Digitalised Image of God

<p>This book focuses on the idea of the <i>imago Dei</i> to engaging theologically with artificial intelligence (AI). It reflects on how enormous progress in the development of AI has raised some challenges to Christian theology. Questions explored include: is AI created in the <i>imago Dei</i>? If so does AI challenge the uniqueness of the human being as the <i>imago Dei</i>? If not could AI be incorporated into human communities as a human companion in the same way as a natural human person? Would AI eventually develop to have human-level consciousness and be capable of performing liturgies and ethical actions? Bringing to light the radical distinction between the <i>imago Dei</i> and the <i>imago hominis</i> the book constructs a theo-ontological foundation for AI and draws on the Reformed theology of archetype–ectype as a metaphysical tool to deploy a holistic account of the <em>imago Dei</em> in theology–AI dialogues. The author argues that the <i>imago Dei </i>is the signifier of the beginning both of God–human stories and stories of human ethical performances towards others. From the perspective of the image of the <i>imago Dei</i> it can be argued that AI can somehow participate into the narration of these religious and ethical stories.</p><p>This book will be of particular interest to scholars of theology and those working in the field of religion and science/technology.</p>