SBI Lecture Confronts Questions of AI and Personhood

On March 10, Hope College students, faculty, and community members crowded into Winants Auditorium for a fascinating talk on one of the most pertinent and far-reaching technologies of our day: artificial intelligence (or AI). As religion professor Dr. Jared Ortiz noted in his opening comments, the wide range of co-sponsors for this event (including the St. Benedict Institute, the Engineering Department, Markets and Morality, and others) speaks to the keen interest in the topic of AI and what it means for our conception of personhood.

The speaker of the night was Dr. Jordan Joseph Wales, a professor of theology at Hillsdale College. Dr. Wales shared his thoughts and reflections on the theological implications of apparently personal AI and how human beings can respond.

In light of the expanding reach of AI into almost all domains (such as Snapchat’s “My AI,” a chatbot meant to act like a friend by offering advice and maintaining conversations with users), it makes sense to ask how this technology accomplishes such convincing demonstrations of personhood. Dr. Wales began by explaining the basic mechanisms by which an apparently personal AI works: it makes use of statistical representations called neural networks, which “mimic neuron-like data processing” (as distinct from thinking). The statistical models that underlie AI can be conceptualized as a complex map of connections that are either strengthened or weakened in response to the data it is fed. 

An interesting catch, however, is that AI’s task is always to predict the next correct word–and this means it is constantly asking the question, “What would typically be written on the Internet?” Therefore, AI is like a mirror, amplifying and making explicit the patterns it observes from data. Dr. Wales observed that current AI companies are running out of data and in need of “millions more text” to continue to create AI models able to perform in such persuasively personal ways.

Dr. Wales then tackled the question of personhood and whether AI bots can be considered persons. He drew a distinction between ancient Roman understanding of personhood–as defined by one’s role in society–and Christian understanding of personhood as reliant on a Trinitarian conception of God, who is “divine relationality” and self-gift. “We imitate the life of God when we engage in voluntary empathy,” said Dr. Wales. Personhood therefore involves the ability to have a stance of love for the interiority of another person. Yet, AI is not capable of such interiority because it is a diluted reflection, not a reproduction, of real persons. “To call AI ‘persons’ reduces personhood to a mask,” stated Dr. Wales.

Finally, Dr. Wales discussed possible paths that human beings may take in response to interactions with AI. Because AI appears to be so personal, it can damage users’ conception of true personhood. “One never need wonder whether Snap AI has troubles of her own,” observed Dr. Wales. We could become comfortable with viewing others as tools for our satisfaction, he cautioned, beginning to value things for what they can do for us rather than what they are. 

“To use this tool without pride, we shouldn’t evade or suppress our empathy,” said Dr. Wales. Rather, we can recognize AI output as “insight into the humanity it reflects [and] a statistical output of human expressions across the Internet that…distantly signify the interiority of persons.” To acknowledge, pray for, and “extend oneself in love” to these unknown people is the mark of a saint, concluded Dr. Wales.

Questions from audience members exemplified the interest and concerns that such examinations of AI bring up. For example, one audience member questioned whether it is right for people to create such persuasively personal tools in the first place. Another asked about the responsibility that companies may or may not have for its AI output. Overall, the lecture offered a clear-sighted and thought-provoking commentary on what artificial intelligence is and how to live personally and humanely in response to it.A video recording of the lecture is available online from the St. Benedict Institute.

(Featured image source: Hope College website)