The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity

by Jason Thacker

Are robots going to take my job? How are smartphones affecting my kids? Do I need to worry about privacy when I get online or ask Siri for directions? Whatever questions you have about AI, The Age of AI gives you insights on how to navigate this brand-new world as you apply God's ageless truths to your life and future.

Alexa, how is AI changing our world? We interact with artificial intelligence, or AI, nearly every moment of the day without knowing it. From our Twitter and Facebook social media feeds to our online carts to smart thermostats and Alexa and Google Home, AI is everywhere. In The Age of AI, Jason Thacker--associate research fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission--helps us navigate our digital age in this thoughtful exploration of the social, moral, and ethical challenges of our ongoing interactions with artificial intelligence.

Applying God's Word to this new AI-empowered age, The Age of AI shows us how Christian truth transforms how we use AI in order to love God and our neighbor better. It serves as a guide for those wary of technology's impact on our society and also for those who are enthusiastic about where AI is taking us. Jason explains how AI affects us individually, in our relationships, and in our society at large as he addresses AI's impact on our bodies, sexuality, work, economics, and privacy. With theological depth and a wide awareness of the current trends in AI, Jason is a steady guide reminding us that while AI is changing most things, it does not change the foundations of the Christian faith.

Genres: Technology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Christian Living, Theology, Science, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published March 1, 2020

About the author

Jason Thacker serves as an assistant professor of philosophy and ethics at Boyce College in Louisville, KY. He also is a research fellow in Christian ethics and director of the research institute at The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is the author of several books including "Following Jesus in the Digital Age" and "The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity". He also serves as the editor of "The Digital Public Square: Christian Ethics in a Technological Society" and co-editor of the Essentials in Christian Ethics series with B&H Academic. He is the project leader and lead drafter of "Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles", and his work has been featured at Slate, Politico, The Week, USA Today, Christianity Today, World Magazine, The Gospel Coalition, and Desiring God.

He is a graduate of The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. He also holds a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is currently a PhD candidate in ethics, public theology, and philosophy. He serves as an associate fellow with the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge, an advisor for AI and Faith, fellow in science and technology at the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Seminary, and a research fellow with the ERLC Research Institute. He is married to Dorie and they have two sons.

Reviews

[Ghadeer Hussein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and insightful book about AI and its impact on society and how it is changing human interactions.
The ethical impact of AI is one of the interesting and thought provoking points raised by this book. How will the wars look like with the expansion of using AI.

[George P.]

Popular thinking about artificial intelligence (AI) alternates between the utopian and dystopian. Will our future be like the 1999 film Bicentennial Man, in which a robot becomes human over the course of 200 years? Or will it be like the 1984 movie The Terminator, in which a cyborg assassin travels back in time to kill the mother of the man who will prevent an AI-initiated nuclear holocaust?

Perhaps the future will be a little of both. As Jason Thacker demonstrates in The Age of AI, humanity is the image of God, and “God gave us specific jobs and responsibilities to perform as we seek to reflect him in this world.” Technology — even complicated technology like AI — is simply “a tool that helps us live out our God-given callings.” The problem is that humanity “brought sin into the world and broke the natural order of things.” Our technology reflects our mixed character as the image of God marred. It helps, and it harms.

Thus, AI holds both promise and peril. In the medical field, AI promises to make more accurate diagnoses and perform more intricate surgeries. But will it also deny medical care to those with low odds of survival? AI promises to make factory work less arduous, but will robots take jobs from humans? Social media helps people connect across distances and barriers, even as AI runs complex algorithms in the background and sweeps up personal data. Is that information safe from hackers, criminals and authoritarian governments?

Underlying these ethical dilemmas is a theological paradox. Some AI advocates — called transhumanists — believe humans are simply complex machines. When machines become sufficiently complex, they too will become almost human, like Robin Williams’ robot character in Bicentennial Man. The hope is such machines will avoid human failings. Thacker identifies the paradox: “We dumb down what it means to be human and treat each other as simple machines, but at the same time put our hope and faith in these machines to solve the problems and ills that we deal with each day.” In the process, we idolize our creations but demean God’s — people made in  His image.

“AI is changing everything about our world and society,” writes Thacker. “And we aren’t prepared. Reading The Age of AI is a good starting place.

BOOK REVIEWED
Jason Thacker, The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020).

P.S. If you liked my review, please click "Helpful" on my Amazon review page.

P.P.S. This review is cross-posted from InfluenceMagazine.com with permission.

[Taylor Barkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine introduction to AI, theology, and ethics for those who are looking for a place to start. It’s brief and very readable! The chapter on privacy adds much needed treatment to an underdeveloped body of writing and thought on the subject from a Christian perspective.

[Nathan Marone]

A little basic. Probably aimed at someone who has not thought about these issues at all. For that reason, it wasn't terribly helpful to me, but Thacker does have some good thoughts on the nature of human responsibility, especially in his discussion of AI in warfare.

[Grant Humphreys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the evolution of A.I., how it impacts society and culture, and how we should ethically leverage it for the flourishing of mankind. This is one of the few books that I’ve come across that approaches A.I. from a Christian worldview and applies truth from scripture to the subject.

[Sarah Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for believers wanting to engage with the current trends in technology.

[Mwansa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book presents AI holistically like Captain Kirk's introduction to Star Trek with a mission to explore strange new worlds. It also shows that we are at the beginning of the revolution. To some extent, we don't even know what it is yet. Mark Zuckerberg struggled with this in the early years of developing Facebook. He knew it was big and had the potential to be bigger but couldn't quite put his finger on it until he had a proper grasp of the term "social network."

One of the big standout matters the book brought out is the need to rethink ideas of privacy and intellectual property. The non-believing world has taken these two concepts to extremes that have hindered development. Unlike academics where ideas can be built upon and referenced, almost every other field is shrouded in secrecy and locked away behind gates of intellectual property. AI as an aggregating tool is only as powerful as its sample base and provides its users with the means to extrapolate from existing data and create all kinds of new things. The gates of privacy and intellectual property, as currently framed by the non-believing world, cannot hold against the battering ram of AI.

If Christians do not rightly frame the discussion then we will get even more chaos when the inevitable collapse happens.

[Alistair Chalmers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artificial intelligence is not a topic that I've looked into much, I'm not great with technology. But this is an area that Christians must become aware of and engage with.

In this book you'll hear of some of the progresses that have been made with AI, it goes much wider than one might initially think. AI is involved in banking, medicine, warfare, work and even in our homes. So it's pretty important!

This book explores the benefits, limitations and dangers of AI. The fundamental conviction is that people are made in the image of God and the whole book stems from this. Thacker engages with those who think that one day AI will surpass its human creators and deals graciously with the lack of understanding about the beginnings of humanity. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to you :)

[Mark abelmessieh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Very insightful!

May the Lord keep the coming generation from idolizing AI, and may He teach us to use AI with a sense of God’s fear, for Christ’s glory, and our good!

[Seth Woodley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is thoughtful and filled with practical wisdom for the present and the future. Thacker explains AI in a way that anyone can understand, and he examines the way it could affect a variety of areas in our lives and societies. There is something in here for everyone, and this book will serve as a helpful guide for years to come.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently started to be interested in AI and was looking for a starting point for reading about it. Thacker's book caught my eye and is the first I've read on the topic with at least three more on my to-read list. It is as good a place as any other for anyone. I most highly recommend it for people of faith, specifically Evangelical, Bible-believing Christians looking for wisdom how to reconcile "the Age of AI" with biblical faith as artificial intelligence proceeds and continues to come more and more into our present reality. One of the best books I've read so far this year.

[Jonathan Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

AI is reshaping our society and day-to-day experience in profound and even alarming ways.
In this book, Jason Thacker offers an informative and theologically grounded reflection on our brave new world. Even though many new developments have emerged since the book’s publication, the author has written in a way that has preserved its relevance. While he maps some disheartening trends and expresses genuine concerns, he encourages readers to engage the relevant issues with courage and to face the future with hope. Warmly recommended!

[Nicholas Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jason Thacker’s book is more of a primer than a fully developed research project on a practical theology of dealing with A.I. but it serves as a wonderful introduction to the ethical dilemmas modern technology like A.I. presents to the Church. It’s a great conversation starter and for those working in the technology field, I think this is a book that you should read to begin to formulate discernment on the use and development of these powerful A.I. tools. I hope more books like these appear on the market to engage in thoughtful conversation and research for these modern developments and concepts.

[Lara]

I had downloaded this audiobook for another approach and information on AI to listen to while at work. I hadn't realized that it was a Christian approach to AI when I first downloaded it. Still gave it a try for a portion of it. Having worked in AI for the last two months, Thacker's approach to AI is much of what I've already read on in the last two months of a general introduction. Saying that I work for a research lab, I was curious for a different viewpoint, but essentially then passed on it because he doesn't add much aside from the Christian standpoint of what I already know, and is not relevant to what I'm working on for our curriculum.

[Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.7 This was definitely not what I was expecting. A lot of weird coincidences recently. I actually liked this frame of reference, and I really really liked the author, however, underneath the authenticity you can't help but wonder. Was definitely a good book. There are definitely many things that unfortunately go unexplored due to hand waving but overall it was still enjoyable. I have a feeling this guy gets a lot of heat in his day to day. It seems like people in this field usually have a little more nuanced approach to spirituality but I highly respect anyone willing to defend the mainstream.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically fleshes out with stories and examples the ERLC’s “Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles” from 2019, which I believe Thacker helped to write. I did notice an additional chapter on Data & Privacy, and nothing on “Public Policy,” but those were the only differences in the chapter/topic headings of the two texts.

Honestly, unless you just really want the details or basis for certain positions, you could read the Statement of Principles (https://erlc.com/resource-library/sta...) and be just fine without reading this book.

[Austin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly simplistic treatment of the A.I. issue. I was definitely expecting better, since Jason Thacker brings considerable credentials to the table. But I found Bible verses shallowly or dubiously applied, cliched questions, and not particularly insightful answers to those questions. I did finish the book, but it was out of sheer self-discipline and respect for the person who recommended the book to me, not on the merit of the book itself.

[William Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

As excited as I was when I discovered this book, it left a lot to be desired. It was interesting, but not what I had hoped. That may be partly due to the 2021 publication date, and I was interested in many of the current moral issues dealing with the most recent "mind-blowing" advances in AI (i.e. writing papers, eduction, etc.) Additional chapters need to be added if book ever has another publishing.

[Annelise · Rating 4 out of 5]

AI but from a Christian perspective... I loved it. I wish more books were written with this mindset and application. This book touched on so many different applications of modern technology. I think it was well-written, briefly-written, and a book that I wholeheartedly recommend for anyone looking to raise a family in today's technology-driven society with Christianity at the foundation of it all.

[Kyle Bueermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a helpful primer on the development of AI and how to approach it from a Christian worldview. AI is not something to fear as much as it is something to understand. There are good uses and, like everything else, potential downsides and dangers. Thacker does a great job of processing both sides.

[Frank Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book, and an excellent introduction to AI, for someone who doesn’t know what it is. For someone with an understanding of AI, 90% of the book is an introduction. Thus, I can recommend the book for someone who is new to AI and is interested in a Christian response. But I would not likely recommend it to anyone who is familiar with AI.

[Mam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read only a couple of paragraphs, sorry - not what I had thought.

[Ruth Scaife Scaife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good thought provoking book. After reading it I'm not sure which side the author is on whether for or against it. But I liked the parallelism to Biblical principals.

[Dominic · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting exploration of faith and a relationship with God in the age of Artificial Intelligence.

[Mark Stapel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Added to notes

[Greg Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid survey of the developments in AI and its far-reaching hand into various fields. For those looking for more than an introduction to AI there will be some disappoint.

[Tim Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book on AI from a Christian perspective. Highly recommended reading on the subject.

[Firesenay · Rating 5 out of 5]

.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

[Emma LeBouef · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little outdated but an interesting read! was cool to see the thoughts of what the future may bring and the ethical concerns that may align with that and to see it playing out now.