Is "Knowing" More Than Neural Networks? Christianity, Scientism, & Artificial Intelligence
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Is "Knowing" More Than Neural Networks? Christianity, Scientism, and Artificial Intelligence
How do knowledge and love of God make intellectual sense in a scientific and technological age?
For centuries, Christians have attached multiple layers of meaning to the act of knowing, with love as the highest. Yet in today's science-saturated culture, that understanding of knowing has fallen out of favor. As science's grasp of the natural world continues to expand, many have come to assume that the methods of natural science alone yield true and reliable knowledge. This is "scientism." A newer and pressing development raises the stakes: the most powerful AI models are largely built on scientism's premises, and they can seem almost human in how they know and interact. What, then, is a faithful Christian response to the scientism of our age?
Hear from Ian Hutchinson, Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world's leading plasma physicists, and a longtime critic of scientism. This lecture, the third annual Dallas A. Willard Lecture presented by the Lumen Center, calls the university community to a deeper understanding of the relationship between Christianity, science, and our cultural moment.
The Dallas A. Willard Lecture is generously supported by Fieldstead and Co.
How do knowledge and love of God make intellectual sense in a scientific and technological age?
For centuries, Christians have attached multiple layers of meaning to the act of knowing, with love as the highest. Yet in today's science-saturated culture, that understanding of knowing has fallen out of favor. As science's grasp of the natural world continues to expand, many have come to assume that the methods of natural science alone yield true and reliable knowledge. This is "scientism." A newer and pressing development raises the stakes: the most powerful AI models are largely built on scientism's premises, and they can seem almost human in how they know and interact. What, then, is a faithful Christian response to the scientism of our age?
Hear from Ian Hutchinson, Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world's leading plasma physicists, and a longtime critic of scientism. This lecture, the third annual Dallas A. Willard Lecture presented by the Lumen Center, calls the university community to a deeper understanding of the relationship between Christianity, science, and our cultural moment.
The Dallas A. Willard Lecture is generously supported by Fieldstead and Co.
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