How AI Plays a Gospel Imitation Game (with Christopher Watkin)

You might think AI is the most exciting technological development of all time, and you’ve been vibe coding before the rest of us had ever heard the term. 

Or maybe you think AI is the most dangerous technological development of all time, and you’re desperately hoping someone will step up to stop autonomous weapons and programs powerful enough to thwart any existing security system. 

Or maybe you’re somewhere in the middle. Maybe you still don’t know what all the fuss is about. 

No matter where you are, I know I can recommend a new single-season TGC podcast called Silicon Spiritualities, hosted by Christopher Watkin, a fellow at The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. My friend Chris also contributed two chapters to the forthcoming book I edited with Skyler Flowers, titled The AI Apocalypse: A Survival Guide for Humanity. I love hearing Chris teach on just about anything. But his reflections on AI have been especially insightful for me, and I’m eager to welcome him back to Gospelbound to discuss these two new projects.

In This Episode:
00:00 – The hidden human cost of AI training
00:36 – Introducing Christopher Watkin, Silicon Spiritualities, and The AI Apocalypse
01:48 – The gospel story Silicon Valley tells about AI
06:01 – Investor hype, idolatry, and AI religions
08:09 – Data workers, exploitation, water use, and the wider AI industry
12:03 – Avoiding both AI doom and AI hype
14:26 – Is AI more like the internet, electricity, or agriculture?
17:20 – Why Christian anthropology is not threatened by AI intelligence
21:01 – Why a frictionless life can become passive rather than free
25:30 – Using AI with integrity in writing and creative work
27:16 – Watkin’s practical uses of AI at home and in his work
29:34 – AI companionship and the desire to be known and loved
34:10 – Mutuality, reciprocity, and what AI cannot share with us
39:19 – Consciousness, imitation, and participation
41:51 – Transhumanism and the temptation to outgrow humanity
45:22 – Why studying AI has made Watkin more excited about God
48:29 – AI, existential risk, and the problem of the human heart
54:31 – Alignment, sycophancy, Her, and the imitation game
59:37 – Closing remarks

Resources Mentioned:

• Silicon Spiritualities | TGC podcast hosted by Christopher Watkin 
• Deep Work by Cal Newport
• “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” / “The Imitation Game” by Alan Turing 
   

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