First in a Series Hosted with AI and Faith
What will the world be like in the early 2030s? Where especially will our technologies be? How will our relationships with our machines and tools change as they become more human-like? Toward what end are they leading us?
If such questions strike you as good grist for a worship service, please join us in Zoom this Tuesday, September 26, at 2:30 p.m. EDT for a conversation with Robert Geraci, Professor of Religious Studies at Manhattan College. He has written extensively on what he calls the “AI Apocalypse,” the “mechanical future in which human beings will upload their minds into machines and enjoy a virtual reality paradise in perfect virtual bodies.”
This is the first in a series of AI-focused conversations we aim to host monthly in collaboration with AI and Faith and Soul Matters Sharing Circle. It’s part of our effort to bring the “AI conversation” into UU congregations.
Such a service would be particularly appropriate to host on Sunday, October 22. That's the day before Ayudha Puja, the annual festival in which Hindus pay homage to their machines and tools. The tradition started in the 12th century when Hindu warriors were so enchanted by the power of their weapons they invented a ritual to honor them. Then farmers started honoring their plows. Musicians started honoring their instruments. Over time, these rituals coalesced into the full-fledged festival known as the "rite of implements" or the “worship of the machines.”
Ayudha Puja has evolved into a moment, "when scientists, engineers and everyday people allow science, technology and religion to overlap, to become a single practice," says Geraci.
What might those who belong to other faith communities learn from it? We’ll ask him.
We’re mining all of this rich material in sync with October's Soul Matters theme, Heritage. We’ll transcribe the conversation and share highlights for easy reference.
Geraci's most recent book is Futures of Artificial Intelligence: Perspectives from India and the U.S. (Oxford University Press 2022). Here are key excerpts and questions they’ve prompted for us.
He also has published:
Apocalyptic AI: Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics
Virtually Sacred: Myth and Meaning in World of Warcraft and Second Life
Temples of Modernity: Nationalism, Hinduism, and Transhumanism in South Indian Science
"Overall, my interest is in how we use technology to enchant and give meaning to the world," he says.
That sounds like a great place to start.
