Data And Identity: Notes Toward A Theology Of The Digitally Enhanced Self, Michael J. Paulus Jr.
Oct 2019
Data And Identity: Notes Toward A Theology Of The Digitally Enhanced Self, Michael J. Paulus Jr.
Michael J. Paulus, Jr.
In the HBO-BBC miniseries "Years and Years," a teenager named Bethany (!) comes out as transhuman and tells her parents she wants to “live forever as information ... [to] be data!” As information about us increasingly takes the form of digital data, we are all of us becoming data. Indeed, so much of our attention and agency is engaged with digital information in digital environments that the philosopher Luciano Floridi describes us as “inforgs” living “onlife” in an “infosphere.” Through nearly constant and ubiquitous patterns of digital interactions with human and artificial agents, we are creating digitally extended and enhanced …
Technology And Hope, Michael J. Paulus Jr.
Oct 2019
Technology And Hope, Michael J. Paulus Jr.
Michael J. Paulus, Jr.
In our present moment of profound and rapid technological change, the clash of utopian hopes with dystopian fears is a matter of daily experience. The Demaray Tower on SPU’s campus points to a greater hope for technology. Beneath the clock on the south side, images of technology situated within the human journey through history and life suggest that human artificial creations may participate in God’s new creation. This session will explore how we can think critically about the transformative role of technology in education and our broader lives as we cultivate and realize faith for the future.
Presented with R. …
Artificial Intelligence And The Apocalyptic Imagination: The Ends Of Divine, Natural, And Artificial Agency, Michael J. Paulus Jr.
Jul 2019
Artificial Intelligence And The Apocalyptic Imagination: The Ends Of Divine, Natural, And Artificial Agency, Michael J. Paulus Jr.
Michael J. Paulus, Jr.
New information and communication technologies (ICTs) are reshaping our lives and the environments in which we live to such an extent that philosopher Luciano Floridi claims we are living through an information revolution. ICTs are changing our self-understanding, how we relate to each other, and how we understand our role in the world. At the center of this revolution is the advent of automated information processing and intelligent systems.
These technologies of artificial intelligence (AI) raise questions about data collection, algorithmic agency, and the future of every dimension of life. They also inspire a range of hopes and fears. Some …
From The City To The Cloud: Charles Williams’S Image Of The City As An Affirmation Of Artificial Intelligence, Michael J. Paulus Jr.
Mar 2019
From The City To The Cloud: Charles Williams’S Image Of The City As An Affirmation Of Artificial Intelligence, Michael J. Paulus Jr.
Michael J. Paulus, Jr.
A number of Christian intellectuals who lived through the twentieth century had a deep distrust of technological innovation. Charles Williams stands out from among his contemporaries in his affirmation of technology. Jacques Ellul, perhaps the most important critic of the technological society that emerged in the twentieth century, viewed technology as a deformative counter-creation. Williams, however, affirmed technology and technological work as transformative co-creation—as a mean of participating in new creation. This presentation introduces Williams’s apocalyptic view of technology and connects it with current hopes and fears related to artificial intelligence.
