Made in Our Image by Stephen Driscoll
Whether the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) is daunting for you or you’re well versed in “grokking” and “neural networks” (neither of which I’d understood before picking up this book!) Stephen Driscoll’s “Made in Our Image” is well worth a read.
AI looms large in our world and is set to be the next technological revolution, poised to out-strip any of the previous industrial revolutions. We are on the cusp of some very big and very rapid changes whether we welcome AI or run from it. But what are we to make of AI as Christians? How do we measure its dangers and potential against God’s word? If it will soon be able to do anything we can do, only better and faster, could it actually pose an existential threat to humanity? How do I prepare myself and my church family, my kids and my grandkids to meet these questions? And what, for starters, even is AI?
These are some of the questions Steve tackles in this incredibly accessible book. While that might all sound a little daunting and it’s not a short read, Steve’s writing is so wise, warm, clear and funny that it never felt like a chore to read! After a fantastic introduction about how we might perceive and prepare for change, Steve carefully walks us through what artificial intelligence actually is. This chapter is the most technical but is still easily understandable thanks to Steve’s wonderful illustrations. In each successive chapter he then reflects on the topic through the framework of creation, fall, the cross and new creation, before offering some thoughts on how we might wisely use AI.
“Made in our Image” is most obviously a book about AI and deserves to be read for even just its introduction and appendix alone (they’re brilliant!). But one of its greatest strengths is that it shows us how we can understand any topic we might not automatically think the Bible speaks to, by applying this Biblical framework of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation.
Read it to learn about AI. Read it to learn how to think and reason and respond Christianly to AI. Read it to simply learn how to think, reason and respond Christianly to any tricky topic. Trust me, this is well worth your time and brain power!
Reviewed by Lucy Wong
This year Lucy has helped write the devotional material for EQUIP. Along with her husband and young kids she serves amongst her church family in South West Sydney where she gets to share the brilliant truths of creation, fall, the cross and Jesus’s return with their community.