In Our Image: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Spirit

by Noreen Herzfeld

In Our Image is the first extensive theological engagement with the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Herzfeld probes this new field, which seeks to model human intelligence in computers, for its theological depth. She argues that "At the root of the fascination our current culture has with creating an image of ourselves in an intelligent computer lies a continuing problematic of defining ... what it means to be truly human." She shows...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0800634764
• ISBN13: 9780800634766
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Matrix meets Genesis

Advances in artificial intelligence pose more and more questions to our self-understanding. Herzfeld reflects in this book on some of the theological implications of artificial intelligence for the question what it means to be created in the image of God. She does so, not only by analyzing the human desire for artificial inteliience, but also by analyzing some theological approaches to the image of God (notably those by Reinhold Niebuhr, Von Rad and Karl Barth). The book is theologically as well as scientifically quite strong. Herzfeld knows her theology as well as her computer science. For me it was a sensation to read such a refreshing book, as it really forced me to reflect on my own ideas about the interaction of nature, theology, and technology. If you are interested in these matters, read this book. At the moment there is no book like this one on such an interesting and important topic.