Northey Lecture - Dei Ex Machina: The Images of God in our Conceptions of AI

AI has emerged as a tool for productivity, a threat to jobs, and even a stand-in for God. Much of the language used to discuss AI draws on apocalyptic and prophetic discourse, as well as on images of God rooted in divine omniscience. Rev. Dr Kristel Clayville, a lecturer in ethics in the computer science department at University of Illinois Chicago, suggests an alternative theological framework.

Rather than emphasising AI's godlike powers of omniscience and control—traditionally masculine divine attributes —Clayville examines how feminine divine imagery might reshape our understanding of artificial intelligence. Could we envision AI through metaphors of nurturing, relationship, and collaborative wisdom instead of domination and all-knowing power? Does embracing feminine images of God offer new ways to conceptualize AI's role and possibilities in human society? Her talk will explore this alternative and attempt to offer a different conceptual vocabulary for AI.

Northey Lecturer: Rev. Dr Kristel Clayville PhD

Rev. Dr Kristel Clayville holds a PhD in Religious Ethics from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School and completed Fellowship training in clinical medical ethics at the MacLean Center. She has served as the Acting Director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science, and was a Fellow in the Sinai and Synapses program. She has a clinical background as a chaplain and ethicist at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Currently, she teaches ethics in the Computer Science Department at UIC, where she also serves on the hospital ethics committee, and the medical school ethics education committee. Her research interests encompass the ethics of emerging (bio)technologies, organ transplant ethics, the role of religion in medical education, AI and religion, and the function of ethics committees in hospitals and tech companies.

When: Tuesday, July 29

Where: Pilgrim Theological College; 29 College Cres, Parkville, 3025

Refreshments available from 5pm

Lecture commences at 5.30pm