What It Means to be Human: AI, Self-Awareness, and the Quest for a Higher Power
This talk is part of a series in progress called “Why We Read: Using Fiction to Make Sense of the World.” This session focuses on the question of what defines humanity: intellect, emotions, morality, or something else? Are the defining elements restricted to human beings, or even to biological beings? Drawing on such works as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, “The Long Years” by Ray Bradbury, and Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, we’ll explore the phenomena of consciousness and self-awareness, as well as the human need to find ultimate meaning. As AI develops, will it also look for meaning? Will part of its evolution include developing a theology that makes sense of its experiences? How can a novel like Klara and the Sun inform and transform the reader’s experience of the Divine?
The Rev. Paula Clegg Morton is Rector Emeritus of Transfiguration Episcopal Church in Saluda, NC. Rev. Morton is also a retired Navy Chaplain, a compulsive reader, and a slightly less compulsive writer. Her fiction has appeared online and in print, including Every Day Fiction, Nomad, and Cricket Magazine. She is currently compiling a collection of thirteen stories for a book titled This Book Eats People, which she hopes to publish under the pseudonym Blue Jay Pie.
Paula and her husband, the Rev. John Morton, have raised five dogs and two humans, and are currently attempting to civilize a sixth dog. The jury is still out on this one.
The service will begin at 11:00 am. The service will be available on Facebook Live for those who wish to participate remotely. Go to the ASWUU Facebook page and click the Live link.
We will have our monthly potluck after the service. The coffee will be hot and the conversation will be rich. You may bring a dish to share if you would like to do so.
