is AI?"
Each of these historical shifts were paradigm-shaping, meaning they represented quantum changes in worldviews, albeit secular ones. They also are laden with moral meaning because they refer to who humans are and their role in the universe. Simon's words, penned in 1977, seem prophetic, considering the most recent new age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) where humankind possesses no special worth and where some even speculate that we will be replaced by machines!
The world of AI is rapidly evolving, and the notion of what it means to be a "human person" rests at the heart of this burgeoning technology. The Biblical view of "persons," as creatures fashioned in God's image, holds profound ethical importance in every age, especially in this age of Artificial Intelligence.
Despite the ever-present and advancing nature of AI, what the technology is and does often remains unclear to people. You may not know it, but it impacts far more than a conversation you may have with Siri on your iPhone or Alexa on your kitchen counter. This technology holds deep significance for human relationships with God, His creation, and other persons. This claim is a large one. It leads us to ask, "What is AI?"
AI: Algorithms with Ever-Growing Aptitude
What is AI? AI can be broadly defined as “the examination of how digital computers and algorithms perform tasks and solve complex problems that would normally require (or exceed) human intelligence, reasoning, and prediction power needed to adapt to changing circumstances." It is "intelligence" shown or replicated by code (algorithms) or machines. [2] Human beings created it to possess the ability to understand and comprehend knowledge, and then to reason and act using this acquired knowledge. [3] At the most basic level, AI refers to the ability of computer systems to perform tasks normally associated only with human intelligence. It represents a paradigm shift because it involves computer systems improving their own performance independent of human intervention—otherwise known as “machine learning.”
How is this technology different? Machine learning refers to the ever-growing availability of enormous amounts of information gathered from social media and the massive use of billions of smart phones. This "big data," combined with computer technology, uses speedy mobile networks to make self-improvements on its own. AI applications include many domains like transportation, marketing, health care, finance and insurance, security and the military, science, education, office work, personal assistance, entertainment, the arts, agriculture, and manufacturing. [4] There are both benefits and burdens of this technology.
How is this technology different? Machine learning refers to the ever-growing availability of enormous amounts of information gathered from social media and the massive use of billions of smart phones. This "big data," combined with computer technology, uses speedy mobile networks to make self-improvements on its own. AI applications include many domains like transportation, marketing, health care, finance and insurance, security and the military, science, education, office work, personal assistance, entertainment, the arts, agriculture, and manufacturing. [4] There are both benefits and burdens of this technology.
AI at an ethical intersection
Benefits. AI impacts a wide range of domains for the good which, for example, include law, business, education, politics, and culture. We all make daily use of digital assistants like those I mention above. The automobile industry uses AI to make auto manufacturing more efficient. The military uses it for "predictive threat analysis" to keep us safe from surprise attacks. The technology helps the legal profession to conduct document research and contract analysis. AI helps to detect phishing scams by analyzing emails for signs of spoofing and forged senders. There are benefits in nearly every area of life.
Burdens. However, there have been moral concerns raised with breakdowns in computer algorithms. For example, ethical alarms have been sounded due to bias against people of color in criminal justice cases, injustices in business hiring, algorithms that affect educational outcomes, gender prejudices in politics, and facial recognition algorithms that falsely identified African-American and Asian faces 10-100 times more than Caucasian faces. All these examples hold ethical implications for life's sanctity, human worth and meaning, as well as human flourishing. The pervasive expansion of AI into every corner of our lives and beyond then begs a question: What ethical implication does AI hold for humans? There is one key area that this brief article considers—"transhumanism."
Burdens. However, there have been moral concerns raised with breakdowns in computer algorithms. For example, ethical alarms have been sounded due to bias against people of color in criminal justice cases, injustices in business hiring, algorithms that affect educational outcomes, gender prejudices in politics, and facial recognition algorithms that falsely identified African-American and Asian faces 10-100 times more than Caucasian faces. All these examples hold ethical implications for life's sanctity, human worth and meaning, as well as human flourishing. The pervasive expansion of AI into every corner of our lives and beyond then begs a question: What ethical implication does AI hold for humans? There is one key area that this brief article considers—"transhumanism."
Transhumanism: Where Dr. Frankenstein meets AI
A rebirth of Dr. Frankenstein? Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, first published in 1818, imagines the creation of intelligent life from lifeless matter. A scientist, Victor Frankenstein, creates a human-like being from parts of corpses, but loses control over his creation. Frankenstein can be seen as a novel that warns about modern technology, albeit a view informed by the science of that era. What was true of thinkers and writers then is the same in our day. They debated the origin and nature of life! The underlying caution is for scientists to take responsibility for their creations. AI represents such a moral challenge as it relates to transhumanism.
Disappointment with human frailty and finitude. There are those within the AI realm that believe science and technology can help human beings develop what is presently physically and mentally impossible at this time. They exhibit a disappointment with human frailty and “errors,” and they argue that we need to enhance the human being: make it smarter, less vulnerable to disease, live longer, and potentially even immortal—thus leading to what has been termed the Homo deus: humans that will be upgraded into gods (cf. Genesis 11:4-9).
In other words, the "human machine" needs an upgrade; otherwise, humans risk remaining “the slow and increasingly inefficient part of” AI. What God has created, in their estimation, needs to be re-engineered, and, some even argue, why not dispense with biological parts altogether and design non-organic intelligent beings!?
Transhuman machines. Here is where transhumanists believe that science and technology can create machines that will surpass human intelligence. They see at least two paths to this objective. One path is that AI will develop recursive self-improvement: an AI could design an improved version of itself, and then continue to design a smarter version of itself. The second is whole brain emulation or uploading: a biological brain that could be scanned, modeled, and reproduced in and by intelligence software. This simulation of a biological brain would then be connected to a robot body. Such developments would then lead to an explosion of nonhuman intelligence. Some imagine that a team could even create an AI that will become all-powerful and run the planet! [5]
Christians, being aware of such mind-body dualism (cf. Cartesian dualism), need to speak into this moral context with a clear message of hope regarding the meaning of whole human beings--mind, body, and soul-- who have been fashioned in God's image (Genesis 1:26-28). We need to give voice to the value we find in our finite existence. We are, after all, not God.
Disappointment with human frailty and finitude. There are those within the AI realm that believe science and technology can help human beings develop what is presently physically and mentally impossible at this time. They exhibit a disappointment with human frailty and “errors,” and they argue that we need to enhance the human being: make it smarter, less vulnerable to disease, live longer, and potentially even immortal—thus leading to what has been termed the Homo deus: humans that will be upgraded into gods (cf. Genesis 11:4-9).
In other words, the "human machine" needs an upgrade; otherwise, humans risk remaining “the slow and increasingly inefficient part of” AI. What God has created, in their estimation, needs to be re-engineered, and, some even argue, why not dispense with biological parts altogether and design non-organic intelligent beings!?
Transhuman machines. Here is where transhumanists believe that science and technology can create machines that will surpass human intelligence. They see at least two paths to this objective. One path is that AI will develop recursive self-improvement: an AI could design an improved version of itself, and then continue to design a smarter version of itself. The second is whole brain emulation or uploading: a biological brain that could be scanned, modeled, and reproduced in and by intelligence software. This simulation of a biological brain would then be connected to a robot body. Such developments would then lead to an explosion of nonhuman intelligence. Some imagine that a team could even create an AI that will become all-powerful and run the planet! [5]
Christians, being aware of such mind-body dualism (cf. Cartesian dualism), need to speak into this moral context with a clear message of hope regarding the meaning of whole human beings--mind, body, and soul-- who have been fashioned in God's image (Genesis 1:26-28). We need to give voice to the value we find in our finite existence. We are, after all, not God.
Life's Ultimate Meaning: Hope Amid a Wave of AI Hype
Christians offer profound hope amid the rising tide of AI super-intelligence hype. There are two starting points where we may offer hope in this new era of rapid scientific and technological change.
The intrinsic value of every human life. Some within the AI community, who place their hope in a super-intelligence, would grant superior moral value to machines based upon a principle that any two entities with the same capacity to experience feelings of sensation (sentience) and to possess discernment, insight and perception (sapience) have the same moral status, regardless of how they come to existence. According to this principle, being a member of the human species does not provide a superior moral status to human beings. In this view, the presence of the two criteria is the only morally relevant factor that indicates that an AI entity can have the same moral status as a human being.
A Biblical understanding of what it means to be human persons holds fast to the intrinsic value of every human life. Transhumanists present a frightening future, based upon a jumbled notion of personhood. [6] Defining persons as those who are self-aware, conscious, or able to establish social relationships or lead a “quality life,” truly has lost sight of real life that is finite and fraught with suffering. A transhumanist worldview has no satisfying answer when a person becomes sick, experiences intractable pain and suffering, is disfigured or no longer able to control one’s bodily functions. Christianity does! Dignity in Biblical understanding cannot be lost, nor can a person ever fall outside of God’s love.
Offer hope in Christ over technological hype. A Biblical understanding of human personhood places important restraints on such technological appetites. [7] This “technological imperative,” requires that everything that stands in the way of its advancement must give way. The moral concern is that if this imperative continues, our most vulnerable members of society will be placed in harms way.
In a transhumanist culture that aspires to immortality and denies moral status to the weak and infirm, a Christian witness to dignity amid frailty and finitude is vital to a world in search of ultimate meaning. At a basic level, moral status refers to a “status, grade, or rank of moral importance.” For example, we often encounter cultural questions about moral importance of human embryos, embryonic stem cells, fetuses, newborn infants, anencephalic babies, the mentally disabled, and the seriously demented. [8] Christians should not fall prey to the technological hype that imagines an AI utopia. We should strive to preserve the inherent dignity of all humanity as beings created in God's image.
The intrinsic value of every human life. Some within the AI community, who place their hope in a super-intelligence, would grant superior moral value to machines based upon a principle that any two entities with the same capacity to experience feelings of sensation (sentience) and to possess discernment, insight and perception (sapience) have the same moral status, regardless of how they come to existence. According to this principle, being a member of the human species does not provide a superior moral status to human beings. In this view, the presence of the two criteria is the only morally relevant factor that indicates that an AI entity can have the same moral status as a human being.
A Biblical understanding of what it means to be human persons holds fast to the intrinsic value of every human life. Transhumanists present a frightening future, based upon a jumbled notion of personhood. [6] Defining persons as those who are self-aware, conscious, or able to establish social relationships or lead a “quality life,” truly has lost sight of real life that is finite and fraught with suffering. A transhumanist worldview has no satisfying answer when a person becomes sick, experiences intractable pain and suffering, is disfigured or no longer able to control one’s bodily functions. Christianity does! Dignity in Biblical understanding cannot be lost, nor can a person ever fall outside of God’s love.
Offer hope in Christ over technological hype. A Biblical understanding of human personhood places important restraints on such technological appetites. [7] This “technological imperative,” requires that everything that stands in the way of its advancement must give way. The moral concern is that if this imperative continues, our most vulnerable members of society will be placed in harms way.
In a transhumanist culture that aspires to immortality and denies moral status to the weak and infirm, a Christian witness to dignity amid frailty and finitude is vital to a world in search of ultimate meaning. At a basic level, moral status refers to a “status, grade, or rank of moral importance.” For example, we often encounter cultural questions about moral importance of human embryos, embryonic stem cells, fetuses, newborn infants, anencephalic babies, the mentally disabled, and the seriously demented. [8] Christians should not fall prey to the technological hype that imagines an AI utopia. We should strive to preserve the inherent dignity of all humanity as beings created in God's image.
Conclusion
I recently found myself caught pleading with an AI chatbot to connect me with a human agent with whom I had requested assistance with a web development need. Our web company needed to complete a function so that our Center App could send push notifications to folks like you! The AI chatbot led me in complete circles several times, always refusing to connect me to a person in customer service. After the fourth go-round, the AI chatbot said, "Larry, your voice sounds upset." The algorithm had totally misinterpreted my emotions, and the system did not have the capacity to relate to me in ways that added meaning to that interaction.
That encounter prompted me to make sure that I lived as a hope-bearer in Christ with finite human beings in this new era of scientific and technological super-intelligence. Truly, AI may one day give way to a new paradigm that seeks to further diminish the value of God-created human persons, as Herbert Simon suggests, but Christ is everlasting hope for every human life on this planet. He creates all things, and all things are under His control (Colossians 1:15-17). Place your hope in Him.
May God bless you and keep you,
Larry C. Ashlock
That encounter prompted me to make sure that I lived as a hope-bearer in Christ with finite human beings in this new era of scientific and technological super-intelligence. Truly, AI may one day give way to a new paradigm that seeks to further diminish the value of God-created human persons, as Herbert Simon suggests, but Christ is everlasting hope for every human life on this planet. He creates all things, and all things are under His control (Colossians 1:15-17). Place your hope in Him.
May God bless you and keep you,
Larry C. Ashlock
Notes:
[1] Simon, H. A. (1977). The New Science of Management Decision. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
[2] Coeckelbergh, Mark. AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) (p. 64). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[3] Ekmekci, Perihan Elif; Arda, Berna. Artificial Intelligence and Bioethics (SpringerBriefs in Ethics) (p. 17). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[4] Coeckelbergh, Mark. AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) (p. 3). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[5] Coeckelbergh, Mark. AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) (pp. 11-12). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[6] See also Edmund D. Pellegrino and David C. Thomasma, The Christian Virtues in Medical Practice (Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1996), 148.
[7] Cf. Novak, “The Human Person as the Image of God,” Kindle. See also Edmund D. Pellegrino and David C. Thomasma, The Christian Virtues in Medical Practice, 147.
[8] Ibid.
[1] Simon, H. A. (1977). The New Science of Management Decision. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
[2] Coeckelbergh, Mark. AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) (p. 64). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[3] Ekmekci, Perihan Elif; Arda, Berna. Artificial Intelligence and Bioethics (SpringerBriefs in Ethics) (p. 17). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[4] Coeckelbergh, Mark. AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) (p. 3). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[5] Coeckelbergh, Mark. AI Ethics (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series) (pp. 11-12). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[6] See also Edmund D. Pellegrino and David C. Thomasma, The Christian Virtues in Medical Practice (Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1996), 148.
[7] Cf. Novak, “The Human Person as the Image of God,” Kindle. See also Edmund D. Pellegrino and David C. Thomasma, The Christian Virtues in Medical Practice, 147.
[8] Ibid.
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