{"id":34962,"date":"2024-01-17T12:21:57","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T20:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34962"},"modified":"2024-01-17T12:21:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T20:21:57","slug":"embodied-i-am-dust-breath-and-junk-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/embodied-i-am-dust-breath-and-junk-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Embodied, I Am. . . Dust, breath and junk code"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBy the time you read this, there will be several more lists of new laws, and the regulation debate will have moved on yet again. but the argument of this book is less about these details and more about how we need to rethink our first principles. Well first generation AI may require Draconian control, because of its extremely limited parameters, the hope is that more enlightened programming will make this threat less pronounced and worrisome. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

As I read the book, <\/span>Robot Souls:\u00a0 Programming in Humanity<\/span><\/i> by Eve Poole, my intellect was stirred, causing my heart rate to increase and maybe the cadence of my breaths slightly increased.\u00a0 Fully human, I am.\u00a0 \u201cHey Siri, call. . . .\u201d or\u00a0 \u201cAlexa, turn on the bedroom light\u201d.\u00a0 All commands I have given to a created intelligence to perform mundane tasks.\u00a0 \u00a0 I had never given thought to the moral culpability of AI and the futuristic idea of a human obsolescence problem.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Never had I once given thought to the extinction of the human race, replaced by a world of AI, primarily because AI relies on humans for its function and production.\u00a0 Just this morning on the Today Show, I heard a brief vignette showcasing three new AI creations, one that vacuums AND mops floors, a robot that greets you at the door, talks to you, and keeps your life \u201con track\u201d, and an AI device that gives a person a complete manicure, mapping the physical shape of one\u2019s fingernails to paint, all in 30 minutes without having to go to a salon.\u00a0 I was intrigued.\u00a0 Does AI buy us more time?\u00a0 Make us more productive?\u00a0 Perform what might be unfavorable tasks so that we are enabled to do more of what we love?\u00a0 The author raises concerns about moral accountability, legal responsibility, and the anthropomorphism of AI.\u00a0 While I think it is important that we maintain a theology of AI use, it is important to keep in mind that humans created these entities, and therefore humans are morally responsible for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as we are fashioned in the image of Creator God, we mirror this creativity in our ability to develop aids for our bodies, medicines, art, music, and even as we partner with God in procreation.\u00a0 However, we are embodied creatures, half breath, (soul\/spirit), and half dust (flesh).\u00a0 We are a nephesh, a living, breathing, physical being. [2]\u00a0 The concept of human embodiment is introduced at the outset of the biblical narrative. Genesis 2:7 emphasizes that God formed man from the dust of the ground, breathing the breath of life into his nostrils, thereby making him a living creature. [3] God created humans to embrace their embodied existence and foster a harmonious relationship with themselves, others, the broader creation, and God.\u00a0 Like Aquinas, I am also convinced that God populates every human with a soul.\u00a0 So as Poole chronologies the development of AI and its self-awareness, the self-awareness that is contained within AI is different than consciousness and is drastically distinct from the soul. [4] Humans are distinct in that we are participants in God\u2019s greater story.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the book, the question \u201cwhat makes us (humans) special\u201d is posed?\u00a0 If AI is. . . outperforming us in industry and production, cleaning our floors, mowing our lawns, answering our questions, greeting us at the door when we come home, and even giving us a complete manicure without going to a salon, when will humans be disposed of and replaced by a perfected created being that does not mess us, go slow to go fast, struggle with depression and discontent and all of the other issues that fallible humans experience, the underpinnings of our \u201cjunk code\u201d. [5]\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As image bearers, our junk code makes us special.\u00a0 The scars that we bear tell a different story, one that cannot be replicated with metal, plastic, or silicone.\u00a0 We are prone to all kinds of pitfalls, poor decisions, mistakes, errors, and sin.\u00a0 This part of our junk code is purposeful for training, correction, and transformation.\u00a0 Our junk code is a piece of our embodiment as humans, its what makes us special and irreplicable.\u00a0 This is OUR story, included in a bigger story of God\u2019s love for His creation.\u00a0 If anything, this book prompts me to consider the ways one\u2019s story is told, recognizing the uniqueness of God\u2019s created humans, higher than AI.\u00a0 This is what makes us, humans, special, and why we need to start sharing that uniqueness, as image bearers with others so that they too may know that they matter, not as producers, but simply as humans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt some stage, the sun will explode, if the Earth is not hit by a meteor meanwhile, so are demise is inevitable over the longer term. but if we do feel that we are special in some way, we may need to start explaining why, because if the artificial entities we have created are indeed intelligent they will need to be presented with a convincing argument about why we matter, particularly as they start to outperform us on every measure, and increasingly need our resources. [6]<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we as followers of Jesus, better communicate our \u201cspecialness\u201d in a way that guides others in realizing their \u201cspecialness\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0 Eve Poole, Robot Souls: Programming in Humanity (Bacon Raton, FL: CRC Press, n.d.), 25.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] <\/span>https:\/\/bibleproject.com\/explore\/video\/nephesh-soul\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[3] Genesis 2:7, ESV<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Eve Poole, Robot Souls: Programming in Humanity (Bacon Raton, FL: CRC Press, n.d.), 67.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Ibid, 74.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Ibid, 32.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBy the time you read this, there will be several more lists of new laws, and the regulation debate will have moved on yet again. but the argument of this book is less about these details and more about how we need to rethink our first principles. Well first generation AI may require Draconian control, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2489,2090],"class_list":["post-34962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-poole","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34963,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34962\/revisions\/34963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}