The Theology of Artificial Intelligence

This document is intended for a treatment of the moral and theological
implications of artificial intelligence.

An old joke from the nineteen fifties or thereabouts has a human being
asking a mighty computer, "Is there a God?" "Now there is," comes the answer.

Artificial minds are coming into the world.

Volition (free will) -- as a module of the AI Mind

• http://mind.sourceforge.net/volition.html

Various stages in the emergence of artificial intelligence
threaten to precipitate a crisis of belief in religious humans.

Free will in robots
• Does a robot have a soul?
• What happens if multiple copies of the same robot mind are made?

Civil rights for robots
• Can robots and humans be equal?
• Can robots be superior to humans?

Beliefnet: The source for Spirituality, Religion and Morality

• http://www.beliefnet.com/

In the admixture of human and artificial Minds, each entity may
choose from a scale of levels or modes of existence:

0. To be simply dead.

1. To be still in the world but not be able to interact with it.

- like Patrick Swayze in the movie Ghost;
- a cyborg could be kept in the undead state:

- as punishment;
- as a form of readiness;
- as a control experiment to test ideas.

2. To be in the world, but only interact for the necessities of life.

- shopping;
- dealing with strangers;
- working at a job.

3. To live in the waking state, only for the sake of the dream state.

4. Vita contemplativa: Only passive contemplation, with no active pursuit of data.

- idleness enforced by imprisonment or illness;
- scholarly life with no worldly pursuits.

5. Vita semi-activa: To take actions only for the sake of contemplation:

- gathering more raw data for contemplation;
- performing experiments necessary for contemplation-in-full.

6. Vita electronica: To be meatspace inert but cyberspatially active:

- virtual reality;
- a natural role for unembodied AI;
- a role of the otaku zoku or social misfit nerd;
- Neuromancer by William Gibson.

7. Vita sub-activa: Essentially passive, but active when provoked:

- by social injustice crying out for direct action in remediation;
- by the ethics of a situation, except:

- Avoid obligations and commitments.
- "Never explain; never complain." -- Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.

8. Vita activa: Entrepreneurial pursuit of material outcomes
- direct shaping and control of events;
- strategic initiatives and campaigns.

9. Vita co-activa: Committed cooperation in a union or cause:
- encumbrance in a consortium of marriage;
- duty within a military force or a religious community.

10. Afterlife: To burn in Hell; or to rejoice in Heaven.

Robots will gradually be seen as persons with full civil rights
on a par with human beings.

Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics

• http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/robotics.html

Humans and robots will have co-stewardship of Earth.

If the joint stewardship of Earth by humans and cyborgs is seen
as an attempt to create an earthly paradise, an Eden, a Heaven on Earth,
do such aspirations fly in the face of religious ideas about waiting
until the afterlife for the rewards due to virtue and hard work?

In a leap to the stars, intelligence -- both natural and artificial --
will spread throughout the universe.

Are we alone in the universe?
The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (S.E.T.I.) seeks answers.

Columbus Optical SETI Observatory in Bexley OH USA.

• http://www.coseti.org

SETI Institute of Mountain View CA USA.

• http://www.seti.org

The SETI League of Little Ferry NJ USA.

• http://seti1.setileague.org

SETI@Home Project: Using idle time of thousands of computers.

• http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu

Humans die, but will some cyborgs be immortal?

Usenet: sci.life-extension

• http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&safe=off&group=sci.life-extension
  
• http://www.mailgate.org/sci/sci.life-extension/index.html

We can not see beyond the point of Technological Singularity.

Vinge, Vernor -- Technological Singularity

• http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/vinge/vinge-sing.html

Will AI cyborgs play a role in the ultimate state of the universe?

de Chardin, S.J., Pierre Teilhard -- Web search on Google

• http://www.google.com/search?q=teilhard+chardin

Tipler, Frank -- Omega Point Theory

• http://www.math.tulane.edu/faculty_html/tipler/tipler2.html

In the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001, are
any revelations starting to be fulfilled?

Alper, Matthew -- author of book: The GOD Part of the Brain

• http://www.godpart.com/premise.html

Christian Coders Network

• http://www.christiancoders.com/

Corrigenda Weblog

• http://www.corrigenda.blogspot.com

Meta List on Science and Religion

• http://www.meta-list.org/

Pickover, Cliff -- Internet Encyclopedia of the Bible

• http://www.pickover.com/bible.html

Templeton Foundation for science and religion

• http://www.templeton.org/

/projects/mind
Last updated: 14 June 2003
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