Earlier this year, a Google engineer went public with his concerns an artificial intelligence chatbot program he had been testing had become sentient. Although his fears were dismissed by Google’s bosses, parts of his conversations with the software reveal the chatbot can speak in shockingly coherent and nuanced language, and even claims itself to have become conscious. How do these kind of programs work and why have they taken such a huge leap forward in recent years? Do we as Christians have anything to fear about the rise of computers which can talk back to us as convincingly as people? And why is speech in particular such a powerful part of our own sense of personhood and who God is?
The Washington Post article on Blake Lemoine.
In each episode of Matters of Life and Death, brought to you by Premier Unbelievable?, John Wyatt and his son Tim discuss issues in healthcare, ethics, technology, science, faith and more. John is a doctor, professor of ethics, and writer and speaker on many of these topics, while Tim is a religion and social affairs journalist. We talk about how Christians can better engage with a particular question of life, death or something else in between.
Earlier this year, a Google engineer went public with his concerns an artificial intelligence chatbot program he had been testing had become sentient. Although his fears were dismissed by Google’s bosses, parts of his conversations with the software reveal the chatbot can speak in shockingly coherent and nuanced language, and even claims itself to have become conscious. How do these kind of programs work and why have they taken such a huge leap forward in recent years? Do we as Christians have anything to fear about the rise of computers which can talk back to us as convincingly as people? And why is speech in particular such a powerful part of our own sense of personhood and who God is?
The Washington Post article on Blake Lemoine is here – https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/11/google-ai-lamda-blake-lemoine/
- Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
- If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John’s website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
- For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com
Building on last week’s discussion of AI chatbots, we consider the theology and sociology of why interacting with other human beings is so central to our personhood. But would it matter if we did enter into a counselling or caring relationship with a robot or AI software, if we felt it helped our loneliness or anxiety? How can we be raising young people, who cannot remember a world before smart speakers and digital assistants, to engage well and honestly with the AI all around them? And might there be a role for regulation to hem in the ambitions of the overmighty tech giants in this space?
You can read John’s briefing paper on AI and simulated relationships here.
In each episode of Matters of Life and Death, brought to you by Premier Unbelievable?, John Wyatt and his son Tim discuss issues in healthcare, ethics, technology, science, faith and more. John is a doctor, professor of ethics, and writer and speaker on many of these topics, while Tim is a religion and social affairs journalist. We talk about how Christians can better engage with a particular question of life, death or something else in between.
Building on last week’s discussion of AI chatbots, we consider the theology and sociology of why interacting with other human beings is so central to our personhood. But would it matter if we did enter into a counselling or caring relationship with a robot or AI software, if we felt it helped our loneliness or anxiety? How can we be raising young people, who cannot remember a world before smart speakers and digital assistants, to engage well and honestly with the AI all around them? And might there be a role for regulation to hem in the ambitions of the overmighty tech giants in this space?
You can read John’s briefing paper on AI and simulated relationships here – https://johnwyatt.com/2020/01/10/article-artificial-intelligence-and-simulated-relationships/
- Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
- If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John’s website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
- For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com