MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

EECS Fall 1997 Catalogue Supplement

6.915 God and Computers

WF 2:30-4, 36-155
Anne Foerst, NE43-812, x7891
3-0-9

In this class we will analyze the area of AI, its underlying philosophical assumptions and its Judeo-Christian roots. We will pursue this analysis in two steps.

In the first half of the course we will analyze the philosophical roots of AI. After selected readings from Aristotle (for logic and its relationship to philosophical questions) and Descartes (for his "discovery" of objectivity and his "founding" of science) we will mainly focus on two different present philosophical camps--Philosophy of Mind and Radical Constructivism--and scrutinize their correlation with and their influence on AI.

In the second half we will trace out hidden myths within AI. Especially when pursuing the scientific goal of analyzing humans by building smart machinies, AI researchers often include these myths in their research. There are three main myths:

1. the dream of building artificial humans, and thus to imitating God's creative powers;
2. the hubrist wish to be like God (often expressed by artificial-life researchers and the popular press); and
3. the desire to make people immortal and solve many of their problems, such as disease and sorrow.

While these myths are rarely expressed within scientific literature, they can often be found in science fiction literature; we will in this context read some examples from science fiction.

We will analyze the theological roots of these myths within the Judeo-Christian context and will present theological interpretations of these myths in turn:

1. We will first read some stories about Golems, artificial humans Jewish mystic literature talks about. These Golem figures are expressions of the first myth described above.
2. We then move toward the Genesis myths of the creation of humans and the symbol of humans being created in God's image. Here we demonstrate that these myths and symbols lose their richness and power when taken literally but unfold their wisdom within Judeo-Christian tradition. We also will deal with the myth of the Fall and discuss concepts of sin and estrangement.
3. The third myth is described within Christian anthropologies: we will analyze the meaning of the Christian symbols of life after death and resurrection and will show which explanations and solutions Christianity offers for humankind's daily problems and sufferings.

We finally will search for possibilities on how to create a relational unity between the AI and Judeo-Christian anthropologies which will result not in identity or assimilation but in dynamic interchange, with each radically open to the discoveries and insights of the other.