Language of God

Bats are among the most feared creatures we rarely stop to know. In this episode, Jim and Colin travel to Bracken Cave in Texas, where millions of bats spiral into the evening sky, to discover the extraordinary lives of these misunderstood mammals. Bat experts Merlin Tuttle, Katy Hinman, and Fran Hutchins introduce us to the wonders of flight and echolocation, the gifts bats bring to ecosystems, and the challenges of protecting them. Joined by author Tish Harrison Warren and her family, we explore how knowing our nonhuman neighbors can turn fear into wonder—and how loving God’s creation begins with noticing the particular creatures around us.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Evan MacDonald, Sea of Stars, Vesper Tapes, Nick Petrov, & Animated Music, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

Find out more about the following organizations:

Bat Conservation International
Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation
Dialogue on Science and Religion, AAAS

In the final episode of our series, we turn toward theology and practice. Christian thinkers have long argued that human dignity isn’t grounded in productivity, efficiency, or being better than everything else. The rise of AI gives us an opportunity to take that claim seriously.

Drawing on conversations with computer scientists, theologians, and ethicists, we develop four principles for navigating life with AI: human capacities are more than outputs; technology is not neutral; the effects of AI are social as well as individual; and AI is not a moral agent. We explore what those ideas mean for everything from education and creativity to relationships, responsibility, virtue, and the common good.

AI may keep getting better at doing things humans do. The challenge is not to keep finding tasks where we can beat the machines. It is to decide what kind of people we want to become—and which parts of being human are worth practicing even when a machine could do them for us.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Pavel Yudin, High Street Music, Chill Chord, Superlegal, Vesper Tapes, Taizo Audio. Titan Sound & Ricky Bombino, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc. 

The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions or organizations with which they are affiliated.

Additional Resources
Read the Pope's Encyclical on AI
Joint Statement on AI & Ethics
Learn about Faith, Work, Tech
Learn about the DELTA Program
For more interviews and faith baed conversation on AI check out the podcast Belief in the Future

Artificial intelligence can write poetry, generate images, diagnose patterns in enormous datasets, and carry on a remarkably human-sounding conversation. But what is actually happening inside the machine?

In the second episode of our series on AI & human flourishing, we trace the history of artificial intelligence from Alan Turing and early rule-based computers through machine learning, Deep Blue, AlphaZero, and the arrival of ChatGPT and other large language models with technology and computer science experts to help us understand what changed along the way.

Then we look under the hood of a large language model. What are tokens, vectors, and transformers? How can a machine trained to predict the next word produce such astonishing results? Ultimately posing the question of whether understanding the machinery changes the way we think about what AI is—and what it isn’t.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Ricky Bombino, Chill Cord, High Street Music, & Immersive Music, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions or organizations with which they are affiliated.

Additional Resources
Read the Pope's Encyclical on AI
Joint Statement on AI & Ethics
Learn about Faith, Work, Tech
Learn about the DELTA Program
For more interviews and faith baed conversation on AI check out the podcast Belief in the Future

Artificial intelligence can do remarkable things. It can recognize patterns humans miss, accelerate scientific research, and even help restore speech to someone who has lost the ability to communicate. But as these technologies become part of our lives, they also raise questions about how technology shapes us—for better and for worse.

In the first episode of our series, we explore an AI-powered brain-computer interface that can translate neural activity into speech, and then ask where healing ends and enhancement begins. We consider what happens when AI enters our relationships, creative work, and everyday thinking—and what we might gain or lose as things that once required effort become easier.

With help from researchers, theologians, and ethicists, we explore creativity, companionship, vulnerability, embodiment, and the subtle ways technologies reshape the people who use them. The question isn’t simply whether AI is good or bad. It’s how we might use it in ways that help us become the kinds of people we want to be.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by High Street Music, Paradiso Music, Pink Marble, Titan Sound, Vesper Tapes, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions or organizations with which they are affiliated.

Additional Resources
Read the Pope's Encyclical on AI
Joint Statement on AI & Ethics
Learn about Faith, Work, Tech
Learn about the DELTA Program
For more interviews and faith baed conversation on AI check out the podcast Belief in the Future

Janet Kellogg Ray returns to Language of God to talk with Jim Stump about her new book, Fish with Feet: Human Evolution in the Image of God. For many Christians, evolution becomes especially difficult when the story reaches human beings. What does it mean to say that we share ancestry with other animals? And does that threaten the belief that humans are made in the image of God?

Ray argues that understanding the long evolutionary history that connects us to the rest of life need not diminish human dignity. Instead, it can deepen our understanding of what it means to bear God’s image—not as a particular physical or mental trait, but as a calling to represent God and care for creation. Jim and Janet discuss the evidence for human evolution, why that evidence can provoke such a strong reaction, what we can and cannot say about God’s role in the evolutionary process, and how our place in the family tree might give us an even greater sense of responsibility for the rest of creation.

Theme song and credits music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Other music in this episode by Konstantin Garbuzyuk, courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.