Creativity, artificial intelligence, and God
In response to the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), many question the value of human creativity. What’s the point of human creativity if computers can out-create in both speed and caliber? Against such pessimism, this chapter offers hope from the Christian tradition. In particular, i...
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| Format: | Book section |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2024
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| _version_ | 1811139604145766400 |
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| author | David, EA |
| author2 | Giles, J |
| author_facet | Giles, J David, EA |
| author_sort | David, EA |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | In response to the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), many question the value of human creativity. What’s the point of human creativity if computers can out-create in both speed and caliber? Against such pessimism, this chapter offers hope from the Christian tradition. In particular, it offers a theological framework for understanding what creativity is. It argues that creativity is not a merely technical ability, a faint echo of God’s capacity to create ex nihilo, but rather a fundamentally moral phenomenon that reflects creativity in imago—that is, God’s wise ordering, loving care, and transformation of all created things. This is a hopeful paradigm that tempers AI-hysteria with scriptural realism. The chapter proceeds in five parts: Part 1 follows the example of AI philosopher Margaret Boden who uses analogy to understand what creativity is. Part 2 utilizes analogy to understand human creativity in light of Old Testament descriptions of God’s creative, moral action: the part distinguishes creativity ex nihilo from creativity in imago and defines creativity writ large with respect to the latter. Parts 3 and 4 use analogy to differentiate divine and human creativity from their computational counterpart: the parts stress the moral difference that transformation in Christ makes. Part 5 concludes by emphasizing the moral responsibility of God’s image-bearers to question their use and development of AI: the part looks to scriptural exemplars who fail and succeed in questioning astonishing, non-human intelligences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:16:58Z |
| format | Book section |
| id | oxford-uuid:46de82eb-33cc-4c3b-bcb0-c0747ed85283 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:08:43Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:46de82eb-33cc-4c3b-bcb0-c0747ed852832024-06-11T12:03:03ZCreativity, artificial intelligence, and GodBook sectionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843uuid:46de82eb-33cc-4c3b-bcb0-c0747ed85283EnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer2024David, EAGiles, JIn response to the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), many question the value of human creativity. What’s the point of human creativity if computers can out-create in both speed and caliber? Against such pessimism, this chapter offers hope from the Christian tradition. In particular, it offers a theological framework for understanding what creativity is. It argues that creativity is not a merely technical ability, a faint echo of God’s capacity to create ex nihilo, but rather a fundamentally moral phenomenon that reflects creativity in imago—that is, God’s wise ordering, loving care, and transformation of all created things. This is a hopeful paradigm that tempers AI-hysteria with scriptural realism. The chapter proceeds in five parts: Part 1 follows the example of AI philosopher Margaret Boden who uses analogy to understand what creativity is. Part 2 utilizes analogy to understand human creativity in light of Old Testament descriptions of God’s creative, moral action: the part distinguishes creativity ex nihilo from creativity in imago and defines creativity writ large with respect to the latter. Parts 3 and 4 use analogy to differentiate divine and human creativity from their computational counterpart: the parts stress the moral difference that transformation in Christ makes. Part 5 concludes by emphasizing the moral responsibility of God’s image-bearers to question their use and development of AI: the part looks to scriptural exemplars who fail and succeed in questioning astonishing, non-human intelligences. |
| spellingShingle | David, EA Creativity, artificial intelligence, and God |
| title | Creativity, artificial intelligence, and God |
| title_full | Creativity, artificial intelligence, and God |
| title_fullStr | Creativity, artificial intelligence, and God |
| title_full_unstemmed | Creativity, artificial intelligence, and God |
| title_short | Creativity, artificial intelligence, and God |
| title_sort | creativity artificial intelligence and god |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidea creativityartificialintelligenceandgod |