Robert Hunt Commentary
A commentary by Robert Hunt appeared in the Dallas Morning News on October 16, titled, “The more we think of AI as human, the more we think of ourselves as machines.”
As artificial intelligence (AI) advances, Hunt wrote, our understanding of humanity must prepare for a symbiosis with computers. He writes: “We’ve grasped that there may be virtual churches, but have we considered that some of their members (and even preachers and musicians) may be intelligent machines represented by avatars? What happens to our humanity when it isn’t merely disembodied, but re-embodied in a different form? What do terms like “body,” “soul,” “spirit,” and “flesh,” mean in virtual worlds? Because we are on the cusp of an axial shift in human self-understanding we need a renewed focus on these questions.” Dallas Morning News subscribers may read the commentary here. Hunt is director of global theological education at Perkins.
Hunt also presented a webinar on the Fundamentals of Islam in October, hosted by St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo. The three-session program explored the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammed, Shari’a, Islam in Modernity and the future of the Islamic world.