Anne Foerst: Embodied AI & the Challenge of Personhood

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2024

⏱️ 89 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this edition of the Process This: Artificial Intelligence series we are joined by AI pioneer, computer scientist, and theologian Dr. Anne Foerst. Anne offers a deep dive into the fascinating intersection of AI and theology, urging us to consider the profound ethical, social, and theological questions as we march into an increasingly AI-driven future. As a member of MIT’s earliest explorations of embodied AI, she brings a unique perspective to a conversation increasingly shaped by the emergence of large language models of AI. Dr. Anne Foerst is a Professor and chair of Computer Science at St. Bonaventure University. She teaches Computers and Society, Cybersecurity Ethics, and other interdisciplinary courses. She is also the director of the individualized major program at SBU. Her research focuses on the theological implications of Artificial Intelligence and the personhood of robots. Previously, she has worked as a research scientist at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was also affiliated with the Center for the Studies of Values in Public Life of Harvard Divinity School. While in the artificial intelligence lab at MIT, she served as theological advisor for the Cog and Kismet projects, two attempts to develop embodied, autonomous social robots that resemble human infants in their ability to learn and develop more mature intelligence levels. Check out her book God in the Machine: What Robots teach us about God and Humanity. Watch the conversation here on YouTube In the conversation, we discuss... Defining Artificial Intelligence Anthropomorphism and AI Personhood and Ethical Challenges AI in Religious Contexts Social Robots and Human Development Ethical Implications of AI AI and Human Evolution The Role of Community and Ethics Join my Substack - Process This! Join our upcoming class - THE GOD OF THE BIBLE: An Absolutely Clear and Final Guide to Ultimate Mystery ;) Come to THEOLOGY BEER CAMP. Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What is up theology nerds?
0:03.0	This is Tripp and today on homebrewed Christianity, we got Anna Forst.
0:09.0	She is a professor of computer science and has a PhD in theology as well.
0:17.0	She's at St. Bonaventure University and has been a long time pioneer in artificial intelligence.
0:25.3	Right after she finished her PhD, she worked on a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT in artificial intelligence and social robots.
0:34.2	And that was one of the first places.
0:36.2	That kind of research was advanced. And it was there
0:39.8	in that kind of context that she started to ask questions about what it means to be human. What
0:45.5	are human and machine's relationship? Does artificial intelligence change or transform it?
0:52.0	And this is the kind of thing she raised in her book, God in the
0:56.7	machine, what robots teach us about humanity and God. And that is a part of this conversation
1:03.8	along with just some amazing reflection on the nature of artificial intelligence, different kinds,
1:10.2	what challenges it raises for us as a species,
1:13.3	what kind of understanding we might gain, what are the different research questions at work in the sciences,
1:19.2	and what's really going on behind the kind of technological experience of AI,
1:27.3	and what are the ethical challenges and questions that we should be wrestling with
1:32.2	and which ones are a bit apocalypticly exaggerated?
1:37.0	It was a complete honor and treat to talk to a pioneer in this field.
1:42.5	So I hope you enjoy it.
1:44.3	And I hope you realize this is just one part of our artificial intelligence series.
1:49.5	If you want to find out more about it, you can head over to process this.com.
1:54.9	There'll be links to it on this post because we're doing a series.
	...

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