Technology: The Accelerating Innovation We Discern and Steward

Today’s reading continues in Section VII: Technology – The Accelerating Innovation We Discern and Steward. Read here.

Christians must discern technologies that are motivated by the idea that neither nature nor human nature should be allowed to limit human freedom.

We call Christians to discern carefully genetic technologies, which are based on increasing human power to reshape the very building blocks of the physical human person and life, and which give rise to very real questions about their ethical use and long-term implications. The potential of genetic therapies to address complex medical conditions is immense, but with this technological application come significant questions: Are we reduced to being the product of our genes? What are the implications of inheritable genetic modifications? How much of our humanity is linked to genetic combinations and what are the implications if we reshape ourselves away from that? These raise additional ethical questions about our surrender to the sovereignty of God and about access to such technologies and their potential to exacerbate existing forms of discrimination.

We also call Christians to discern artificial intelligence technologies, which confront us in different but not less significant ways. The development of digital systems that appear to reason, behave, and act in ways that we would consider distinctly human raises questions regarding the uniqueness of human creativity and rationality. Artificial intelligence raises other questions: Will it become an existential threat to humanity and the wider world? What will its effects be in the workplace and for human work? And how will governments and other actors use it in surveillance and security contexts? As innovation in artificial intelligence accelerates, we call for Christians, especially those who work in this industry, to engage both in the development and use of this technology that honours the Creator and human createdness by promoting safe, equitable, and dignifying applications.