Book Review: Made in Our Image by Stephen Driscoll
Artificial intelligence is bringing changes quickly, and people have lots of opinions. It's not the easiest topic to get a handle on. If you're looking for an accessible book to help you see AI through a biblical lens, I recommend Made in Our Image by Stephen Driscoll.
There are several beneficial features of this book:
- It's biblical: Driscoll's primary concern is to help readers bring biblical principles to bear on AI.
- It's accessible: He doesn't presuppose a lot of technical knowledge, nor familiarity with other writing about the impact of technology on society. It's also not super-long (192 pages).
- It's reasonably timeless: Because his purpose is to apply biblical principle rather than describe the technology itself, what Driscoll says about AI should remain relevant for at least a few years (which is a very long time in the AI world).
- It's opinionated: he takes definite positions regarding some key questions about AI.
Idea-Highlights
Against Tribalism
Early in the book, Driscoll argued against various kinds of tribal responses to AI. He lampooned the idea that Christians ought to take sides between tech-optimism and tech-pessimism, and especially resisted the idea that the Bible teaches us to be entirely on one side or the other. Instead, he urges Christians to take on the task of discernment.
A Surprising Position about Intelligence
I will admit I was taken aback by how firmly Driscoll argued that artificial intelligence is truly "intelligent" in the most useful sense of the word. His argument on this point is worth reading, and he convinced me that granting the quality of intelligence doesn't force us also to grant personhood. (Indeed, the full name of the term is artificial intelligence.)
Another Challenge to Healthy Identity
Driscoll does a good job outlining the difference between what our culture believes about identity and what the Bible says. He points out (here and elsewhere) that one effect of AI may be to enhance the contrast between the church and the world with regard to identity.
Problems Concerning Morality
As AI becomes more powerful, people will put greater trust in it. The more powerful and trusted it is, the more important it is for AI to behave morally. But that raises a host of questions, starting with what it could possibly mean for an AI to be moral! That's not the only thorny question, though. In fact, Driscoll raised a moral question about AI that I had never considered. (I won't spoil it for you by telling you what it is.)
Where This Is All Headed
The final chapter of the book looks ahead to the end of history, contrasting the utopian vision of AI (salvation through technology) with the biblical promise of the Kingdom of God. Not all use of AI means abandoning God's Kingdom, but in order to use AI well it's essential to recognize where the roads diverge.
Nit-Picking
There were a few places where I wished Driscoll said more. But in each case, I know why he limited himself to what he did say.
- In the chapter about sin's effect on AI, he made a point of saying that AI itself (like any other technology) is neither good nor bad per se, but neutral. I would have loved to read Driscoll's response to Melvin Kranzberg's pithy "First Law": "Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral." But as I mentioned above, Driscoll was trying to write a book that doesn't presume people have read Kranzberg, and it would have taken at least a couple pages to address Kranzberg's more nuanced argument.
- The last two sections of the book, called "Concluding Thoughts" and "Appendix," respectively, Driscoll briefly addressed some topics that were out-of-scope for the rest of the book. Both sections were fascinating and left me wanting more. But each topic could have been an entire book on its own, so I think he was right to treat them briefly.
I'm glad that Stephen Driscoll wrote this book, and I'll be commending it to fellow believers who are trying to get their bearings with regard to AI.
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