Elias Kruger, Author at AI Theology

Integrated STEM Education: Thoughtful, Experiential and Practical

In a previous blog, I proposed the idea of teaching STEM with a purpose. In this blog, I want to take a step back to evaluate how traditional STEM education fails to prepare students for life and propose an alternative way forward: Integrated STEM education.

One of the cardinal sins of our 19th century based education system is its inherent fragmentation. Western academia has compartmentalized the questions of “why” and “how” into separate disciplines.[note] While I am speaking based on my experience in the US, I suspect these issues are also prevalent in the Majority World as well.[/note] Let STEM students focus on the “how”(skills) and let the questions of “why”(critical thinking) to philosophers, ethicists and theologians. This way, students are left to make the connection between these questions on their own.

I understand that this will vary for different subjects. The technical rigors and complexity of some disciplines may leave little space for reflection. Yet, if STEM education is all about raising detached observers of nature or obsessed makers of new gadgets, then we have failed. GDP may grow and the economy may benefit from them, yet have we really enriched the world?

One could argue that Liberal Arts colleges already do that. As one who graduated from a Liberal Arts program, there is some truth to this statement. Students are required to take a variety of courses that span Science, Literature, Social Studies, Art and Math. Even so, students take these classes separately with little to no help in integrating them. Rarely they have opportunities to engage in multi-disciplinary projects that challenge them to bring together what they learned. The professors themselves are specialists in a small subset of their discipline often having little experience in interacting outside their disciplinary guild. Furthermore, while a Liberal Arts education does a good job in exposing students to a variety of academic disciplines it does a rather poor job in teaching practical skills. Some students come out of it with the taste and confidence to continue learning. Yet, many leave these degrees confused and end up having to pursue professional degrees in order to pick a career.

Professional training does the opposite. It is precisely what a Liberal Arts education is not: highly practical, short, focused learning for a specific skill. As one who took countless professional training courses, I certainly see their value. Also, they do bring together different disciplines and tend to be project based. The downside is that very few people can efficiently learn anything in week-long 6 hour class days. The student is exposed to the contours of a skill but the learning really happens later when and if that student tries to apply that skill to a real-world work problem. They also never have time to reflect on the implications of what they are doing. Students are often paid by their companies to get the skill quickly so they can increase productivity for the firm. Such focus on efficiency greatly degrades the quality of the learning. Students here are most likely to forget what he or she learned in the long run.

Finally there is learning through experiences. Most colleges recognize that and offer study abroad semesters for students wanting to take their learning to the world. I had the opportunity to spend a summer in South Korea and it truly changed me in enduring ways. The same can be said for less structured experiences such as parenting, doing community service, being involved with a community of faith and work experiences. A word of caution here is that just going through an experience does not ensure the individual actually learns. While some of the learning is assimilated, a lot of it is lost if the individual does not digest the experience through reflection, writing and talking about it to others.

Clearly these approaches in of themselves are incomplete forms of education. A Liberal Arts education alone will only fill one’s head of knowledge (and a bit of pride too). Professional training will help workers get the job done but they will not develop as individuals. Experiences apart from reflection will only produce salutary memories. What is needed is an approach that combines the strengths of all three.

I believe a hands on project-based, ethically reflective STEM education draws from the strength of all of these. It is broad enough like Liberal Arts, skill-building like professional training and experience-rich through its hands-on projects. Above all, it should occur in a nurturing environment where young students are encouraged to take risks while still receiving the guidance so they can learn from their mistakes. To create a neatly controlled environment for learning is akin to the world of movies where main characters come up with plans in a whim and execute on them flawlessly. Real life never happens that way. It is full of failures, setbacks, disappointments and occasionally some glorious successes. The more our education experience mimics that, the better it will prepare students for the real world.

Black Panther: A Powerful Postcolonial, African-Futurist Manifesto

Black Panther is more than a movie, it is a manifesto of possibilities and a vivid expression of Postcolonial imagination. Much has been said about the importance of having an African super-hero. I want to discuss why Black Panther matters to all of us, Western white people included. I never thought I would be able to address Postcolonialism, Theology and Technology in one blog. Black Panther allows me to do just that. I encourage everyone to see it and will do my best to keep this piece free of spoilers.

Back in Seminary, I did an independent study on Theology and Postcolonialism (you can check one of my papers from that class here). In the middle of the last century, as most colonies had gained their independence, Majority World scholars realized that political freedom was not enough to undo the shackles of Colonialism. They realized that colonial paradigms still persisted in the very sources of knowledge of Modernity. Therefore, what was needed was a full deconstruction of knowledge as it was handed to them by Euro-centric scholars. Inspired by Foucault’s idea that speech is power, this movement started first in Literature and then moved to the Social Sciences. This project of deconstruction continues till this day. In my view, Black Panther represents the next step in this progression. If the first Postcolonial authors were there to identify and de-construct Western biases embedded in literature, the writers of Black Panther start the re-construction in the creation of a Postcolonial imagination.

How is that so? First, it is important to say what Black Panther is not. It is not a depiction of African suffering under the White oppressor like 12 Years a Slave. As necessary as this type of movie is, it is still enclosed in a Colonial paradigm that albeit critically still puts the White man at the center of the story. It is also not a depiction of African harsh social realities like Moonlight and City of God. While such narratives are also important and represent progress from the previous category (here minorities are at the center of the story), they lack a prophetic imagination of how things could change.

Black Panther represents a new category of its own. It paints an alternative hopeful image, grounded in the Sci-Fi genre, of what these societies could be if they were to realize their God-given potential independent of Western Colonialism. What impress me most is that the writers went to great lengths to imagine a future that was authentically African even as it become technologically advanced. Therefore, this African Futurism not only portrays a future of what it could be for Majority World but also challenges our current Western ideals of technology. It portrays a technology that is not there to replace but to merge with nature. This sustainable picture is maybe the best gift of African Futurism to the world.

Moreover, I thought that it was important that not only the hero but also the anti-hero was of African descent. Here there is some controversy and push back as Christopher Lebron’s essay brings up. Fair enough, yet a movie that depicted an African hero against a White villain would have missed the opportunity to re-imagine a postcolonial future by re-enforcing the colonial past. I cannot speak for those of African descent. Yet, as one born in the Majority World and inevitably linked to its story of struggle, I can say that true postcolonial imagination happens when we are able to see that our main problems are the ones coming from within. This is very difficult task given the burden of oppressive structures that persist even to the present day. Yet, it is only when the problem become our own, and not the Colonizer’s, that we can recover the power taken from us.

It is encouraging to see how this movie has become a catalyst for the African diaspora all over the world to re-think and re-imagine their identify. It is not just a fantasy that imagines a perfect world without problems but one in which good redeems a hopeless present. Here is where Theology comes in. Wakanda is a great picture of what the Jewish writers envisioned as the Kingdom of God coming to Earth. It does not happen through power or violence but through invitation and outreach. This is the type of Christ-like upside-down power that the white Evangelical church in this country has forgotten. When we align ourselves with those who protect guns and against refugees we have failed to understand the very heart of the gospel. I could say much more but for now, let those who have ears hear.

Black Panther is an invitation for new Postcolonial imaginations to emerge. I call on Latin Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders to give us their version of a hopeful future. Our world will be richer for it. Let the forgotten find their voice, not only of pain but also of creativity, joy and transformation.

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A year after I posted this, I wrote a blog going more into the actual architecture of Wakanda. To read that blog, click here.

Reflections on the 2018 LAMP Symposium on the Future of Life

Last Saturday I attended the 2018 LAMP (Leadership and Multi-faith Program) symposium, a collaborative endeavor between Emory University and Georgia Tech. The topic for this year was “Religious and Scientific Perspectives in the Future of Life.” The event was sub-divided in three parts, starting with life in the body and mind (religion meets science in deciphering the soul), life in our planet (warnings about Global Warning inaction) and life in outer-space (an introduction to Astrobiology). For lunch, we also learned about a AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) initiative to build bridges between seminary students and scientists.

Unfortunately, I was not able to stay for the last session and therefore cannot speak to it in detail. Yet, the very idea that there is an academic discipline studying the possibility of life in other planets is fascinating. I am encouraging my 8 year-old daughter to look into that for a college major. It sounds like a truly exciting field.

The symposium opened with Dr. Arri Eisen describing his experience of teaching science to Buddhist monks in Tibet. Apart from some entertaining stories, the main gist followed along the lines of “we have much to learn from each other if we are open” theme. While this is not earth-shattering, it was refreshing to see a Scientist affirm that his craft is not immune to personal and/or cultural biases. Of all the speakers that followed, the most interesting was Dr. Mascaro’s description of her work to test the health impacts of meditation. She first showed the overwhelming evidence for the correlation between social connection and health. That is, the more lonely we are the more physically sick we become. Hence, any activity that can increase our sense of connection with others should also have health benefits which proved to be the case. This is an important finding that hopefully with time will move us to look at physical health from a more holistic perspective.

I was particularly unimpressed by the contribution of the speakers from the religious side to the dialogue. To be fair, each of them had little time to fully state their case but their observations really added little to the debate. For example, the Muslim scholar’s main point was to question the reliability of the mind without fully describing how that really differs from the soul. I think what he meant was a suspicion of the Western cult of objectivity and rationality yet that was not clearly stated. The Jewish Scholar spoke of her research on ritual bath without really making clear connections as to how that contributes to the dialogue between Religion and Science or the connection between mind and soul.

The lunch talk was informative and hopeful as I learned about how Columbia Seminary students were being exposed to Scientific knowledge though a speaker series. The hope here is that as they become pastors they will become more engaged with Science and this engagement will makes it way to the pulpit and Sunday school classes. However, such initiative would have been much more consequential in conservative evangelical seminaries where Science is often seen as the enemy of faith. It is an encouraging beginning nevertheless.

The after-lunch session turned out to be a call to action for engaging religious community with Global Warming activism. Of the speakers in this session, I was impressed by Rabbi Kornblau’s holistic approach to the Torah that included a commitment to caring for the environment. I was disappointed by the Christian Theologian’s exploration of Eschatology and Ecology. While he brought a valid point that his generation was less concerned about a shift in worldview to moving to action, there was a missed opportunity in developing this many connections of the these two topics. Moreover, while I will second their concern with Global Warming, I was looking for discussion on the current scientific developments in life extension. I was also hoping for an acknowledgement of the role of technology in their research.

I realize that the tone of my review is rather negative. I was expecting much more from a discussion on the future of life. As someone keenly interested in the dialogue between Technology and Religion, I am rather impatient with the slow pace of the dialogue between Religion and Science in academic circles. The latter lays the groundwork for the former. Yet, given its slow pace, we may be years away from a robust dialogue between on the role of Religion in emerging technologies. I see a lot of preliminary discussion but very little in the way of actionable insights. I understand that this stems in part from the academic focus on research and theory. Even so, I find that unacceptable given the pace of change brought forth by emerging technologies (AI, VR and CRISP to name a few) on our humanity. While there are some institutions in the forefront of this dialogue (i.e.: Pittsburg Seminary and University of Durham), I was hoping the leading academic institutions of a growing metropolis like Atlanta would be making inroads in this area.

This leads me to believe that most insights and breakthroughs in this area will not come from Academia but from practitioners (pastors and technologists). Academic institutions will find themselves having to catch up with the new knowledge being uncovered by innovators in the field. This is unfortunate given academic institutions’ wealth of resources for research. I hope that changes but if what I saw on Saturday is any indication, Academia is a long way from leading in this dialogue.

Altered Carbon and The Eternal Soul: Sci-Fi Gets Religion

In the hit Netflix show Altered Carbon, the people become immortal by making their consciousness portable. They perpetuate their existence by moving into a new body (or “sleeve”) when the old one is no longer useful. Their consciousness live in a device that is inserted into the back of their neck. As long as the device remains intact, the person lives on independent of the body. Yet, Science fiction is not the first genre to discuss our individual essence as something that transcends the body. Religious thought has been reflecting on this for Millennia. Can anything be learned in a dialogue between a religious (in this case Christian) view of the soul and consciousness? In this blog, I want to explore how the Christian vision of the soul can inform the Science-Fiction view of consciousness and vice-versa.

Christian thought has a similar idea about personhood. Instead of a device, it believes the person has a soul, an internal invisible energy that contains the individual’s essence. Once the body dies, the soul lives on eternally in a place of torment or bliss.[note] Early Christians did not share this notion of a soul independent of the body but instead emphasize a full-body resurrection. It was only later, as Christianity Westernized that we got this conception of body-less souls going to live with God eternally. [/note] In that way, Christian thought connects this idea that we transcend our bodies with a notion of justice. The destiny of a soul is tied to how the body lived in its time on Earth. Interestingly enough, in the Altered Carbon series, the Christians (Neo-Catholics) are the main group opposing the idea of transferring the consciousness to different bodies. They believe such practice would condemn one to punishment in the afterlife (if that individual ever reaches it, I guess).

While Religion and Science may have similar ideas of our personhood, the first defines that personhood in a context of an ideal of justice, while the second wants to leave it alone. For the scientist, one’s consciousness destiny is independent of ideas of justice, but instead it just is. Yet, to many humans being with an insatiable search for meaning, such explanation seems insufficient even if descriptively accurate. There has to be more, even if we cannot know for sure what that “more” is. That is where Science-Fiction comes in. If Science is indifferent to the human longings, Sci-Fi takes scientific ideas, speculate on its assumptions and possibilities and places them in a context of human stories. Sci-Fi brings “objective” science into the “subjective” world of human story.

Yet, Sci-Fi, while pursuing similar ends as religion has also a different way of pursuing it. Religions looks at the past to bring lessons to the present. It aims to expose the depravity of the human heart through history in a hope that present humanity can avoid or rectify those mistakes. Sci-Fi reverses this order, teaching moralistic lessons from the future. If Christianity says “look what your ancestors did wrong – don’t do that”, Sci-fi says “look at the future world your children will live in – change now.”

To be fair, Christian tradition has a similar genre to Sci-fi in the prophetic and apocalyptic writings. In them, writers paint a vision, often full of symbolism, to tell people on the present of a future doom. Yet, if in Sci-fi the focus is in how humanity can screw up their future, in the Christian tradition it is God who brings destruction because of human depravity. The aim is the same – to force us to re-think about how we live our lives in the present.

While some Sci-Fi literature can imagine a world where our consciousness lives on this earth by jumping from body to body, it can also envision something akin to a blissful heaven. This is present in the idea of uploading one’s consciousness to the cloud. No, this is not the cloud of angels but the cloud of 1s and 0s of the Internet. A National Geographic Documentary Year Million even explores what would be like for people to abandon their bodies to live in the cloud. What would be like to live a life where individuality disappears and we are absorbed by an universal consciousness? At first glance, this approach to the afterlife has more in common with Buddhism than monotheistic religions like Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The first one sees the unity of all beings as the ultimate goal, while the latter keeps our individuality intact in relationship to a personal God.

Where does this comparison leave us? What I described above demonstrated how the dialogue between Science-Fiction and Christianity can enrich both disciplines. Sci-Fi could benefit from a more defined vision of justice offered by religious imagery while religion (in this case Christian tradition) could take it more seriously the role of human action in the future. Christian tradition does a good job in teasing out personal sins of immorality while not giving enough attention to corporate sins of environmental destruction. Sci-Fi, conversely, does a great job in extrapolating our corporate ills into the future while not being so concerned with personal morality. Furthermore, Sci-Fi rarely gives us a positive view of our present and how that can create a harmonious future. Instead, it is mostly concerned in highlighting what could go wrong. Christian tradition offers a robust view of a ideal future in the book of Revelation where all nations will come together as one. It speaks of a city where God’s (the source of all goodness in religious thought) is present at its very center. In this way, it gives something to look forward to, not just something to look away from.

A full conversation between the two can bring a fuller picture of the challenges ahead while also highlighting the promise of what is possible if we dare to change our ways. I would love to see one day the emergence of a religious sci-fi genre that takes both scientific and religious themes seriously while also captivating our imagination in the process. I am encouraged to see how Altered Carbon hints at this conversation by including a religious element to the story. Yet, much more could be done.

Is anyone doing that already? If so, I would love to hear about it.

Test – new block

Education with a Purpose: A New Approach To Teach STEM

After years of denial, we are finally acknowledging that we have a problem with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education in this country. It is not an issue of access or supply of opportunities but one of perception: most students think it is simply too hard. That is unfortunate since research shows that students that pursue STEM degrees are more employable and earn more than their non-STEM counter parts. Yet, only a third of college students currently pursue these degrees.

I can speak from experience. When finishing high school, I really enjoyed Physics and thought that I would major in it in college. After one college-level Physics class, I realized quickly that pursuing it would be a difficult path. Social sciences seemed an easier and a more natural fit. I eventually declared my major in Political Science staying away from science and math as much as I could in my liberal arts degree. Years later, I would regret this decision as my career took a decidedly more technical path. I certainly could have used some of those math and science classes.

While difficulty is definitely a factor, now that I reflect on it, the issue was deeper than that. What drew me to the social sciences was that they told me stories about human struggle, tragedy and triumph. In my degree, I got to learn the history of how nations were formed, regimes were taken down and societies changed. That was something I could eat it up. While I wanted to prepare for a career, to me education was about expanding my horizons and discovering new worlds. STEM subjects, while fascinating in their own right, lacked this human connection that I found in the social sciences.

Later in my career, I was drawn to data science because of what it could do. I could take data and create insights that were previously hidden. In some instances, I could even “predict” something before it happened. That got me hooked and it is how I learned on the job and through professional training to become a data scientist. As I started reflecting on the potential of the field I was working it, I finally caught that human connection that I was missing in college. I realized that data science was not just about reams of data being processed through algorithms but that it could literally change people lives. Consider the example where algorithms are being used to predict who is most likely to commit suicide. In this case, data science is literally saving lives.

I understand that my story is one data point but I believe there is a theme embedded in it that can be explored. Maybe the issue is not just that it is hard but that often times STEM education is disconnected from a higher purpose. There are some of us who will study science for its own sake. Others are naturally fascinated by how things work and want to learn to make things. Yet, there is a whole group of students that would pursue STEM subjects if educational programs helped them make the connection with a humanitarian purpose.

After being studying a social science and then becoming a technology worker, I realized a curious paradox. The social sciences are deeply concerned about social problems. They go through great lengths to describe causes, factors and catalysts that worsen or alleviate them. Yet, technology, this cold application of science, has shown the greatest potential for actually solving them. Just consider the potential of mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa. While living in places that lack electricity and sanitation, many in these countries can afford a mobile phone. This technology along with micro-finance are empowering the poor by allowing them to make financial transactions and create businesses, hence forging a way out of poverty.

What is missing is the connection between purpose and know-how. Getting people that care deeply about their communities and teaching them technical skills to do something about it – doing technology with a humanitarian purpose. People with a passion to serve and the technical know-how to leverage emerging technologies can change the world in ways not previously seen. Unfortunately, most of technological innovation happens in for-profit institutions that are more interested in meeting a quarterly goal for stockholders than making a positive impact in the communities that surround them.

Hence, I want to propose a STEM education with a telos. Telos is a Greek word that can be roughly translated as an “end goal.” Yet, it is not a goal like our new year’s resolution. Instead, it is a long term, guiding ideal that directs everything we do. It is akin to a higher purpose.

What if STEM education was not just about teaching technical skills and but actually connecting them to a humanitarian purpose? In other word, teaching student not just the “how” but also the “why”. Such education would raise a tech-literate generation that was less concerned about acquiring the latest gadgets and more about using technology to enhance human flourishing. It would not only expand STEM knowledge to under-represented groups but also unleash future innovation for the common good.

Automated Research: How AI Will Speed Up Scientific Discovery

The potential of AI is boundless. Currently, there is a lot of buzz around how it will change industries like transportation, entertainment and healthcare. Less known but even more revolutionary is how AI could change science itself. In a previous blog, I speculated about the impact of AI on academic research through text mining. The implications of automated research described here are even more far-reaching.

Recently, I came upon an article in Aeon that described exactly that. In it, biologist Ahmed Alkhateeb eloquently makes his argument in the excerpt below:

Human minds simply cannot reconstruct highly complex natural phenomena efficiently enough in the age of big data. A modern Baconian method that incorporates reductionist ideas through data-mining, but then analyses this information through inductive computational models, could transform our understanding of the natural world. Such an approach would enable us to generate novel hypotheses that have higher chances of turning out to be true, to test those hypotheses, and to fill gaps in our knowledge.

As a good academic, the author says a lot with a few words in the paragraph above. Let me unpack his statement a bit.

His first point is that in the age of big data, individual human minds are incapable of effectively analyzing, processing and making meaning of all the information available. There was a time where all the knowledge about a discipline was in books that could be read or at least summarized by one person. Furthermore, traditional ways of doing research whether through a lab experimentation, sampling, controlling for externalities, testing hypothesis take a long time and only give a narrow view of reality. Hence, in a time where big data is available, such approach will not be sufficient to harness all the knowledge that could be discovered.

His second point is to suggest a new approach that incorporates Artificial Intelligence through pattern seeking algorithms that can effectively and efficiently mine data. The Baconian method simply means the approach of discovering knowledge through disciplined collection and analysis of observations. He proposes an algorithmic approach that would mine data, come up with hypothesis through computer models then collect new data to test those hypotheses. Furthermore, this process would not be limited to an individual but would draw from the knowledge of a vast scientific community. In short, he proposes including AI in every step of scientific research as a way to improve quality and accuracy. The idea is that an algorithmic approach would produce better hypotheses and also test them more efficiently than humans.

As the author concedes, current algorithms and approaches are not fully adequate for the task. While AI can already mine numeric data well, text mining is more of a recent development. Computers think in numbers so to get them to make sense of text requires time-consuming processes to translate text into numeric values. Relevant to this topic, the Washington Post just put out an article about how computers have now, for the first time beat human performance in a reading and comprehension test. This is an important step if we want to see AI more involved in scientific research and discovery.

How will automated research impact our world?

The promise of AI-assisted scientific discovery is remarkable. It could lead to the cure of diseases, the discovery of new energy sources and unprecedented breakthroughs in technology. Another outcome would be the democratization of scientific research. As research gets automated, it becomes easier for others to do it just like Windows has made the computer accessible to people that do not code.

In spite of all this potential, such development should cause us to pause for reflection. It is impressive how much of our mental capacities are being outsourced to machines. How comfortable are we with this inevitable meshing of bodies and electronics? Who will lead, fund and direct the automated research? Will it lead to enriching corporations or improving quality of life for all? I disagree with the author’s statement that an automated research would make science “limitlessly free.” Even as machines are doing the work, humans are still controlling the direction and scope of the research. As we ship more human activity to machines, ensuring they reflect our ethical standards remains a human mandate.

Shifting Towards Education: A New Direction for 2018

Happy new year, everybody!

After a hiatus for the holiday season, I am now back to blogging with a renewed focus. For those of you who follow this blog or know me personally, last year was an encouraging beginning as I posted here my musings on the intersection between Theology and Artificial Intelligence. Above all, I’ve been encouraged by the conversation some of the posts have started.

After some reflection over the hiatus, I decided to shift the focus of the blog. As you may know, there are not a lot of voices speaking on this field. So the opportunities for making a contribution are vast. Moreover, I don’t see the topic of AI becoming less important in the coming years. The question I asked myself was how could I best contribute considering my skills, passion and knowledge. Promoting discussion on the topic was a good start but I was not satisfied in just being a thoughtful observer. The best insights often come from those who are immersed in practicing the field they are discussing.

Even as I type there are hundreds of AI startups starting to shape the future we’ll live in. There is a growing group of academics, consultants and enthusiasts speculating about what that would look like. Moreover, there are thousands of Data Scientists currently shaping the future of existing organizations building AI applications that will transform these enterprises for years to come. Eventually, politicians will catch up and start discussing policy and laws to regulate how AI is used.

While all this is happening, I think about my children. Will they have the tools they need to navigate this AI future? Will they be ready not only to survive but also thrive in this uncertain future?

When I look at the educational system they are in, it is clearly not up to the task. While I appreciate the wonderful work teachers do daily all over the world, the problem is systemic. The Western educational system was built in the last century to raise industrial workers. The economy required workers to learn a fixed trade that would last them through their lifetime. Moreover, the academic system is always preparing students for the next level of education. Regardless of whether they pursue a job or continue their studies, a high school degree prepares the student for college, which prepares them for Masters’ work which, except for professional degrees, prepare them for pursuing PhDs. Hence, students are conditioned to excel within the academic “bubble” and have little interaction with the real world of jobs, leadership and service. Aside from a few exceptions, students are expected to figure out on their own how to apply the knowledge they learn into real workplace scenarios. While the system forces students to study separate disciplines, life is lived in multi-disciplinary spaces.

Staying out of the politically-charged discussion of “how to save our schools”, I rather work on how to offer something that will build on what the schools already offer. In my view, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education continues to be a challenge even as we have made progress in the past years. The concern I have with the current focus is that it separates these disciplines from humanities. In this way, students are taught only the “how” but rarely the “why” of STEM. This approach only perpetuates an uncritical consumerist relationship with technology, where we never stop to ask why are they being created in the first place and how they benefit humanity. Therefore the challenge is to engage young minds critically with STEM early on, empowering them to become creators with rather than consumers of technology.

While I can write about this frequently on the blog, being a detached analyst is not enough. That is why I am planning to develop actual learning experiences that address this gap. I am currently connecting with partners “glocally” to make that a reality. It will have both a classroom component as well as an online component. Stay tuned for more details.

How will that look like in aitheology.com?

The blog will flow from this journey of becoming an education entrepreneur. In this way, it serves as a platform for reflection, discussion, idea exchange and hopefully challenging some of you to join in this new endeavor. While I will continue to explore the themes of AI and theology, there will be an educational focus both in the topics discussed as well as in the way they are conveyed.

I also recognize that in our age, writing is not the most effective way to spread ideas and engage in conversation. Towards that end, I plan to add podcast in the near future so you can interact with AI theology in new ways. Finally, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to get involved in emerging projects.

I am excited for what this New Year will bring to us. I pray for wisdom and guidance in this new phase and I ask you to pray with me as well (if you are not religious, sending good thoughts would do).

Good News: The World is Getting Better

This week I want to discuss how our perception of the world shapes and guides our decisions about the future. In a previous blog, I discussed the power of narrative and how important that is in constructing reality. In this post, I want to challenge a prevailing perspective of doom that dominates the narrative in airwaves, broadcasts and most of social media. The dominant message is that our present world order is falling into chaos with no hope for redemption. This is not just a problem for large Media corporations that need to prey on fear in order to sell news but it has become the de facto perspective on any conversation about national and/or global affairs.

I want to start by making a simple statement: the world is getting better.

Let me take a step back and propose a new paradigm. What if we look at the globe not from the anecdotal evidence highlighted by media stories but actually more like a CEO looks at his/her company? What would that look like? Working for a large corporation for many years, I spent countless hours preparing presentations for executive leaders so they could understand the state of their business. The story told in these meetings is built on numbers and data. The narrative flows from pre-determined agreed-upon measures of success that allow the leader to see whether their unit is on track or not to meet their goals.

One could say that such view does not tell the whole story. That is indeed true. A company may be doing really well but that may not safeguard all employees from the threat of being laid off. For that employee, a profitable quarter means nothing. However, if the numbers are showing times of distress ahead, the story of many employees will be impacted. If the business goes bankrupt – everybody loses their job. Therefore, regardless of how dry numbers may be, they point to eminent signs of trouble that we must attend to. We ignore them at our own peril.

So, if you are the CEO of the globe, what would be some important performance metrics to look for? Thankfully I found this great blog by Bj Murphy that does exactly that, highlighting the trends around important issues like extreme poverty, wars, life expectancy, child mortality and others. The numbers show an undeniable improvement in all these key measures for the last 50 years. Believe it or not, these measures disprove the adage that “things were better in the olden days”. This is not to say that everything is getting better but such overwhelming data should make us pause to celebrate. Things are getting better in many fronts if we just have the eyes to see them.

Are we happier then? Well, if data is any indication the answer is “no.” In fact, quite the opposite, rates of depression are increasing world-wide. There could be many reasons for that. It is not clear, for example, whether people are simply more depressed or whether now we are able to better diagnose it and hence see an increase. Even allowing for that, this data is a sharp contrast to the one from the paragraph above. At least from these two pieces of data, we can conclude that a better world may not necessarily be a happier world.

Re-imagining the Present for Creating a Better Future

An unsung hero of the advances touted in BJ’s post is the rise of technology and science in the last century. If there has been a positive story, it is how science and technology have improved the quality of life. Yet, one can never forget the technology also brought the atomic bomb to our planet. They themselves could never be the answer for a better world but they have certainly enabled dreamers to make it a reality. This seems to be not only reality but also perception. In a recent Pew research survey, 42% of Americans indicated that technology has made their lives better, by far the biggest factor in a list that included medicine, civil rights and the economy. Technology advancement is one of the few narratives of hope in a sea of depressing storylines.

Here is important to highlight that perception is very relative to where we stand in relation to the past. Recently, white older men in the United States as a cohort have experience rising rates of depression and anxiety. One explanations is the sense that their life conditions have deteriorated compared to their parents. The question is not whether the world is getting better but whether “my” world getting better. This is not particular to the cohort of white older males but to all of us. This question is always asked with a point of reference in mind. Yet, is it possible to celebrate positive change even if our personal universe has deteriorated?

The first step towards imagining a new future is assessing the present from the perspective of the most vulnerable. If the world has indeed improved for them, then there is reason to celebrate. The data above supports this perspective. While there have been losers in recent change and much work is left to be done, the good news is undeniable.

From Tech Consumers to Tech Creators

If technology has made life better, it has also made it more complicated. Any PC user who had to endure using Windows for a while will realize that all the convenience brought by technology comes at a cost in complexity and troubleshooting. I believe part of the problem is that most of us approach technology as demanding consumers. That is, we expect technology to provide a pain-free solution to our problems. This is precisely the message large tech companies want us to believe: technology will solve all our problems and make life easier for everybody. That is often not the case.

To fully harness the benefits of technology we must move from consumers to creators of technology. Last week I was inspired by this story of an 11 year-old girl who invented a water tester to detect water contamination. When interviewed, the girl said she was moved by the story of water contamination in Flint, MI and wanted to do something about it. She exemplifies a true technology creator who took upon herself to solve a problem she cared about. Technology creators do not just use tech for convenience, they leverage it to solve problems. They use their God-given creativity to make the world a better place.

What if we could educate children and young adults to do more of that? What type of world could we build?

An Evangelical Reformation: Changing How We View Scripture

The more I progress on this AI theology journey, the more I realize the need for a re-configuration of our relationship between faith and science. Current status quo does not allow space for a conversation and therefore, forces faith, science and technology as a by product to remain separate. This separation impoverishes all sides.

Hence I was pleasantly surprised to see a recent post from my friend Micah Redding. As Reformation turns 500, Micah and others propose new theses to continue reforming the church in our time. Add your own here. I was especially encouraged by Micah’s thesis number 1:

Christians must abandon the war against science and technology, and embrace them both as profound expressions of the image of God.

I could not agree more and decided to write this blog as a way to flesh out what that would look like in an evangelical context.

First, I have a few words about my own ecclesial location and why it is important to name it here. It is difficult to talk about reformation without having a starting point. The Church is so vast and diverse, and in need of so much change, that what seems like reformation for one group may be very well be what another group does well. That’s why I believe that true reformation will only come through a robust Ecumenical movement. If the first Reformation brought division, I pray the coming one will bring the church tribes together.

With that said, I feel comfortable speaking about what reformation means in an evangelical context. I say that because I can include myself in it and therefore speak of how “we” rather then “they” can change. Ultimately, true reformation can only come with repentance and a willingness to re-visit long-held convictions. If the church now consists of many tribes, the evangelical tribe has some work to do and this thesis reveals one of the many paths of repentance for us.

Evangelicals and the Bible

I am eternally grateful that 500 years ago, Martin Luther picked up what Wycliff and others had started centuries early in liberating Scripture for all of us. While that may not have been Luther’s original intention, inevitably the movement he started spurred an explosion of Bible translations that eventually became available directly to the individual. Till this day, the Bible is the anchor, the guide, the foundation of the Christian faith. It is a book not just to be read but to be experienced on a daily basis. It transcends common literary genres and it is unlike any other book out there. It is not just a religious book but its influence reaches to other areas like Ethics, Law, Government and even Science Fiction.

I could go on the importance of the Bible but my intent here is to identify where we as evangelicals have taken a wrong turn in our view of Scripture. First, let’s look at some history. It is important to note that the evangelical movement in the United States started as a way to find a middle ground between the fundamentalist and mainline currents in North American Protestantism. The first stream believed that discoveries of science that challenged the traditional view of Scripture should be rejected outright and that the church should retreat from engagement with the world into bunkers of ideological purity. The second was working hard to incorporate scientific discoveries even at the expense of Biblical faithfulness. Instead of retreat, mainliners believed in fully accommodating all the changes brought by scientific discovery into the Christianity.

Evangelicals wanted to chart a different course that passed through these two narratives. On the one hand, they were committed to the preserving primacy of the Bible in the Christian faith. On the other hand, they wanted to engage with the new discoveries of science through careful dialogue. In the evangelical mindset, the need to proclaim the gospel trumped self-preservation, even if that meant engaging with disciplines that seem bent on discrediting the validity of Scripture. This was especially true for institution of higher learning that were at the forefront of this ideological battle. Fuller Theological Seminary in California exemplified (and continues to do so) this perspective.

In the last 50 years or so, this evangelical project has decisively tilted towards the fundamentalist current. This is especially true in cultural evangelicalism, which aligned with anti-establishment nationalist political views, having further increased its anti-science stance. As fundamentalist voices dominated airwaves and publication, evangelicalism has taken a shift towards the beginning of the 20th century. This was further exacerbated by the sharp changes in North American cultural attitudes in favor of gay marriage and toleration towards non-Christian religions in the last ten years.

Infallible versus Inerrant

This position was well illustrated in the “infallible versus Inerrant” contrast. Statements of faith mostly pass unnoticed except for theology geeks like myself. However, a choice of words in these documents can speak volumes. In most evangelical statements of faith you will find both adjectives for Scripture. Inerrant is often a code word for a literal view of Scripture. It usually means: “What is in the text is the truth and any questioning of it is suspicious of being a heresy.” Infallible is a more nuanced word that affirms the Bible’s efficacy in matters of faith. That is, the Bible is sufficient for guiding and forming Christian beliefs and spiritual growth. It usually means “the Bible can be trusted as a guide towards salvation and spiritual formation.” The second one allows for questions because it delineates Bible’s role in matters of faith primarily. It does not deny that the Bible may have something to say in spheres beyond faith. Yet, it does not make it a pre-requisite for its validity.

So here is where I think evangelicalism has taken a wrong turn. By opting for a rigid “inerrant” view of the Bible we turned into something that was never intended to be, namely an idol. How so, you may ask? This move started by making any questions or doubts about the content of the Bible off-limits. This was a direct reaction against the rise of biblical criticism, which had certainly gone too far. Yet, we didn’t stop there. In a bid to make the Bible speak to our modern lives, we made it into the solution for every problem, the manual of instructions for life and the arbiter of all truth. In an effort to market the Bible to attract new populations, we stretched, squeezed and re-shaped the text into every conceivable way. Furthermore, we baptized our North-American literalist the only objective way to approach the Bible. What we ended up with was not the infallible text that can lead us into all truth about God and salvation, but a document to support Capitalism, American empire and Zionism. In an attempt to keep the text pure, we made the very mistake we accused Biblical critics of doing: shaping the text to our own image. The Bible became the magic book, the box of promises from which we derive comfort and affirmation for our actions rather than repentance.

Charting a New Course

What would a new course look like? Thankfully, I was able to witness some of that by emerging voices in the evangelical world. Fuller Seminary was probably my first exposure to a new course of holding a high view of Scripture while not holding on to an inerrant view of Scripture. Prior to that, I thought that to let go of inerrancy was the same as letting go of Scripture altogether. Yet, to witness faithful believers who do not take a literal view of the Bible was the beginning to seeing that it is possible to love God, revere Scripture while also honestly examine the claims of history and science. In the journey I discovered faith could live with doubt, devotion could live with inquiry and obedience could live alongside faithful questioning. It is a false choice to have to choose between faith and intellectual inquiry.

Certainly, I am not the first one to say these things. Thankfully, others have paved the way for this view of Scripture. One of the most notable thinkers in this area is Bishop, Scholar and millennial seminarian’s superstar N. T. Wright. For those interested in a robust view of Scripture that is not bound by inerrancy, I recommend his book “Scripture and the Authority of God” as a good beginning point.

In closing, I pray that a reformation within the evangelical segment of the church would look at the Bible anew. It will replace dogma with wonder, rigidity with inquiry and arguments with honesty. This is a necessary requirement if we are to survive and thrive in a world to be upended by emerging technologies. It is not time to put aside Scripture but to remove old skins of interpretation so new wine of imagination can flow.

but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him. I Cor 2:9

The word of the Lord, thanks be to God.

AI Reformation: How Tech can Empower Biblical Scholarship

In a past blog I talked about how an AI-enabled Internet was bound to bring a new Reformation to the church. In this blog, I want to talk about how AI can revolutionize biblical scholarship. Just like the printing press brought the Bible to homes, AI-enabled technologies can bring advanced study tools to the individual. This change in itself can change the face of Christianity for decades to come.

The Challenges of Biblical Scholarship

First, it is important to define what Biblical scholarship is. For those of you not familiar with it, this field is probably one of the oldest academic disciplines in Western academia. The study of Scripture was one of the primary goals for the creation of Universities in the Middle Ages and hence boasts an arsenal of literature unparalleled by most other academic endeavors. Keep in mind this is not your average Bible study you may find in a church. Becoming a Bible scholar is an arduous and long journey. Students desiring to enter the field must learn at least three ancient languages (Hebrew, Greek and usually Aramaic or Akkadian), German, English (for non-native speakers) and usually a third modern language. It takes about 10 years of Graduate level work to get started. To top that off, those who are able to complete these initial requirements face dismal career options as both seminaries and research interest in the Bible have declined in the last decades. Needless to say, if you know a Bible Scholar pat him in the back and thank them. The work they do is very important not only for the church but also for society in general as the Bible has deeply influenced other fields of knowledge like Philosophy, Law, Ethics and History.

Because of the barriers of entry described above, it is not surprising that many who considered this path as an option (including the writer of this blog) have opted for alternative paths. You may be wondering what that has to do with AI. The reality is that while the supply of Bible scholars is dwindling, the demand for work is increasing. The Bible is by far the most copied text in Antiquity. Just the New Testament alone has a collection of over 5,000 manuscripts found in different geographies and time periods. Many were discovered in the last 50 years. On top of that, because the field has been around for centuries, there are countless commentaries and other works interpreting, disputing, dissecting and adding to the original texts. Needless to say, this looks like a great candidate for machine-enhanced human work. No human being could possibly research, analyze and distill all this information effectively.

AI to the Rescue

As you may know, computers do not see the world in pictures or words. Instead all they see is numbers (0s and 1s to be more exact). Natural Language Processing is the technique that translates words into numbers so the computer can understand it. One simple way to do that is to count all the times each word shows up in a text and list them in a table. This simple word count exercise can already shed light into what the text is about. More advanced techniques will not only account for word incidence but also how close they are from each other by meaning. I could go on but for now suffice it to say that NLP starts “telling the story” of a text albeit in a numeric form to the computer.

What I describe above is already present in leading Bible softwares where one can study word counts till Kingdom come (no pun intended). Yet, this is only the first step in enabling computers to start mining the text for meaning and insight. When you add AI to NLP, that is when things start getting interesting. Think more of a Watson type of algorithm that you can ask a question and it can find the answer in the text. Now one can analyze sentiment, genre, text structure to name a few in a more efficient way. With AI, computers are now able to make connections between text that was only possible previously by the human mind. Except that they can do it a lot faster and, when well-trained, with greater precision.

One example is sentiment analysis where the algorithm is not looking for the text itself but more subjective notions of tone expressed in a text. For example, this technique is currently used to analyze customer reviews in order to understand whether a review is positive or negative. I manually attempted this for a Old Testament class assignment in which I mapped out the “sentiment” of Isaiah. I basically categorized each verse with a color to indicate whether it was positive (blessing or worship) or negative (condemnation or lament). I then zoomed out to see how the book’s sentiment oscillated throughout the chapters. This laborious analysis made me look at the book in a whole different lens. As AI applications become more common, these analysis and visuals could be created in a matter of seconds.

A Future for Biblical Scholarship

Now, by showing these examples I don’t mean to say that AI will replace Scholars. Algorithms still need to be trained by humans who understand the text’s original languages and its intricacies. Yet, I do see a future where Biblical scholarship will not be hampered by the current barriers of entry I described above. Imagine a future where scholars collaborate with data scientists to uncover new meaning in an ancient text. I also see an opportunity for professionals that know enough about Biblical studies and technology becoming valuable additions to research teams. (Are you listening Fuller Seminary? How about a new MA in Biblical Studies and Text Mining?). The hope is that with these tools, more people can be involved in the process and collaboration between researchers can increase. The task of Biblical research is too large to be limited to a select group highly educated scholars. Instead, AI can facilitate the crowdsourcing of the work to analyze and make meaning of the countless text currently available.

With all that said, it is difficult imagine a time where the Bible is just a book to be analyzed. Instead it is to be experienced, wrestled with and discussed. New technologies will not supplant that. Yet, could they open new avenues of meaning until now never conceived by the human mind. What if AI-enabled Biblical Scholarship could not just uncover new knowledge but also facilitate revelation?

Author: Elias Kruger