In Depth:  Artificial Intelligence

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World-first Christian app powered by AI launched

World-first Christian app powered by AI launched

A first-of-its-kind Christian Artificial Intelligence (AI) app, that provides personalised, Scripture-based theological insights has been launched by technology company bible.ai.

The first religious app to use voice and virtual AI on a theological platform, bible.ai allows users to ask questions and provides personalised answers based on the Bible and other theological data sources.

Turning to griefbots or grieving with hope?

Turning to griefbots or grieving with hope?
Cassie Martin
Cassie Martin

Two of the most atypical Marvel/Disney+ series of the past couple of years have been two of the most interesting.

Instead of action men, explosions, robots and galactic threats, they featured intelligent storytelling combined with a quirky central concept, and a female showrunner and predominantly female casts. They were both, unusually for big budget productions, also about grief. Wandavision (2021) gave us the poignant line: ‘What is grief, if not love persevering?’, and in Agatha All Along (2024) the burden of grief carried by the charismatic villainess helped to humanise her.

Debate on AI in church 'urgently needed'

Debate on AI in church 'urgently needed'
Graham Nicholls
Graham Nicholls

Towards the end of last year, Affinity organised a webinar to discuss important questions around artificial intelligence use in the church.

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to feature prominently in the news, whether in discussions about replacing humans for practical or social tasks, medical diagnostic tools, or deepfake videos. There is no doubt about the benefits of some AI tools; only this week, I came across an AI service that offered to handle charitable grant applications. This immediately appealed to me, having found the process tedious and frustrating in the past.

Technology and the vision of a Christ-centred cosmos

Technology and the vision of a Christ-centred cosmos
Paul Blackham
Paul Blackham

A technological revolution is happening in the way information is handled. It has been happening for at least 20 years but has achieved a level of impact and accessibility to make everybody sit up and take notice.

The modern world could be defined not as the Bronze or Iron Age but as the Ink Age – because words were the most powerful resource, beginning with the Renaissance and Reformation, through the Enlightenment and into the era of mass media through radio, television and information technology. This trajectory already indicates that words have been turned into pictures and images as a primary form of communication.

Tech wise

Tech wise
Stephen Ayre

Book Review MADE IN OUR IMAGE: God, artificial intelligence and you

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A Wesley hymn on penguins?

A Wesley hymn on penguins?
Matt MacGregor
Matt MacGregor

Would you sing a hymn written by a computer? I wonder how you would back up your answer to that question. I suspect the instinctive answer of many would be ‘no.’ But why not?

The answer cannot be because a computer won’t be good at it. AI technology probably became a better songwriter than you some years ago. I took the liberty of asking ChatGPT to write a hymn in the style of Charles Wesley about penguins:

South Korean Christians turn to AI

South Korean Christians turn to AI
Luke Randall
Luke Randall

Tens of thousands of Christians in South Korea have added technology supported by artificial intelligence (AI) to their spiritual diet, reports the Financial Times.

Many young Protestants in particular have started using AI-supported Christian apps, which has freed up pastors’ diaries to spend more time focusing on caring for members of their churches on a pastoral level.

AI – our unnecessary angst?

AI – our unnecessary angst?
Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

If you’ve seen Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, you’ll know the hunt is on for the key to a powerful sentient AI entity – a villainous entity that threatens to unleash god-like omnipotence over the entire world.

It’s a timely movie, illustrating the potential (if fictional) power of artificial intelligence; it’s prescience wasn’t lost on me (I watched it the same night I’d finished the first part of this article).

Bible translation: AI and other reasons to be joyful
the Bible in action

Bible translation: AI and other reasons to be joyful
Jeremy Weightman
Jeremy Weightman

‘At last, it is like the heart of Christ is open to the Godié people.’

So said Bible translator Jean Dada at the recent launch of the Godié New Testament in Côte d’Ivoire. This is a typical reaction when people get the Scriptures in their own language for the first time: suddenly, they gain a depth of understanding not possible when reading in their second, third or fourth language.

AI – souless, risky, misunderstood…?

AI – souless, risky, misunderstood…?
Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

So I went on the search engine Google and typed in ‘AI’ (Artificial Intelligence).

Ironically, and paradoxically, that very search engine is itself a form of AI, of course.

Countdown to killer robots?
politics & policy

Countdown to killer robots?

James Mildred
James Mildred

In December last year, OpenAI launched Chat GPT-4. It’s the most advanced chatbot yet, employing cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI).

You can ask it any question and it will come up with an answer, because it has access to a colossal amount of data. This extends even to the finer points of Baptist covenant theology, as I discovered recently.

Theologians debate super-fast rise of AI technology

Theologians debate super-fast rise of AI technology
Nicola Laver
Nicola Laver

‘Mitigating the risk of extinction from Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war’ – so stated a single-sentence open letter to the world, signed by global experts.

The message was circulated on 30 May, signed by hundreds of top AI experts and other key figures including Bill Gates, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and the chief executive of Google DeepMind. They signed the statement with the aim to ‘open up discussion’. There have also been calls for regulation of AI.

Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT & the nature of God

Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT & the nature of God
Cassie Martin
Cassie Martin

Have you ever tried asking your Alexa, Cortana or even Chat GPT to ‘open the pod bay doors’?

Without exception they will reply: ‘I’m sorry, Dave. I can’t do that.’ [When proofreading, we tried this on Siri and the answer was ‘Oh, not again!’ (en subs)] This is, of course, a reference to HAL, the ship’s computer, from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which famously goes rogue, developing a personality and priorities of its own.

The lively oracles of God are the most valuable thing

The lively oracles of God are the most valuable thing
John Stevens
John Stevens

In recent weeks there has been a plethora of concern about the dangers of AI. One is the fear that AI will create new religions.

Israeli public intellectual Yuval Noah Harari recently told a conference in Switzerland: ‘In the future we might see the first cults and religions in history whose revered texts were written by a non-human intelligence. Of course, religions throughout history claimed that their holy books were written by unknown human intelligence. This was never true before. This could become true very, very quickly, with far-reaching consequences.’

The rise of AI
editorial

The rise of AI

As evangelical believers, we marvel at the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and recognize both the potential threats and benefits it brings to our world.

The rise of AI signifies the incredible capacity of human intellect and innovation, reflecting the marvellous creative power bestowed upon us by our Creator.

New ChatGPT AI: ‘fear not’

New ChatGPT AI: ‘fear not’
en staff; christianscholars.com

New online artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT which is taking the world by storm should not be viewed with suspicion, a Christian academic expert says.

Microsoft’s ChatGPT (available at chat.openai.com/chat) has attracted millions of users across the globe since its launch just a couple of months ago. Google is launching a rival AI system called Bard.

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