What does it mean to be human

Me

Artificial Intelligence

Truly it scares me

Rapidly developing

Theologies in the Age of AI

When we still thought that AI was a piece of science fiction - fall of 2022

Chat GPT first came out (stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer)

Chat GPT was launched November 30, 2022

reached 100 million users within just 4 months

There are many different types of artificial intelligences this is just one of them

It was a joke until it wasn’t

As I began to ask questions, and make statements to Chat GPT it began to concern me, and amaze me at the same time

Which I think is much where I am still at today with it, a mix of amazement and concern

But in the beginning it was still gimmicky and it was unclear as to if AI was here to stay or not

But as it started getting bigger and bigger and it didn’t look like it was going away I began to hear more about it

I began to hear more skepticism

I began to hear more questions

I began to hear more fears

and began to see more theological questions

We

What does it mean to be truly human?

Why do I need faith in the age of AI?

Is there hope for our world or is it all doom and gloom?

Where is God in the midst of it all?

God

Jesus suffered - because suffering is what it means to be human

You have to remember that the idea of a God that would suffer was and still is abhorrent in many systems of faith

I think we have said this sort of thing enough in the church but no really Jesus suffered

Jesus’s suffering is the basis of God’s healing of the world- incarnation

Jesus did not allow for his suffering to perpetuate harm for other people

He was a hurt person but he did not hurt people

“Suffering made Jesus perfect” - God was perfect before

well it wasn’t that God was not perfect before, it is through suffering and death on the cross that the world gained a qualified, and effective savior

You

Pain that's not transformed is transferred - Richard Rohr

“salvation” versus “healing”

What if Jesus lead in what it means to be healed people

our earlier AI generated sentence about God’s love says

“. It involves engaging in spiritual practices, forming connections with others, and encountering transformative moments that deepen one's faith and understanding of God's love.”

Know that you are unique that you are not a robot and that you cannot be replaced by AI

AI may be able to write better than you

AI may even be able to create compositions, or music, or art that you cannot

but the one thing that AI can never do become incarnate

to become enfleshed

To experience suffering, pain, discomfort, betrayal, disease....and to respond to it not out of brokenness but out of healing

Us

Jesus is the pioneer for us

Pioneer -

figure of speech, means leads the way

Not just a good example but one that made healing and salvation possible for us

1. We suffer - which makes us human

the good news about this question of AI is that AI cannot suffer

More than that the passage mentions the importance the Messiah, Jesus Christ, suffered with, for, and through us the church.

2. We see God’s love displayed for us not through cognition, or creativity but through suffering, and through suffering on the cross

The power of the cross is that we do actually still experience suffering, but yet it is a suffering God that suffers with us and show us what it means to suffer with others.

Only a suffering God can help

3. And yet salvation for us is offered in following Jesus’ path of using our suffering

That by God’s love and by God’s grace our suffering would not produce harm

That our wounds would not create wounds

That our fallenness would not lead others to stumble

but that our pain would be the very thing that God uses to produce hope.

Prayer

Translation of the Apostles Creed by Dignity San Fernando Valley - A Catholic organization that seeks to honor the liturgies of the church universal by updating them to language that better recognizes our diversity.

I believe in God, eternal, almighty,

Creator of heaven and earth,

and in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all, the Only Begotten One;

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

lived and loved among us,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried;

who descended into hell,

and on the third day rose from the dead;

Jesus, Our Savior, ascended into heaven,

sits at the right hand of the loving God,

and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and life everlasting. Amen.

Chat GPT Benediction

Beloved community, as we venture from this place, carry forth the wisdom gained. Embrace your humanity amidst AI's advance. Let suffering transform, becoming healing for others. As Christ's ambassadors, radiate hope through your scars. With divine love, journey onward, lighting paths of grace. Go in peace and purpose. In the knowledge that this benediction was proudly written by Chat GPT