BarbarousBill Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 http://www.ted.com/talks/oscar_schwartz_can_a_computer_write_poetry Okay I lied. Maybe Robochristianity isn't a thing yet. Yet I cannot help but watch this video and ponder the possibility. Will our beautiful creation, little baby A.I. grow up? Will it become sentient? Will it have a soul? These are huge questions, and would be very interesting to analyze in a Christian framework as well. If humans are created, is the act of creation what gives something a soul. Mankind creates a lot of things, but sets robots out as something special. In the bible god set man out as special. Can a robot become religious? Of course looking at it from a materialist perspective also leads to some questions. If robots can't have souls, does that mean humans don't have a soul? What defines sentience and meaningful intelligence? It then goes from spiritual questions to practical questions and questions about the nature of existence, man, and intelligence/sentience. Also, is it ethical to employ robots who are sentient? Or is it creator enslaving creation? What does this mean for Christianity? What does it mean for humans? Please provide me with your views, I truly am fascinated. For myself I will keep my views private on this one. I'm really interested in seeing what everyone says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I have heard it debated just how much free will we have, and that plays into the programming aspect of life. Religion for the young is largely a program instilled by parents or others, and if the bullshit detector isn't working well, the kid can easily fall into religion being defined as true without really ever testing it (authority figure equates to true). For others, religion is an "if - then", since it isn't related to actual interactions with a deity. I'll get free from problem X if I make this bargain with a god. Frustration with problem X and trust of friend Y sharing the god solution can lead to acceptance of god as true, if only for a while. It has to be reinforced with other new meaningful relationships that the person wants to keep. Since AI tends to stand alone, without emotional needs and support networks of friends, and typically a lack of cultural rules, it would be a matter of direct programming instead of a perceived support network. AIs interacting with one another... not sure what could happen there. But so much comes down to the structure of the "mind", what things are important for its survival. AI doesn't typically have a motivation, so that would have to be provided. So it would really reflect more what the programmer wanted to see happen, or at least left open as a coded possibility. Religion also turns off the truth-check feature as a kind of self-protection, so it could be seen as a sort of virus that protects its own set of program steps by disabling the desire to see if the claims are real or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 The title makes me want to sing "Slim Shady". Please stand up! Please stand up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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