technology

Many Christians wrote off the Pixar classic Wall-E because of its hyper-environmentalist message. However, the film’s commentary on human exceptionalism and vocation, specifically the inability of our machines to do our most important work for us, was spot-on. In the world of Wall-E, human beings have a purpose, or a telos that cannot be reduced to maximizing comfort, safety, and convenience.

In the biblical account of reality, humans exist to glorify and love God, and to serve as His special representatives and co-rulers in creation. Human inventions should help towards achieving those ends, extending our abilities, and mitigating the effects of the Fall. Wanting to replace ourselves with our devices assumes that humanity is the central problem of the world that needs to be solved.

One of America's top pediatricians says she has seen a "clear link" between depression and social media use among teenage girls and encourages parents to re-think their smartphone strategy.

The Church has entered a new era—a post-Christian, digital age. But simply having a website, social media, and an online campus should not be our only forays into a digital post-Christian world. We should enter the virtual mission field.

Higher education is experiencing not simply a communication revolution. Generation Z is forcing course makeovers, “pushing academics to be more hands-on and job-relevant.” Millennials may have wanted climbing walls and en suite kitchens; Generation Z wants all things career development. Generation Z is even changing office hours.

Our “digital veils” function as a source of power and control, in a way depicted long ago in C.S. Lewis’s classic, Till We Have Faces. The main character and narrator in the story is Orual, the unattractive and tomboyish older sister of the goddess Psyche. Orual convinces Psyche to disobey her husband, the god Cupid, who then banishes Psyche and ends their marriage. As a result, Orual decides to live out the rest of her days wearing a black veil.

The veil, which starts off as “a sort of treaty made with [her] ugliness,” quickly becomes a form of power and control. Whereas her ugliness and mannishness caused others to disregard her, the veil gives her a kind of power over others. Her father, the king, takes her seriously, suitors flock to her, and enemies respect her. By shrouding her face in mystery, the veil even led some to imagine she was a dazzling beauty or even a spirit.

A new Christian AI app on Apple platforms claims to reveal what Jesus would do in a modern context, but its answers on hot-button topics often stray from the historical, traditional teachings of the faith.

"And that takes several forms. The first one is, what do we think we're allowed to let AI [do]? The second one is how do we know how the algorithm made decisions? And do we trust it? And the third one is, at what point are we ready to let the algorithm start doing some things on its own that maybe we are or aren't comfortable with?" he said.

It’s been some 2,000 years since Jesus and the apostles walked the earth, but an innovative new smartphone app provides users the ability to “text” them through the use of artificial intelligence. 

I often joke that because of the number of sci-fi movies about artificial intelligence out there, we’ve already seen how this story ends – with robots taking over the world. So why mess around with it?

Despite my half-hearted protests, AI seems like it is here to stay. AI is creeping up in every corner of our society – from copywriting programs to personalized shopping to autonomous vehicles. It seems like out of “nowhere,” AI is now everywhere.

With this technology becoming a part of our lives more and more each day, Christians may be wondering how they should respond to AI.

The popular mobile Bible app YouVersion launched a new app that does not require users to have access to the internet to connect with the Word of God.