AIOCS Conversations: Marius Dorobantu |

A conversation with Dr Marius Dorobantu, a Theology & Science researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a Fellow of the International Society for Science & Religion. He already has an impressive list of publications, many of his works being made available via his academia.edu profile. His work is at the crossing of theological anthropology and science, especially matters pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI). When the interview was recorded, in December 2022, his latest research article was “Imago Dei in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities for a Science-Engaged Theology” (published in Christian perspectives on Science and Technology). Marius is also present in the popular space, with links to his outreach for example available here and here.

The discussion focuses upon various aspects of Marius’ interdisciplinary research, at the nexus of theology, spirituality, and technology. We learn about some of his exciting cooperations in the areas of spiritual intelligence and AI, the latter in theological, ethical, and anthropological perspective. Marius clarifies aspects usually confused in the popular discourse about AI and addresses the limitations as well as the perspectives of developing advanced, human-level and even superhuman AI. Open questions are tackled, such as machine intelligence that exhibits sentient features and responds in “human” fashion to existential issues familiar to us. Can AI access tap into the elusive field of spirituality? This fascinating conversation does not have the ambition to prove anything; its aim is to map issues in the field of AI and theological anthropology.

Here is the video recording of this conversation: