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Daily Bible Readings – Godliness - Friday 9th June 2023
What is it to be human?
Recently I noticed a BBC article with the thought-provoking strap-line, “AI – will it make humans boring?”
Personally I find human beings far more interesting than AI. We are prone to error, inherently selfish yet with the capacity for incredible generosity of spirit that would confound any AI, - capable of both love and hate while AI will only be able to employ cold logic based on its programming, even if it will be able to do that much better than us. It will be able to debate on existence of consciousness in AI, yet never know what it is to be content. It will be able to win philosophical debates on the existence of God yet never be able to truly know Him. It will never be able to answer truthfully the question "How's your family?" It will never be capable of spontaneous love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. A society dominated by AI would be one where such qualities would have no place.
What will always fundamentally separate us from AI is that "God so loved humanity that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not end up spiritually dead but have everlasting life." AI can never be made spiritually alive as it will never be human, with all the spiritual potential that implies. It can only replicate a form of humanity.
It got me thinking about what it truly means to be fully human as God intended, which is the connecting thought for all of this week’s devotions. In this my thinking has been inspired by reading Charlie Peacock’s book “New Way to be Human” back in 2019 while recuperating after a knee operation.
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By Queen's Road Baptist Church, BroadstairsWhat is it to be human?
Recently I noticed a BBC article with the thought-provoking strap-line, “AI – will it make humans boring?”
Personally I find human beings far more interesting than AI. We are prone to error, inherently selfish yet with the capacity for incredible generosity of spirit that would confound any AI, - capable of both love and hate while AI will only be able to employ cold logic based on its programming, even if it will be able to do that much better than us. It will be able to debate on existence of consciousness in AI, yet never know what it is to be content. It will be able to win philosophical debates on the existence of God yet never be able to truly know Him. It will never be able to answer truthfully the question "How's your family?" It will never be capable of spontaneous love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. A society dominated by AI would be one where such qualities would have no place.
What will always fundamentally separate us from AI is that "God so loved humanity that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not end up spiritually dead but have everlasting life." AI can never be made spiritually alive as it will never be human, with all the spiritual potential that implies. It can only replicate a form of humanity.
It got me thinking about what it truly means to be fully human as God intended, which is the connecting thought for all of this week’s devotions. In this my thinking has been inspired by reading Charlie Peacock’s book “New Way to be Human” back in 2019 while recuperating after a knee operation.