REVIEWER: Harry Fenner Crawley

BOOK: Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for the Perplexed

(Grove books, 2023) 28pp, paperback, RRP £4.00

This short book invites us on a journey into the complex present reality of Artificial Intelligence. Its remit is broad and covers technological, philosophical/theological and practical overviews for the intended reader, a Christian looking to understand the ethical landscape in this area.

Technological advances are rapid. AI can create a sense of fear for the future. This might be fear for the implications on healthcare, jobs, even our love-lives. Considering these ethical issues, Simon Cross starts with questioning whether our very humanity is threatened by AI. It can have the appearance of a human being, but nevertheless, AI is an algorithm subject to information inputs and repeat testing of data. At its current trajectory, AI will not fully encompass the breadth of what it means to be human.

Addressing the metaphysical questions that arise from AI, Simon Cross leans more to a philosophical analysis rather than theological. The author focuses on language, consciousness and questions of the soul as defining human features.

However, the work could be more theologically developed. The analysis was lacking on exactly how the person of Jesus Christ defines the image of God in each human being. Moreover, mention of the Holy Spirit in both anthropology and mission is absent.

Finally, the practical suggestions are the strength of the book. AI is not something to be feared, rather something to master to serve our missional call as Christians. In proclaiming the gospel, ministering to the sick and tending to a broken creation, AI can act as a hugely helpful tool to make this possible.

Unfortunately this work is lacking in accessibility for a general audience. Despite the title, it fails in being a clear guide for the perplexed. I would recommend this book to the academic reader who wants to understand a philosophical and practical overview of the recent history of AI, and to capture the current ethical conversation around it.

Reviewer: Harry Fenner Crawley, MA Theology, Key Relationships Manager for Bible Society, Bristol-based Bible-lover and landscape gardener: X (formerly Twitter) @CrawleyFenner