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Author: Elias Kruger

I am husband, father, data scientist and lay theologian. I blog about the intersection of theology, science and technology longing for integration and the flourishing of life.

Expanding the Vision for the Life We Are Looking For

In my previous post, I highlighted the important contributions Andy Crouch’s The Life We’re Looking For makes to the dialogue between faith and technology. Using compelling examples, the author argues for returning to the primacy of face-to-face human relationships in a world of disconnection driven by techno-capitalism. This is a powerful and necessary reminder that is worth repeating here.

I would be remiss, however, if I limited my review to this point. In part 2, I dive into the areas where Andy Crouch’s book fell short in expanding this conversation. By starting with a narrow definition of technology, the author missed an opportunity to rethink it and reshape it into a true ally of human flourishing. This may sound like a small tweak, but it makes all the difference. Given how pervasively emerging technologies inhabit our current ecosystem, a narrow definition is bound to lead to unsustainable solutions.

Defining What Technology Is

Andy Crouch does a good job identifying the insidious erosion techno-capitalism is exerting in society. It is unfortunate, however, that he equates technology with techno-capitalism. They are not the same thing. For example, the Internet is a great example of technology. The process of turning it into profit by large Silicon Valley companies is techno-capitalism. The first created a new environment for the free flow of information that connected the world. The second exploited this connection to maximize profit.

Just because our current encounter with technology is mostly mediated by techno-capitalism does not mean the two are the same. This may seem like a small distinction, but it is an important one in the dialogue between faith and technology. If technology is techno-capitalism, then the role of faith will often be one of resistance. While this role is important and necessary, limiting faith to a posture of resistance misses the opportunity to imagine ways in which technology can lead to flourishing.

While Andy provided a few examples of technology enhancing one’s humanity, I finished the book with the impression that his alternative vision was really a turn away from screens and toward more embodied forms of community. This argument, however, undermines and ignores the transformative ways in which technologies (including those mediated through techno-capitalism) have expanded and connected our flourishing. Hence, his narrow view of technology closed the door to how it can contribute to the good.

Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay

Lost Connection with Nature

The book’s subtitle, Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World, informs us upfront that the book is about valuing relationships. Implied in that view is an anthropocentric view of relationships, focusing on communion between humans. This can be often assumed and taken for granted, but it becomes problematic in the dialogue of faith and technology.

Humans also have an intricate and visceral relationship to nature, both our environment and other species of life. Technology has often, maybe always, been a means of moving us beyond the limitations of nature. From our early ancestors, we can find traces of tool-making indicating the human drive to impact our environment toward the survival and flourishing of our species. The sheer existence of nearly 8 billion of us is a testament to the success of this strategy. We became our ancestors’ dreams, albeit at a great cost to the earth. Given technology’s central role in this progression, one cannot speak of it and ignore how it has transformed our relationship with nature.

While we may have built our towering civilizations, we still feel like we were kicked out of the garden. While techno-capitalism may have separated us from one another, technology itself has separated us from the dust from which we came. The work of re-imagining technology then must include in its ethos a purposeful return to nature. It does not mean necessarily forsaking devices and going back to a primal lifestyle, but it does mean re-thinking technology in a way that not only optimizes the flourishing of all life.

In a time of climate crisis, this work becomes all the more important. Hence, in my perspective, it must be present in any discussion of faith and technology. Unfortunately, there was nothing in Andy’s book to address this issue.

Image by 0fjd125gk87 from Pixabay

Limited Christian Imagination

Lastly, Andy Crouch’s book missed the mark by appealing little to the rich Christian imagination. Opting for a narrow focus on selected New Testament texts, the author ignored a wealth of Christian tradition on the topic of technology. That includes the biblical books of Genesis and Isaiah, as well as writers like Francis Bacon, Jacques Ellul, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Illia Deo. Crouch’s discussion could have been greatly enriched by interacting with them–not necessarily agreeing or propagating their perspective, but at least using them as conversation partners in building a 21st-century vision for technology.

Starting with a narrow view of technology and engaging with a limited range of Christian tradition inevitably led to a constricted view of what Christian community can look like in a technological age. The result becomes a failure of imagination, one that we can no longer afford to have where growing techno-capitalism accelerates planetary degradation. As much as a return to household and community can restore and improve human relationships, it does not address our disconnection from nature. Furthermore, it ignores our call to be co-creators with God for a flourishing future.

As an alternative, one does not need to look too far within the Bible itself to find a powerful metaphor to catalyze Christian imagination. In the 11th chapter of Isaiah, the prophet imagines a world where the wolf will live with the lamb and the infant will play near the cobra’s den. The prophet’s multiple images speak of a nature restored from strife to peace, from languishing to flourishing. If we want to inspire a Christian vision for technology in our time, that is a good place to start.

The Life We Are Looking For: Crouch’s Antidote to Techno-Isolation

How is technology reshaping human relationships? This is the central question explored in Andy Crouch’s latest book: The Life We Are All Looking For. His compelling vision and engaging writing style are able to bring a complex subject such as technology into a comprehensive vision of Christian community. This is in itself no small feat. Sitting within a genre that often limits itself to “do’s” and “don’ts” with the screen, Crouch dives deeper and in that is able to spark a dialogue. With that said, the book also fell short in significant areas leaving me wanting more.

As a content creator at the intersection of faith and technology, I am compelled to respond. Andy Crouch’s book called for more than a review. It called for robust engagement. That is what I’ll attempt to do in two blogs. In this first one, I’ll highlight the many ways in which the book elevated and moved forward the dialogue about technology’s impact on the Christian community. In the second, I’ll address the areas in which one can build on what he started. It will not be a critique per se but an attempt to expand the dialogue.

Before you move forward, let me make it clear: the book is worth your time. It kicks off the conversation within the evangelical community and it may even reach other corners of the Christian household. While reading the book is no requirement to understand the blog, it will certainly help evaluate its content. You might even arrive at different conclusions than I did.

With no further ado, let me dive into the three main gifts this book brings to the Christian community

Of Bikes and Planes

By now, we have all (hopefully) sensed how technology can impair human flourishing. Just consider the sense of guilt and dread after spending countless hours staring at a brainless social media stream accompanied by a royal neck ache from looking down for so long. Yet, other times, we are also thankful for how it expands our abilities. Crouch helps us understand this paradox by comparing planes with bicycles.

Riding a bicycle expands our mobility while still requiring physical effort from us. It reminds me of a blog I wrote a while back reflecting on the spirituality of e-bikes. It certainly helps us get to a destination faster while also being an excellent workout. In this way, the author sees it as a technology that augments rather than detracts from our humanity.

This is a sharp contrast to flying on a plane where the constricted space and oppressive air pressure make the experience much less pleasant. Not only there is no effort in the movement but a clear constriction in our health even if it allows us to reach our destinations much faster. While on board a plane, our humanity is diminished even if only for a few hours.

Superpower and Magic

In doing so, Andy is not advocating we forsake plane rides for bikes. He is only highlighting the point of the trade-offs technologies force us to make. The author shows us that technology often gives us what he describes as superpowers – an ability to do things with little to no effort. Andy also uses allusions to magic and alchemy to describe the dominant ethos of for-profit technology endeavors.

Photo by Rhett Wesley on Unsplash

It is like magic because most of us have no clue about how it works. We simply trust that when we press a button, there will be an expected outcome. Oftentimes we expect it to be instantaneous. It is like alchemy because, technology is often portrayed as the silver bullet to all our problems – the recipe for wealth and longevity.

While this affects our physical health in many ways, the author wants to focus on its impact on relationships. This is where, screen technologies more specifically, have done the most damage. As humans, we are wired to be recognized by another face. Often times this crucial exchange of glances is being robbed by a screen or another device that cries for our attention. In short, the dominance of technology in our lives is empoverishing our most cherished relationships. It is even redefining intimacy.

Eloquent Critique of Techno-Capitalism

Chapter 6 dives into the underbelly of techno-capitalism and how it is shaping us into machines. That chapter is worth the book price and then some. Using compelling examples and persuasive arguments, Andy Crouch exposes how a highly transactional society sees no value in those who have little or nothing to transact with. That includes the poor, the aging, the differently-abled, and others who are considered “useless.” Instead, he proposes a society where those with little or nothing to offer should be at the center. That in turn will free us all from our slavery to usefulness.

Throughout the work, Andy delivers strong affirmations of real relationships, forged in the fire of daily living with all its beauty, repetitiveness, and conflict. This vision runs counter to the American dream of financial independence, pointing instead to the messiness of communal interdependence. He advocates for co-housing arrangements with all the inconveniences of personalities rubbing against each other in tight spaces.

In short, he calls us to robust Christian communalism in the midst of a lonely western society. His vision of Christian community, inspired in the New Testament early church, centers on the household. He defines it as small groups that transcend the nuclear family but are still small enough so that everyone is deeply seen and known. Such arrangement goes against the transactional setup of capitalistic societies and alleviates the constant financial struggle to make a living. It is both a spiritual and an economic act of resistance.

Conclusion

Andy Crouch contributes to and expands the dialogue by connecting devices to oppressive economic systems that both diminish human flourishing and propagate a magical view of technology. Through powerful analogies, relatable examples, and fluid writing, he accomplishes all that in a little less than 180 pages.

The review could end here on a positive note but I would be remiss. Unfortunately, Andy Crouch’s assessment of technology had significant gaps that significantly narrowed the scope of the problem. Because of this narrowed scope, his response also fell short by lacking a comprehensive vision to the “how shall we then live?” question. Given the daunting challenges of this technological age, our response and vision of technology must be commensurate with its complexity. This is what I will turn to in the next blog.

AIT Podcast – Episode 1: Faith, AI and the Climate Crisis

Who doesn’t like to listen to podcasts? Listeners are growing by the day in the major platforms (Spotify, Google, Apple Play). But is there QUALITY content? 

AI Theology presents to you a new podcast. Elias Kruger and Maggie Bender discuss the intersection between theology and technology in the budding world of AI and other emerging technologies. They bring the best from academy, industry and church together in a lively conversation. Join us and expand your mind with topics like ai ethics, ai for good, guest interviews and much more.

Here is episode 1: Faith, AI and the Climate Crisis

AIT podcast - episode 1 - Faith AI And the Climate Crisis

Elias Kruger and Maggie Bender discuss how AI and faith can help address in the climate crisis. We dive into some controversy here and how religion has not always been an ally in the battle for conservation. Yet, what are the opportunities for AI and faith to join forces in this daunting challenges. The conversation covers creation, worship, algorithms, optimization and recent efforts to save the Amazon.

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After listening, don’t forget to hare wih friends and give us your feedback. Also don’t forget to rate the episodes on the podcast platforms. 

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Listening to the Maya Story Through their Technology

What can an ancient Mesoamerican culture teach the global community in the 21st century? I pondered on these question on my 2.5+ hours bus ride between Cancun and the Chichen Itza’s ruins. With no pretensions or pressure to come up with something, the trip would prove thought-provoking and inspiring. In this blog, I’ll share my findings and a bit about how I ended up there two weeks ago. While being a sucker for exploring new cultures, what I found here went beyond the usual history lesson. With their rich history, delicious cuisine, advanced technology, the Maya surprised me while also challenging me to care for this earth.

An Invitation to a Journey

Like rivers flowing into oceans, so are the unplanned encounters of the soul in unexpected journeys of discovery. I didn’t set out to the Yucatan peninsula in a quest to learn about the Mayas. Quite the contrary, I was there to rest and celebrate with my wife our 20th anniversary. Away from kids, work, and the many demands of our life at this stage, we yearned for the gentle soothing sounds of the sea.

Even so, places have a way to whisper. They often carry with them stories untold of a past waiting to be discovered. I knew some important monuments and Mayan ruins were nearby and that was enough to pique my interest. In the hotel I learned about my options, only wanting to spend a day I chose the most visited site: Chichen Itza, only a 2.5-3 hour drive from the area we were staying.

My wife, seeking to avoid the crowds and rest up for a day, decided to stay while encouraging me to go. Being one day away from each halfway through our stay sounded like a good compromise from the wisdom of 20 years of marriage. In an interesting twist, when learning I was from Brazil, the hotel agent booked me with a Portuguese-speaking guide. I would join Brazilians and Portuguese natives who were also discovering this Mayan Jewel.

Mayan Zodiac Circle – by Wikimedia commons

Re-enchanting the World through Native cultures

Modernity’s move toward secular science has borne out many achievements. Even so, it also resulted in tremendous loss. For one, people in the West lost their sense of connection with nature and with it also their reverence and respect for it. Nature went from an object of worship to raw material to be exploited. The call to subdue earth meant more than taming nature but ultimately came to justify a massive amount of destruction, pollution, and degradation.

Hence, it is no surprise that westerners like me would have a renewed interest in pre-Modern cultures like the Mayas. They point us to a time when connection and reverence to nature were the order of the day. Rejecting prevalent attitudes that would either see it as a competing religion or dismiss it as primitive superstition, we can now look at Mayans with a humble attitude to listen. What does their story of advancement, exuberance, warfare, and decline teach us today as we live in our age of environmental crisis? It is with this posture, that I approach and reflect on my recent visit to Chichen Itza.

The STEM side of the Maya

As I rode the bus on the way to Chichen Itza, I was bracing for a real-life history lesson. What I did not expect was a math class early morning on my 3rd day of vacation! Yet, since we had a long drive there, our guide Mauricio Dzul, proceeded to explain the very elaborate yet elegant numbering system the Mayas created. Using only dots, dashes, and a shell-like symbol they can represent any number! I must say that my curious mind was intrigued and made me wonder, shouldn’t we teach this more as a way to diversify teaching mathematics? I might teach it to my kids just for fun.

From Wikimedia Commons

Why did they develop their number system? While there may be other reasons, The Maya people were astute observers of the skies. They used the movement of the Sun, Moon and Venus to devise the most elaborate calendar system in the world. In this calendar, they counted time that went back thousands of years and needed a way to express these long dates. It was a misunderstanding of this calendar that led to the paranoia with the 2012 date. That was not a good use of Maya technology!

From Wikimedia commons

Their historical witness challenges us to look up and consider the stars anew with keen curiosity and reverence. Their astronomy did not only lead to a number system but also greatly influenced their engineering. The Yucatan peninsula is dotted with the remains of buildings oriented towards the movements of the Sun and Moon. They continue to attract thousands to witness intriguing light patterns on Solistice dates. In my visit to Chichen Itza, our guide showed how when clapping from designated place we could hear multiple echoes and even the sound of a bird.

Mysterious Abandoments

Since my visit, I have become obsessed with all things Maya and their technology. Browsing materials on it and now listening to a course on their history, I learned of the vastness and richness of the field. Mayan studies continue to expand as many ruins are yet to be discovered and properly understood. In this thriving field, one of the most daunting questions has been the cities’ abandonment. By the time the Spanish arrived, many of the great Mayan cities were already ruins covered by the rainforest.

I asked our knowledgeable guide about this. While there was warfare involved, in many cases, the population simply left migrating to other cities or smaller settlements in the forest. He indicated that it was most likely because of weather changes, some of which may have been precipitated by agricultural practices to feed growing populations in the region. Changes in rain patterns disrupted harvest yields leading to political instability and warfare.

If this is indeed the case, then the Maya story through technology also offers a cautionary tale for our time. It re-inforces the message scientists have been warning us about in the last decades on climate change. We must revisit our way of life and how we sustain our growing populations or see our big skyscrapers become ruins overtaken by forest.

Conclusion

Contrary to what it seems, I don’t purposefully look for reasons to blog on my vacation. Yet, they occur from time to time. All it takes is a willingness to enter into the story of a place. Even in a digitally connected world, physical spaces matter. We sit on land that was re-settled by many before us. They, in turn, lived in ecosystems that took millions of years to form. Attending to the story of both the land we inhabit and the people that lived before us is our duty and call for this time.

I cannot see a more theological task than this. If we believe in a timeless God who created the earth, surely we must learn to hear God’s voice in the ground we step on and the cultures that preceded us. If we slow down to listen, we’ll be amazed at the wisdom that surfaces. These are the very whispers of God speaking truth through time and space.

With that posture, I am grateful for the Mayans and their land which I had the privilege to visit. In my time of rest and recreation, I also found new nuggets of wisdom to take along the journey.

Which story is the place you live in telling you? If you haven’t pondered on this question maybe now it is time to start searching.

Latest on Ethics, Democratization of AI, and the War in Ukraine

There is a lot happening in the world of AI. In this short update we explore AI ethics, democratization, and tech updates from the war in Ukraine. For more on the latter, check out our recent piece where we dove into how AI is changing the landscape of warfare and possibly tilting the balance of power to smaller actors.

Let me begin with wise words from Andrew Ng from his recent newsletter:

When developers write software, there’s an economic temptation to focus on serving people who have power: How can one show users of a website who have purchasing power an advertisement that motivates them to click? To build a fairer society, let’s also make sure that our software treats all people well, including the least powerful among us.

Andrew Ng

Yes, Andrew. That is what AI theology is all about: rethinking how we do technology to build a world where all life can flourish.

Next Steps in the Democratization of AI

When we talk about democratization of AI, it is often in the context of spreading AI knowledge and benefits to the margins. However, it also means extending AI beyond the technical divide, enabling those with little technical ability to use AI. Though many AI and data science courses have sprung up in recent years, machine learning continues to be the practice of a few.

Big Tech is trying to change that. New Microsoft and Google tools allow more and more users to train models without code. As machine learning becomes a point-and-click affair, I can only imagine the potential of such developments as well as the danger they bring. The prospect of harnessing insight from millions of spreadsheets is promising. It could boost productivity and help many advance in their careers.

taken from pexel.com

One thing is for certain in AI applications: while coding may be optional, ethical reflection will never be. That is why, here in AI Theology, we are serious about expanding the dialogue to the non-technical masses. A good starting point for anyone seeking to better understand AI technologies is our guide. There you can find just enough information to have a big picture view of AI and its applications.

Trends in AI Ethics

The AI Index report from Stanford University has good news: AI ethics has become a thing! The topic is no longer restricted to academics but is now commonplace among industry-funded research. It is becoming part of mainstream organizations. Along with that, legislation efforts to regulate AI have also increased. Spain, the UK, and the US lead the way.

Furthermore, in the US, the FTC is levying penalties on companies that build models on improperly acquired data. In one of the latest instances, Weight Watchers had to destroy its algorithms developed on this type of data. This represents a massive loss for companies. Developing and deploying these models cost millions of dollars, and algorithm destruction prevents organizations from realizing their benefits.

This is an interesting and encouraging development. The threat of algorithm destruction could lead to more responsible data collection and retention practices. Data governance is a key foundation for ethical AI that no one (except for lawyers, of course) wants to talk about. With that said, ensuring good collection practices is not enough to address inherent bias in existing data.

War in Ukraine

A Zelensky deepfake was caught early, but it will likely not be the last. This is just a taste of what is to come as a war on the ground translates into a war of propaganda and cyber attacks. In the meantime, Russia is experiencing a tech worker exodus which could have severe consequences for the country’s IT sector for years to come.

Photo by Katie Godowski from Pexels

On the Ukrainian side, thousands continue to join the cyber army as Anonymous (the world’s largest hacking group) officially declared war on Russia. Multinational tech companies are also lining up to hire Ukrainian coders fleeing their homeland. Yet, challenges still remain around work visas as European countries struggle to absorb the heavy influx of refugees.

The war in Ukraine has been a global conflict from the start. Yet, unlike the major wars of the 20th century, the global community is overwhelmingly picking one side and fighting through multiple fronts outside of military action. While this global solidarity with the invaded nation is encouraging, this also raises the prospect of the military combat spilling into other countries.

The Nature of Technology: Our Source of Fear and Hope

In previous blogs, I contrasted the critical view of Ellul toward technology with the more hopeful outlook of Teilhard. In this piece, I want to offer a third view of a technological age that is more detached yet still useful for our discussion: W. Brian Arthur’s emphasis on the link between technology and nature. If the positive and negative value judgments offered by Teilhard and Ellul form two ends of a spectrum, Arthur’s alternative takes us outside that spectrum. He provides a more neutral evaluation of what technology is and how humankind should approach it.

Hailing from the prestigious Santa Fe Institute, economist W. Brian Arthur was one of the first academics to tackle the question of how technology evolves. In his 2009 seminal work, The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves, Arthur sketches the theoretical contours of how technology emerges. Using examples from the last two centuries, he builds a comprehensive case to show how new technologies build upon previous technologies, similar in nature but also with their own particularities. This book is a valuable resource for anyone seeking a deep-dive, theoretical perspective on the topic of technology’s emergence and evolution.

Given Arthur’s theoretical and technical approach, what could such a detached view contribute to our discussion on the technological age? How can his observations and framework inform a broader analysis of technology’s impact on society? I would like to highlight two main insights from the book that provide further nuance to our discussion.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Nature-of-Technology/W-Brian-Arthur/9781416544067

Nature and Purpose

Arthur defines technology as an effort to harness natural phenomena for a purpose. If we break down this definition, two main insights emerge. The first is the recognition that technology is intricately tied to nature. That is, the technology we have today is only here because nature provided the conditions, parameters, and materials for them to exist. Technology does not exist in a vacuum and it is not self-referential. In order to make it work, at its foundation, one must understand the laws of nature that govern our planet, or at least enough of them to use and direct them for a purpose. This is why the marriage of science and technology that started in the 20th century has been so effective. Our understanding of nature grew by leaps and bounds in the last century, and so did technology.

Underneath this point, there is also a surprising realization. Because of nature’s primacy, it does not need technology to live on. After all, nature has progressed for billions of years on Earth without the help of human technologies. It can continue to do so in spite of the absence or failure of technologies in the future. Technology, on the other hand, cannot exist without nature. That is, if we move out to another planet, all our technologies must be reconfigured or redesigned to fit into a new world.

Photo by TeeFarm on pixabay.com

The second insight from Arthur’s definition of technology is equally illuminating. That is, technology starts with a purpose. If we press this question further, it often starts with a problem yearning to be resolved. The builders begin with a clear end goal, exploring the best approach that will best reach that goal. In this way, it is very similar to evolution in nature, an iterative process always in the search for the best way to enhance and perpetuate life in a given environment.

Source of Fear and Hope

Arthur’s work stays mostly on the technical and theoretical level for the vast majority of the book. He goes on in detail not just to explain his theory but also to demonstrate it with examples of how specific technologies evolved. Yet, towards the end, the book takes a more reflective tone. In that part, the author talks about the relationship humans have with technology that goes beyond just building them.

Arthur also evaluates human attitudes towards technology in pop culture and more specifically in science fiction. There he finds an interesting paradox: humans both fear and hope in technology. On the one hand, the technological artifacts that surround our lives give us a sense that they are unnatural, artificial. They are not always intuitive, nor do they blend well with our environments. They evoke strangeness to bodies that evolved for millions of years without their aid. We are unsettled by them. We fear them.

On the other hand, we often deposit our hope in technology. Nature can harm us, or limit us, and technology promises to help us harness nature in ways that allow us to surpass those limitations. In a world where nature has lost its enchantment, we turn our adoring eyes to technology. We look to technical solutions to calm our fears, reduce our anxieties, and provide comfort and distraction from the harsh realities of life. Though the author does not go that far, I would say that the cult of technology has become a religion in and of itself.

Conclusion

Where Ellul approaches technology with pessimism and Teilhard with optimism, Arthur’s perspective allows for both. The paradox of fear and hope undergirds and defines our technological age. There is hope that as technology advances, human suffering and death will diminish. There is also a profound sense of loss and a nagging desire to return to nature, the starting point for our bodies. That uneasiness is hard to shake off.

Above all, Dr. Arthur highlights technology’s dependence on nature. This is a remarkable insight that leads us back into reflections on identity and connection. If technology is dependent on nature, then one could argue that it is an extension of nature just like we are. If that is the case then it is time to remove the illusion of artificial versus natural. It is all natural.

If we see technology and nature as a continuum, we can enrich our conversation about technology. It is no longer a foreign agent that we need to deal with, but a reflection of who we are.

Warfare AI in Ukraine: How Algorithms are Changing Combat

There is a war in Europe, again. Two weeks in and the world is watching in disbelief as Russian forces invade Ukraine. While the conflict is still confined to the two nations, the proximity to NATO nations and the unpredictability of the Russian autocrat has caused the world to get the jitters. It is too soon to speak of WWIII but the prospect is now closer than it has ever been.

No doubt this is the biggest story of the moment with implications that span multiple levels. In this piece, I want to focus on how it is impacting the conversation on AI ethics. This encompasses not only the potential for AI weapons but also the involvement of algorithms in cyber warfare and in addressing the refugee crisis that result from it. In a previous blog, I outlined the first documented uses of AI in an armed conflict. This instance requires a more extensive treatment.

Andrew Ng Rethinks AI warfare

In the AI field, few command as much respect as Andrew Ng. Former Chief Scientist of Baidu and co-founder of Google Brain, he has recently shifted his focus to education and helping startups lead innovation in AI. He prefaces his most recent newsletter this way:

I’ve often thought about the role of AI in military applications, but I haven’t spoken much about it because I don’t want to contribute to the proliferation of AI arms. Many people in AI believe that we shouldn’t have anything to do with military use cases, and I sympathize with that idea. War is horrific, and perhaps the AI community should just avoid it. Nonetheless, I believe it’s time to wrestle with hard, ugly questions about the role of AI in warfare, recognizing that sometimes there are no good options.

Andrew Ng

He goes on to explain how in a globally connected world where a lot of code is open-source, there is no way to ensure these technologies will not fall in the wrong hands. Andrew Ng still defends recent UN guidance that affirms that a human decision-maker should be involved in any warfare system. The thought leader likens it to the treatment of atomic weapons where a global body audits and verifies national commitments. In doing so, he opens the door for the legitimate development of such weapons as long as there are appropriate controls.

Photo by Katie Godowski from Pexels

Andrew’s most salient point is that this is no longer a conversation we can avoid. It needs to happen now. It needs to include military experts, political leaders, and scientists. Moreover, it should include a diverse group of members from civil society as civilians are still the ones who suffer the most in these armed conflicts.

Are we ready to open this pandora’s box? This war may prove that it has already been open.

AI Uses in the Ukraine’s war

While much is still unclear, reports are starting to surface on some AI uses on both sides of the conflict. Ukraine is using semi-autonomous Turkish-made drones that can drop laser-guided bombs. A human operator is still required to pull the triggers but the drone can take off, fly and land on its own. Russia is opting for kamikazi drones that will literally crash into its targets after finding and circling them for a bit. This is certainly a terrifying sight, straight out of Sci-fi movies – a predator machine that will hunt down and strike its enemies with cold precision.

Yet, AI uses are not limited to the battlefield. 21st-century wars are no longer fought with guns and ammunition only but now extend to bits and bytes. Russian troll farms are creating fake faces for propagandist profiles. They understand that any military conflict in our age is followed by an information war to control the narrative. Hence the use of bots or another automated posting mechanism will come in handy in a situation like this.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Furthermore, there is a parallel and very destructive cyber war happening alongside the war in the streets. From the very beginning of the invasion, reports surfaced of Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure. There are also multi-national cyber defense teams formed to counteract and stop such attempts. While cyber-attacks do not always entail AI techniques, the pursuit to stop them or scale them most often does. This, therefore, ensures AI will be a vital part of the current conflict

Conclusion

While I would hope we could guarantee a war-free world for my children, this is not a reality. The prospect of war will continue and therefore it must be part of our discussions on AI and ethics. This becomes even more relevant as contemporary wars are extending into the digital sphere in unprecedented ways. This is uncharted territory in some ways. In others, it is not, as technology has always been at the center of armed conflict.

As I write this, I pray and hope for a swift resolution to the conflict in Ukraine. Standing with the Ukrainian people and against unilateral aggression, I hope that a mobilized global community will be enough to stop a dictator. I suspect it will not. In the words of the wise prophet Sting, we all hope the Russians love their children too.

What is the Connection Between Liberation Theology, Data, and Employment Law?

In the second part summary of our November AITAB meeting, we explored AI for good in Europe, Industry, and Academia. This final blog closes out our summary of our meeting in November. In this piece, you will find varied insights that range from Biblical interpretation, law, liberation theology, and exploring different definitions of data.

Model Training and Biblical Wisdom

Brian:  I’ll jump to the question of the theological and biblical frameworks for AI for good. Something Scott said sparked a direction I hadn’t considered but could be an interesting resource. When Scott mentioned taking one model that was already trained and then training it differently, that opens up exciting new avenues of meaning in terms of how AI is formed, what inputs guide its development. Everything the Scripture has to say about how people are formed can potentially guide the way that we do machine learning.

The book of Proverbs and other Wisdom literature in the Bible address the way people are formed, the way sound instruction can shape people. And what’s really interesting is that these books approach wisdom in a variety of dimensions, all aspects of our lives. Wisdom means not only insight or understanding but practical skill, morality, experience, sound judgment. And that multivalence is important. We as people are formed by so many different inputs: we don’t exist in discrete bundles of attributes. I’m not only a student. I’m a student and a person from my family, a member of my local community. Those things overlap and can’t be easily separated. I don’t stop being from middle Tennessee when I enter the classroom. So teaching and learning must take account of this overlap and strive for our integration, the formation of the whole person. And Wisdom literature exemplifies that in some respects. 

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Elias: That’s a great point. One of the biggest searches of my life has been the search for integration. Even AI Theology started as a journey of integration of my work, machine learning, and my theological and Christian faith. I love when we start seeing these connections. It may seem a little awkward. How can the book of Proverbs connect to machine learning? As you stay with it, eventually something comes up, something you haven’t thought about. 

Liberation Theology and Employment Law

Levi: In a different lens of what Brian was talking about: I’m working on a book project right now from the question about “preferential option for the poor ” (Catholic term). It comes from liberation theology and how it is understood. How you typically hear and study about it in theology. Being voices for the voiceless and champions of justice.

Yet, one of the biggest problems that are overlooked within this perspective is a recognition that the poor experience the world differently. The dignity of the poor is typically overlooked in societies where the ruling class identities are the ones that get imposed.

You mentioned the question of bias. We know for the most part, like facial recognition bias, isn’t because the programmers thought “I hate people from different races, so I’ll make sure this technology doesn’t work.” Most of the time, it’s because they weren’t aware of these problems. And that happens when you are a part of the dominant group.

When we look at the people who write about preferential options for the poor, they are people who aren’t poor. On the one hand, that is a great problem, that AI has currently, has been, and will continue to have the bias of the people who program. And these people are mostly upper-middle-class of white men. Even in places outside of Western countries, they still mostly are men.

The way AI works is based on what data it receives. If the data is given by white men, it’s going to be data they have curated. But if you bring data from different people, you will have different perspectives. And this perspective has great potential. When I listen to people from different countries, backgrounds, social economics classes, I can be sympathetic but I won’t ever understand fully.

If AI is trained by the data from people of different backgrounds, it can potentially be a better advocate of those things. One of the great advantages is that we think of AI as objective, and we think of the perspective of outcasts as being jaded. It’s harder to say that the computer’s outputs and ideas are not conducive to the realities of the poor. This is one of the great opportunities that help to bring the theological concept of preferential option for the poor and make it a preferential option “of the poor”, instead of only on their behalf. 

Davi: Trying to navigate these waters as an attorney. The EEOC, is the US agency that handles employment discrimination cases. It just launched an initiative called “listening sessions”. They are starting to tackle the problem of algorithmic bias in the law. They are starting to see a lot of cases related to selection tests and association tests (IQ tests) that companies use to hire people. The right answer is based on a specific type of cultural background. If you come from a different background, make different associations, you score badly.

These listening sessions are open to the public. You can see how the government of the US is dealing with these problems. In Congress and other legal areas, you still have fewer folks raising these issues. So the law is being decided in the court in big cases, like FB on FR. AI for good may be creating some democratization through these listening sessions, and I hope this will be one way to get input from other people besides big companies only. 

Data as the Voice of the Poor

Wen:  I’d like to contribute by reflecting on what others have said and adding some thoughts.  Several others have mentioned the democratization of AI with open source courses and data. Additionally, as different AI toolsets become more powerful and simpler to use, these will allow non-technical people who are not data scientists to work with AI.  An analogy is how it used to be difficult to create fancy data visualizations, but now there are tools for anyone to create them with just a few clicks.  As AI tools do increasingly more, the role of data scientists will differ in the years to come.

Scott mentioned a lot of AI tools are from ivory tower and/or homogenous model developers. There is a lot of bias encoded in those AI tools.  Levi mentioned AI algorithms and training data tend to favor upper-class white men and overlook the experiences of the poor.

When we think about amplifying the views and voices of the poor, I’d like to speak from my perspective of Data Strategy:  How are we defining “data”?  What data is collected?  Who collects the data?  How is the data structured?

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Most people who work with data think of spreadsheets, tables, and numbers. We need to also think about qualitative data, things in the realm of social science and anthropology. And audio and visual data, such as from self-driving cars, selfies, and surveillance cameras.

How can these datasets be used to serve poor and marginalized communities?  For example, spf.io is a platform that captions and translates live events and church services into many languages, including less common languages; this increases the accessibility of informative content for people in lesser-known communities.

I want to widen this conversation on data.  There are things we don’t currently collect as data, things that are happening but aren’t being captured, such as someone’s intuition in making decisions. We also need to explore the realm of epistemology – what is knowledge and information? And what are categories we haven’t considered yet?

Teilhard’s Hope: Technology as an Enabler of Cosmic Evolution

In a previous piece, we explored faithfulness in a technological age through Jacques Ellul’s critical view. In his view, technology, with its fixation on perfection, was stifling to the human spirit and an antithesis to nature. While providing an important contribution to the debate, Ellul’s perspective falls short by failing to recognize that technology is, in its essence, a human phenomenon. In doing so, he highlights the dangers and pitfalls but fails to see their potentialities. What if technology is not opposed to but a result of nature through cosmic evolution?

To complement the previous view, we must turn to another 20th century Frenchman, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. This Jesuit Paleontologist offered a paradigm-changing perspective by fusing evolution with Christianity. Because of his faith, Teilhard saw evolution not as a heresy to be disproven but as the mechanism through which God created the cosmos. It is this integrative vision that sheds a very different life on what technology is and how it can lead to a flourishing future.

Humanity as a Cosmic Phenomenom

To understand Teilhard’s view of technology one must first turn to his view of the universe. Published in 1955, Le Phénomène human is probably Teilhard’s most complete vision of a purposeful human evolution. To the French Jesuit, evolution is not just a mechanism to explain the diversity of being on earth. It is instead the process by which the cosmos came to be. It is God’s way of bringing us out of stardust, slowly creating order and harmony from the primordial chaos of the Big Bang.

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In his perspective, cosmic evolution was leading to both diversity and complexity. At the pinnacle of this complexity was human consciousness. That is, evolution brought humanity to earth but as humans became self-aware, this marked a new stage of the cosmic evolution. In this new phase, evolution was pointing towards a future that transcended humanity. This future is what he called the omega point. The future of evolution would lead humanity to a convergence of consciousness, what some now call the singularity.

To fully unpack Teilhard’s teleological view of the cosmic future, one must first understand his concept of the Noosphere. While difficult to explain in a few sentences, the Noosphere is an expanded view of human intelligence that encompasses not just the material reality of human brains but also the more abstract notion of human knowledge. It is not contained in one person but it is present in between all humanity as the air we breathe. The closest analogy we can get is the Internet itself where most of human knowledge is distributed and easily accessible.

The Technological Age as part of Cosmic Evolution

How does technology fit into this rich perspective of cosmic evolution? It is part and parcel of the Noosphere. Teilhard’s expansive concept contained three main parts: 1) heredity; 2) apparatus; and 3) thoughts. The first one has to do with genetic and cultural transfer. Every person receives a set of information both from their parents and their surrounding culture that enables them to function in this world.

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The second concept encompasses the vast area of human-created tools which we often associate with technology. In addition to our genetic and cultural material, humans now rely on a complex network of artifacts that extend their reach and impact in the natural world. From clothes to fast computers, this apparatus, in Teilhard’s view, is another part of the noosphere.

The reason why this is important is that by placing technology as an extension of human evolution, the French Jesuit connects it back to nature. Unlike in Ellul’s perspective, where technology is a force opposing nature, Teilhard sees continuity. Instead, it is a vital part of the human ecosystem and therefore it is teleological. By placing technology in the noosphere, Teilhard gives it a purpose and direction. It is not a force of destruction but a result and an enabler of cosmic evolution to the omega point.

In other words, nature and cosmic history converge to create this technological age. In that, Teilhard adds a sense of inevitability around technology. This is not to say that he was a blind enthusiast. A European who lived through two world wars, Teilhard is inoculated against the illusion of perpetual progress. Instead, he takes the long view and sees technology as an essential part of the long arch of history towards Cosmic redemption promised in Christian eschatology.

Hope, Caution and Courage

I can say with no reservation that my Christian faith would not exist today if it wasn’t for Teilhard’s integrative theology. In the despair of a false choice between pre-critical Biblical faith and materialistic humanism, I found the third way of Chardian synthesis. This is a story for another time but suffice it to say that the power of Teilhard’s Christian vision is its integration between science and religion. This integration then allows us to have a different conversation about the technological age.

For one, it destroys the illusion of separation between nature and technology. Without negating the dangers and disorientation that technological progress has brought, we can rightfully see it as an extension of cosmic history. Yet, how do we account for the uneasiness we instinctively feel towards it? Why does it not feel natural? One explanation is that as any evolutionary process, it takes time to fully form. Therefore, it is not an issue of substance but of time.

With that said, I cannot shake off reservations with Teilhard’s view of technology as part of cosmic evolution. There is a quasi naivete in his optimist belief in the inevitable evolution of humanity. We all hope he is right but are too afraid to bet our lives on it. The disappointment would be too grave and devastating. Perhaps that is the greatest asset of his view, one that requires courage and faith. One does not need faith to prepare for a dystopian future of technology overlords running the world. It does, however, require a courageous and terrifying faith to believe that technology can fulfill its full potential as another step in human evolution.

Living Faithfully in a Technological Age: Heeding Ellul’s Warnings

We are living in a technological age. The acceleration and pervasiveness of technology (both as knowledge and objects) is a dominant force shaping the direction of history. No other time in history has techno-optimism, the idea that we can “techno” our way out of any problem, been such a driving force in society. As Big tech, maybe the biggest symbol of this trend, accumulate staggering profit, the narrative marches on.

Consider this, if the global technology sector were a country, its GDP would be the third-largest in the world. Even so, the pervasiveness of tech extends far beyond the economy. It has come to touch every aspect of human societies, revolutionizing how we shop, study, work, and relate to each other. The cyber-world, as it was once known, is no longer a virtual representation of reality. It is, instead, a reality of its own that now exists in parallel to our offline reality.

If technology is the defining force of our age, how can we live the good life in it? For centuries humans have asked this question as a way to engage faithfully with their environment. How do we do that in a technological age? In this case, a clarification is in order. In a time where the word technology gets thrown around a lot, what actually does it mean? To help us with this task we now turn to a 20th-century scholar.

The Danger of Technique

In 1954, French theologian and sociologist Jacques Ellul put forth one of the most complete critique of technology’s impact on humanity. His seminal work, La technique ou l’enjeu du siècle, is one of the first to recognize that we were indeed living in a technological age. In his view, that was a concerning development. He saw the rise of technology as a vortex that started in the industrial revolution but accelerated in the last two centuries. He used the French word technique that meant not just the objects themselves but a mentality, an approach to the world. Underneath it was the culmination belief that the world was a machine, and that by combining the right parts, one could solve any problem.

Technology was not a neutral force. Instead, it was marked by rationality. It obeyed prescribed rules and follow dictated patterns. It is obsessed with efficiency in every field of human activity. Not only that, but it often supplants and destroys the old, replacing them with the new. In doing so, it often leaves a trail of loss, confusion, and disorientation.

Furthermore, he believed that technology was self-perpetuating. It starts with a narrow purpose in mind but eventually, by creating new problems, it begets new objects to address it. In this way, it can raise whole new industries in a short amount of time. Thus, it can both be a fantastic driver of economic growth and job creation, even as it destroys and disrupts existing structures.

Techno-determinism and the Human-Machine Telos

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Jacques Ellul observed that technology tends to be deterministic. This is even more true today in a digital age where algorithms and decision engines are shaping our future by predicting, nudging, and optimizing human behavior toward pre-determined aims. In its pursuit of perfectionist dreams, it stubbornly seeks the most efficient method in a process which often supplants human creativity. It imposes its preferred method as a universal law, forcing all its users to follow its pre-determined principles.

At its essence, it drives the future toward a human-machine telos. Because it believes the universe is mechanistic, it further transforms us into machines. Technology, therefore, seeks to conform us to its image of mechanical perfection. It treats living beings as predictable objects built to accomplish narrow objectives.

If it wasn’t enough, Ellul believed that as it became ubiquitous, it has also become the new sacred. Supplanting religious hegemonies of the past, technology is the new god before which everyone must bow. One cannot question it, one must only accept its sovereign plan for a future of efficiency, perfection, and effectiveness. In that, he could not be more right.

A Faithful Response

It does not take much probing to realize Ellul’s proposed response to this predicament. In a technological age, where our world has turned to tech worship, Ellul is an iconoclast. Breaking down the idols through resistance and subversion is the only way. As a Christian, he believed that to be the most appropriate response in view of a mounting techno-tyranny. The faithful must throw a wrench into the whole process and work for its collapse.

By that, I don’t think he meant a complete return to nature. Yet, it starts with a recognition of the pervasive pernicious impact of technology in society. Resistance to technique, as both objects and mentality, is a return to human creativity and partnership. It most certainly entails a new way to build and operate machinery. A way in which it recognizes its limitations while upholding the sacredness of live beings.

mystic Christianity
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It means dismantling the centralizing power of techno elites and spreading their knowledge with the masses. Placing technology in its rightful place as one tool among many in the work for the flourishing of life. A subversion that returns to the human and hopefully leads us back to the ultimate. This is the type of response, I believe, Jacques Ellul could get behind and see it as a faithful rendering of his legacy.

Conclusion

Ellul’s critique of technology only gets more relevant with time. The prophetic insights that he originally saw in the half of the 20th century continue to reverberate in a world where technique has only become more predominant. Coupled with an appropriate mindset that replaces despair with action, it can lead to the type of subversion we need to see in our time.

Even so, one must ask whether subversion is enough in a technological age. Is technique only a phenomenon to be resisted, an evil to be controlled? Even if it is properly pursued as a tool, is that sufficient to capture its meaning. Are there other fascets we must see if we are to fully comprehend this technological age? That is when we turn next to another French prophet, paleontologist, and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.