The world in which we live today is so different in many ways to the world that the authors of the Christian Scriptures inhabited. This being so, Christians must continually reinterpret the moral lessons of the Bible so that we can heed their guidance in the 21st Century.
One area that presents a problem in this respect is our growing reliance on technology and artificial intelligence. The inventions of the digital age present us with scenarios that are unprecedented in human history, and pastors and theologians need to respond. In this short post I will reflect a little on some of the new moral problems Christians will face in the coming years.
It may make Christians feel deeply uncomfortable, but it’s likely that robots capable of sexual intercourse will be widely available before long. Some people might regard these as elaborate sex toys, but the question arises: If a married person engages in intercourse with a robot, have they committed adultery?
It would seem obvious to me that such an activity would be adulterous, but such a perspective is necessarily subjective as there is no guidance on this issue in the Bible. Perhaps the Catholic Church could score a few points here, as they could argue that the magisterium exists precisely to provide clarity on issues such as this where guidance is not explicitly found in Scripture.
This is one example of a wider issue which is that new inventions are increasingly blurring the line between what is biological and what is technological. We see this in the area of genetics and genome editing, one issue being whether or not it’s morally acceptable to tamper with genes if such tampering will lead to the eradication of certain diseases, for instance.
In the coming years, every Christian is going to face difficult moral decisions concerning the extent to which they allow technology to infiltrate their biology. Electronic implants are already widely available for a variety of purposes, and it might not be long before we find ourselves under pressure to yield to invasive technologies that compromise those aspects of our lives where we currently enjoy biological freedom.
What do you think? Is the church ready to deal with such issues? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. My new single entitled ‘Machines Taking Over the World’ will be released on 10th March 2018.
Perfect Chaos 
33 responses to “Christian Morality and AI”
[…] my Thursday Theology post this week I looked at the way technology is increasingly impinging upon what I called our […]
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These are some really good questions. If we view sex bots like any other sex toy and we’re okay with them, then we won’t view the sex bots any different. The key issue will be if they’re true AIs and gain sentience, and we recognize them as sentient, cognitive persons, then it would clearly be adultery (if you’re already married to a human person). This will definitely raise a spectrum of issues (selfishness, pornography, adultery).
I do believe we have a moral obligation to eradicate diseases and decrease human suffering. Alas, we do not know the future and how gene editing at the germ level will affect future generations both at the physical and spiritual levels. Deleting these genes may actually cause more issues and harm. Opening the possibility to edit genes may open the doors for more selfish, egotistical, and vain reasons to “improve” ourselves (e.g. faster runners, better looking, smarter, etc). Not to mention the ethical problems in researching and experimenting with gene editing on embryos which may harm and destroy them. (I wrote a paper on the ethical issue of embryonic research available on my page for more details)
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Hey, Thomas! You make some really good points, thank you. I’ll take a look at your paper on embryonic research 🙂 God bless.
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Thank you. I apologize. There’s an error with the links. This is it if you want to read it https://selfexaminedchristian.wordpress.com/2016/08/04/embryonic-research-a-christian-examination-on-the-morality-of-using-embryos-for-research/
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Hi Thomas, yes I did try the link and it didn’t work, so thank you for this 🙂 Looking forward to reading your thoughts. God bless!
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Some interesting issues are certainly raised here Steven. Whether one is committing adultery on robots may depend on the level of consciousness that has been created within the robot (or perceived consciousness at least). If the robot is just a more life-like sex toy, perhaps that’s not necessarily adultery – since I guess it’s just a tool for sexual pleasure like a blow up doll (or even your hand!). But if it is highly advanced AI that showcases many of the traits we consider as human – emotions, thoughts, feelings – then we might be considering that as adultery. May also depend on the spouse’s reaction too.
With that last future concern about invasive technology altering our biology, I’m a bit old fashioned. I think the “normal” human is just fine. To me, having Augmented Reality (for example) may have benefits, but do we really need them? Is it a case of potential over reliance on technology, or even technology going too far? The idea of becoming part machine, detached from our biological nature is something I simply don’t really like – we already separate ourselves enough by living in giant concrete jungles! Though this is more just a feeling of mine, rather than anything rational.
Enjoyable post Steven!
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Some really good points, David, thank you! I really don’t like the idea of us incorporating technology into our biology either, it’s really frightening. I only hope our societies are sensible enough to regulate and control technological advancements, so the desire to create ever-more-advanced machines doesn’t impinge on the freedoms we enjoy. It’s a pressing issue, I feel!
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[…] This month’s single is entitled Machines Taking Over the World and is a riff-driven heavy rock song that sounds a warning against the increasing power and prevalence of machines and artificial intelligence in the digital age. I recently wrote an article on this subject which you can read here. […]
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