What Is the Afterlife Like for Robots? An Experimental Eschatological Sneak Peek
People have always pondered their afterlife. Now, as AI and robotics continue to advance and proliferate, a new question emerges: Is there also some kind of "afterlife" for robots—and how can we envision it? This article seeks to explore these very queries from a Christian perspective. To...
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| Tipo di documento: | Elettronico Articolo |
| Lingua: | Inglese |
| Verificare la disponibilità: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Caricamento...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Pubblicazione: |
2024
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| In: |
Zygon
Anno: 2024, Volume: 59, Fascicolo: 3, Pagine: 692–716 |
| Altre parole chiave: | B
Artificial Intelligence
B TV series B Protestantism B Popular Culture B semantic theology B Christianity B Eschatology B Robotics |
| Accesso online: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Riepilogo: | People have always pondered their afterlife. Now, as AI and robotics continue to advance and proliferate, a new question emerges: Is there also some kind of "afterlife" for robots—and how can we envision it? This article seeks to explore these very queries from a Christian perspective. To tackle the initial question, I argue that, following the thoughts of St. Paul and St. Augustine, the whole of creation is sinful and seeks completion, it would be inconsistent to nurture such an all-encompassing hope yet exclude robots from it. From a Christian perspective, we should therefore assume the existence of an afterlife for robots. To decipher how we can envision it, I examine two pop-cultural depictions from the television episode "Zima Blue" and the television series Futurama, questioning whether they provide a fitting image of eschatological completion for robots. This methodological approach allows me to present a spectrum of conceptions of robotic afterlife that, when examined through the lens of systematic theology, appear plausible, offering fresh impetus for eschatological and robophilosophical reflections. |
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| ISSN: | 1467-9744 |
| Comprende: | Enthalten in: Zygon
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.16995/zygon.10903 |
