Author: Shalem John

The Swiss Evangelical Alliance published a 78-page report on the ethics of artificial intelligence, calling on Christians to “help reduce the misuse of AI” and “set an example in the use of AI by demonstrating how technology can be used responsibly and for the benefit of all.” Seven people worked on the paper, including two theologians, several software engineers and computer science experts, a business consultant, and a futurist. They rejected the idea that Christians should close themselves off to AI, as that would not do anything to mitigate the risks of the developing technology. The group concluded that AI…

The first time Alex Entz saw his future wife, she was behind a paywall. The popular dating app Hinge had deemed Leanne Brady a “standout” match for Entz—an attractive, compatible, and compelling person. So it put her in a special, separate category. Entz had to decide whether to shell out $3.99 for the chance to talk to her. He didn’t pay. It worked out anyway. A few days later, Brady’s profile showed up in his regular feed. This time, Entz responded, and they matched. They started to chat and hit it off. Today, the couple is married. The Entzes are…

The history of artificial intelligence (AI) can be traced back through ancient literature and philosophy, where deep thinkers imagined intelligent machines and artificial beings.  As a technical discipline, the field of AI began in the mid-20th century. In 1950, British mathematician Alan Turing proposed the idea of a machine that could simulate any human intelligence, conceiving the now-famous Turing test. Just six years later, at the 1956 Dartmouth Conference, computer scientists John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, and Claude Shannon coined the term artificial intelligence, laying the foundation for modern AI research and development. In the decades that followed, AI went through…