Written by: Joel Zantingh on January 27, 2025

We’re in an interesting cultural moment with Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancing exponentially, reinforcing the necessity to discover what it means to truly be human. When we speak of intelligence, the importance of knowledge and of productivity are there, but there are elements of our human-essence that go far beyond what the AI is coded for, namely the messiness and interconnectedness of humans who are made up of body, mind and soul. These very things, labelled as “junk code”, are factored out of AI but are essential to being human [1].

As the preface in Eve Poole’s Robot Soul claims, ‘this book reviews progress in Artificial Intelligence and examines the traditional debate on consciousness and the soul” [2]. She alludes to the fear surrounding a self-teaching AI that it will surpass and eclipse us as human beings [3]. But then gives us something to address our fear, calling us to keep promoting the junk code.

The utilitarian nature of human capacity is only part of the picture. We are not merely doers, or body-systems.  We are living souls (psuche) with skin and bones on. The aliveness to these parts of us that capture and feed off each other’s emotions, and reflect the Imago Dei are critical to our place in this world as stewards of all else that Creator has made. We have “free will”, emotional bonds, intuition, moral learning, and meaning-making. All of which is classified by programmers as part of the junk code. In a podcast interview, Poole asked us to consider, “do we trust the people who are driving this [AI development]” [4]?  She obviously does not.

If I had more time, I’d develop her summary of the interplay of AI Management and inspiration towards full humanity in her “Robot Manifesto”.

1. In our zeal for excellence, we have programmed into Al only what we consider to be the very best of human intelligence, and avoided sullying them with humanity’s ‘Junk Code!
2. But on closer scrutiny it seems that our Junk Code is at the very heart of our humanity, and is crucial for our flourishing.
3. Given that we have designed Al in our own image, we should hasten to decipher and transfer this coding to them, because it is how we address our own control and alignment problem.
4. Given what we have already learned about bias and injustice, this needs to be a global effort to avoid a default design that is skewed towards one regional view of humanity.
5. Meanwhile we need to agree rigorous regulation during this transi-tion, and the rules governing any relaxation of it, in order to reduce the risk of a conscious but incomplete intelligence.
6. This includes an immediate ban on autonomous weapons, and a licensing regime with rules that reserve any final decision over the life and death of a human to a fellow human.
7. We should also agree the criteria for legal personhood and a road map for Al towards it [5].

So while this book is addressing how the human race will address the continual development of AI, it points the reader to a deeper thinking about the call towards wholeness as human beings – paying attention to our bodies, minds, and souls. We possess not simply emotions, but an emotional bond. We don’t merely troubleshoot, but develop conscience about which decisions will benefit self and others. We are a species designed to make meaning, to distill wisdom and tell stories.

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[1] Eve Poole, Robot Souls: Programming in Humanity, Florida: CRC Press, 2023, Chapter 7.

[2] Robot Souls, xi.

[3] Poole elaborates that “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it would take off on its own, and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete and would be superseded”. Robot Souls, 29.

[4] “Redefining Leadership and AI’s Impact: A Conversation with Dr. Eve Poole by Leaders in Business.” n.d. Accessed January 23, 2025, 33:38.

[5] Robot Souls, 125.

About the Author

Joel Zantingh

Joel Zantingh is a catalyst for peacemaking and intercultural teams, speaker, theologian and consultant. He is the Canadian Coordinator of the World Evangelical Alliance's Peace and Reconciliation Network, and the Director of Engagement with Lausanne Movement Canada. He has served in local and national roles within the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada, and led their global mission arm. He has experience teaching in formal and informal settings with Bible college students and leaders from various cultures and generations. Joel and Christie are parents to adult children, as well as grandparents. They reside in Guelph, Ont., situated on the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and home to many past, present and future First Nations peoples, including the Anishinnabe and Hodinöhsö:ni'.

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