Hugely enjoyed being on Premier Unbelievable? recently to dialogue with Professor Nigel Crook on "AI and the Future of Humanity". Despite the slightly silly title on the website, it wasn’t “Andy vs. Nigel”, as we're both committed Christians. Instead, it was a wide-ranging dialogue on the questions caused as AI systems grow more capable.

Are we heading towards unprecedented flourishing or an age of deepening dependence and control? Can machines genuinely understand, create, or even “think”, and does that matter morally?

Should advanced AI ever be granted rights, and who is accountable when algorithms cause harm? What happens to work, education, relationships and truth in a world of synthetic media and accelerating automation? And where, if anywhere, do faith, meaning, and human uniqueness fit in a rapidly mechanised future?

And in all of this: are there clues to the gospel story in the way that human beings are so curious and so inventive?

Whether it’s the art and photography we put on our walls or our computer desktops, or the natural landscapes that draw us to climb hills or gaze from viewpoints, humans are fascinated by beauty. But have you ever wondered why? Is the atheist Richard Dawkins correct that experiences like beauty are “Darwinian misfirings”, a side effect of our genes that plays tricks on us? Or is beauty a clue that there is something much more than just survival and reproduction to the experience of being human?

For more on these kind of wondering questions, check out …

My essay, Fire on the Mountain.

Some of the chapters in the book I co-wrote, Have You Ever Wondered?