Three years ago, in June 2023, I was scrolling through the Amazon Kindle bestseller list. All the regular, normal, to-be-expected titles were at the top. But as I kept scrolling, the books began to change. Gone were the big names…
AI expands the propaganda against Talarico
Whenever someone has stood for honesty and just change on the basis of fact, inevitably someone will come along to oppose them on the grounds that something is lacking in their innate qualities as a person rather than the rightful…
Paris Hilton and AOC work to fight AI sexual deepfakes
Millionaire and superstar Paris Hilton has paired with congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to fight sexual deepfakes generated by AI with a piece of legislation called the DEFIANCE Act. The act, which stands for the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits…
Building the new world: Pope Leo, ZekeUltra and AI
New York issued the nation’s first statewide moratorium on data center construction. This is the loudest note in a growing chorus of voices demanding accountability from government and industry. Two wildly different voices have reached for the same ancient image. Pope Leo…
Whether in death or life, McConnell ignites debates about AI
Is Mitch McConnell alive? You’d think it would not be so terribly difficult to ascertain the continued existence of one of the most powerful people in American politics. However, McConnell’s prolonged, unexplained absence from the U.S. Senate followed by reluctant…
How classical education can be an antidote to AI
In his 1939 essay “Learning in Wartime,” C.S. Lewis posed the question of whether it was still worthwhile to study while one’s country was at war. His audience was full of young men with a sense of foreboding for the…
Can AI help ancient Christian communities worship together?
AI Appreciation Day is coming. Churches will get their share of attention. Much of it will follow a familiar script. AI-powered translation is entering American ministry. Congregations use it to offer live translations of worship services in multiple languages, without…
The Deep Spiritual History of AI
In 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told a room of developers in London that he does not pray for God to be on his side, but instead prays to be on God’s side, and that working on frontier artificial intelligence…
AI is being used to abuse children, and we can do something about it
Last May, congress passed the Take It Down Act, requiring websites to remove “nonconsensual intimate visual depictions” of identifiable individuals. This includes both real and AI-generated content. But this law only addresses content publication, not the various ways in which…
Faith-based AI company Gloo faces moment of truth after $438M in losses
Scott Beck has long hoped the faith-based tech company he founded in 2013 would help churches and other Christian groups harness technology to spread God’s word and help save the world.
Conscientious AI objectors: HR’s role in keeping workplaces human
In the aftermath of Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical letter Magifica Humanitas, human resource professionals are gearing up for a previously unexplored scenario — religious accommodations to avoid using artificial intelligence tools in the workplace. Pope Leo’s letter cautions humanity about the potential…
A Baptist reading of Pope Leo’s Magnifica Humanitas
Ever since the beginning of Pope Leo XIV’s papacy last May, there has been anticipation concerning his first encyclical letter. Oftentimes the subject and tone of a pope’s opening epistle is a significant marker of a given pontificate. For Pope…