I mainly try to avoid artificial intelligence. I write my own emails and blog posts. I don’t want Gemini to summarize a document for me. I’ve never chatted with ChatGPT. Yet I also know that AI is unavoidable. In banking, utilities, and other areas of daily life, the first line of customer service is often a chat bot. When I need help with this website, the help center is staffed by my “personal AI assistant.”
At times I’ve been amazed at how accurate and responsive an AI assistant can be. At other times, I’ve found AI to be frustratingly more artificial than intelligent. And underlying my admittedly narrow experience, I wonder about the moral and ethical implications of AI, about what happens when AI replaces human conversation and human workers, about the use of AI in the church. What safeguards do we need for children and youth, for mental health, for dealing with AI hallucinations and bias?
In the midst of these and other questions, I’m grateful for the work of Meghan Sullivan, who is the Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good. Along with these impressive credentials, she is also a great communicator. On Substack, she writes:
Religion is, among other things, ancient technology for being human. This starts from the conviction that there is something extraordinarily special about being a human. We have a value that has nothing to do with how productive, wealthy, or intelligent we are. But there are ways of life that befit our humanity. And ways of life that can degrade it. Faith traditions have a whole lot to offer as we think through what it means to put humans in all of their particularity and dignity at the center of the AI conversation.
Dr. Sullivan spoke at Regent College for their Laing Lectures this year, and I recommend these two videos:
The DELTA Framework — Where Is the Christian Voice in AI Ethics?
Dignity, Embodiment, Love, Transcendence, Agency
Dr. Meghan Sullivan begins speaking at 12:20.
The Dignity of Work and the Dignity of Learning
Dr. Meghan Sullivan begins speaking at 12:10.
I’ll continue to follow Dr. Sullivan’s work along with her colleagues as they write on their Substack, The Human DELTA :
Rooted in Christian tradition, designed to be accessible to anyone. The framework [dignity, embodiment, love, transcendence, agency] offers us a positive vision of what it is to be fully human, some philosophical ballast for disorienting times. We also believe that this framework can help you grasp what’s actually at stake when a new AI product lands in your life, your school, your congregation, or your company. We’ll try to prove that with thoughtful articles, tips, and interviews that you can put to use right away.
When You Work for the Church 
I’d love to hear from you: