Analytic Philosophy After Dark: Is AI an argument against God? [public]

​Join us at one of our favorite bars to discuss the connection between philosophy of religion and AI.

​Developments in artificial intelligence have driven many to ask whether artificial general intelligence would affect the faith of religious believers. If there were other intelligent beings out there, would we no longer be God’s favorite? Did Jesus die for the sins of robots, as well? And perhaps most interesting for those interested in philosophy of religion, does the argument that God is necessary for human intelligence no longer hold up if humans ourselves can create intelligences?

​The theist claim that God is necessary for humans to intelligently and accurately perceive reality was put in one of its most developed forms by the philosopher Alvin Plantinga as the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism (EAAN). The EAAN argues that the combined beliefs in evolution and philosophical naturalism are self-defeating. Without God there’s no reason to think that we would have evolved to perceive reality accurately, only to perceive it in a way that helps us survive. Thus, if evolution and philosophical naturalism are both true, all of our beliefs are undermined including evolution and philosophical naturalism.

​There have been many objections to the EAAN over the years, but does AI of all things provide one more? The EAAN states that an agent cannot be created that accurately perceives reality that was not created by God. But would an AGI created by unsupervised learning be such an agent? And would it be a counterexample and defeater of the EAAN? 

​Come discuss this and related topics with us!

​Optional reading:

• ​https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R7kVi0UVqzRNuWfXvVZixZk8R4Y4EEnk/view?usp=sharing 

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