Jonathan Lipps: Philosophical and Theological Implications of Generative AI Use for Human Flourishing

April 15, 2024

This is the major project / small thesis which consituted the capstone of my masters degree in Theology. It describes how recent efforts to bring Generative AI (GenAI) use into popular demand have spawned a number of urgent questions about the nature of AI and the consequences of embedding such systems more deeply into human life. By relying on insights from both philosophy and theology, I argue that, in addition to the various "external" or existential risks and unintended consequences of GenAI, its use poses a special risk to the "internal" character of human life. Because it treats human creative artifacts as raw grist for the content mill, and surrenders the creative process itself to a technological device, thoughtless GenAI use risks the atrophy of the creative faculties whose expression is an important part of a flourishing human experience and vocation.