When I began writing AI vs I AM, I expected to spend most of my time explaining artificial intelligence. The research soon led me beyond the machines. Before we can decide what role AI should have in our lives, we need to understand what separates human intelligence from the systems we create.

A computer can process enormous amounts of information and produce language that sounds remarkably human. It can imitate reasoning well enough to pass examinations and perform work that once required years of training. These abilities will continue to improve, but greater capability does not establish that a machine understands what it produces.

The distinction matters because much of the current discussion assumes that the human mind is the product of brain activity. If intelligence can be reduced to information processing, the next step appears reasonable: reproduce the process in a machine, improve it, and eventually create an intelligence greater than our own.

Transhumanism carries the same assumption into the human body. If we are biological systems shaped by evolutionary processes, our limitations become engineering problems. The body can be modified, the brain enhanced, and perhaps the contents of the mind preserved outside the person who formed them.

Modern technology can accomplish extraordinary good when it restores a function lost through injury or disease. The concern arises when human nature itself becomes the problem technology intends to solve.

Christianity gives us a different understanding of the human person. Our value does not depend on intelligence, physical ability, or productive capacity. We are created in the image of God, and no machine acquires that identity by becoming more capable.

This does not resolve every question surrounding artificial intelligence. It gives us a place from which to evaluate those questions without allowing the technology to define us first.

AI vs I AM: Artificial Intelligence & Transhumanism Decoded for Christians launches today. I wrote it for readers who want to understand where these technologies are leading and what their development may mean for Christian families. You can read more about the book on my website.

As you watch AI become part of everyday life, what concerns you most about the direction it is taking? Reply and tell me. Your responses will help determine which questions I address in future emails.

Mario Diana MD

P.S. You can download a free ebook copy of AI vs I AM from Barnes & Noble.