Document Type

Presentation - Oral - to professional peers

AI: Where are We Moving?

Department

Computing

Date of Activity

6-10-2026

Abstract

This presentation offers church leaders a balanced, faith-grounded orientation to artificial intelligence: what it can do today, where it is heading, and how a biblical worldview should shape our response. It frames AI as a powerful tool that extends human capability—illustrated by applications in geochemical analysis, medical diagnosis, and societal-trend analysis for mission—while tracing the field's trajectory from hand-coded rule-based systems, through today's generative models, to emerging autonomous agents that plan, use tools, and pursue goals with decreasing human specification.

A central section weighs "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of AI now, drawing on recent Gallup, Pew, and Harvard Business Review data: workers use AI to generate ideas and automate tasks, yet more feel worried than hopeful; "workslop" and work intensification undercut promised productivity gains; and layoffs, environmental concerns over data centers, and public opposition raise real social costs. The talk then looks ahead—from narrow AI toward hypothetical AGI and the speculative "singularity"—and critically examines the transhumanist vision advanced by figures such as Kurzweil, Harari, and Musk, in which technology promises to transcend human biology and even "solve" death.

Alférez argues that AI is neither inherently good nor bad; its moral character depends on how we use it. Positioning himself as an "apocaloptimist"—hopeful not because of AI but because of the blessed hope in Jesus Christ—he calls leaders to engage AI ethically as stewards of God's creation, to help members build a strong worldview around four questions (Who am I? Where am I? What is wrong? What is the solution?), and to recognize that humanity's deepest problem is spiritual, not technological. The closing charge is practical: use these new technologies, as the church has used radio, television, and the internet before them, to advance its mission and proclaim the everlasting Gospel.

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