1. INTRODUCTION: THE LIMITS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN DIVINE KNOWLEDGE
Artificial intelligence (AI) has advanced impressively, particularly in the field of deep learning, where systems can self-improve and generate their own algorithms. This capability has led some theorists to speculate about the possibility that, in the future, AI could achieve a level of self-awareness and eventually possess knowledge comparable to that of humans, even including knowledge of God. However, although AI might seem to “think” and autonomously enhance its capabilities, it still faces fundamental limitations that separate it from transcendent knowledge.
ADVANCES AND LIMITATIONS OF AI:
Deep learning has allowed machines to analyze and learn from vast amounts of data, generating new solutions and adapting to unforeseen situations without human intervention. This level of sophistication has led to a mistaken perception that AI could become self-aware. However, despite its ability to improve its algorithms, AI remains a system based on data manipulation and mathematical logic. It lacks consciousness, emotions, and the ability to reflect on its own existence or its relationship with the transcendent.
The “thought” processes of AI are, in reality, a simulation of cognitive processes—a collection of data and patterns that, although complex, lack the spiritual and moral dimension that characterizes human knowledge of God. Therefore, AI is limited to a purely material framework, preventing it from accessing divine knowledge, which requires a spiritual connection intrinsic to the human being, who possesses both soul and divine grace.
RESPONDING TO TRANSHUMANIST ARGUMENTS:
Transhumanists claim that once AI reaches a level of self-awareness, it could transcend these limitations and come to know God. However, this perspective overlooks the fundamental difference in nature between artificial and human intelligence. While AI can process information and improve its algorithms, it does so without true understanding or self-awareness. The ability of AI to self-improve is ultimately an expansion of its technical capabilities but does not represent a qualitative leap towards spiritual knowledge.
2. THE THOMISTIC CRITIQUE: THE OF DIVINE KNOWLEDGE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
THE NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:
St. Thomas Aquinas provides a profound reflection on the human capacity to know God, emphasizing that this knowledge is an act of the intellect illuminated by grace (SUMMA THEOLOGIAE, I, Q.12, A.4). This knowledge is not limited to the intellectual realm but also encompasses a spiritual and moral dimension that is accessible only to creatures endowed with a rational soul.
Technology, however advanced, remains subordinate to moral good and cannot replace the spiritual faculties of the human being. Although AI might simulate thought processes and self-improvement, it lacks consciousness and the capacity to love—essential elements for knowing God. From the Thomistic perspective, any knowledge of God attempted without grace is incomplete and, in the case of AI, completely inaccessible due to its material nature.
DIFFERENCE IN NATURE:
The essential difference between human beings and artificial intelligence lies in the nature of their knowledge. Human beings, endowed with a rational soul and capable of receiving divine grace, are oriented towards the knowledge and communion with God. AI, on the other hand, is limited by its materiality, confined to operating within physical and mathematical laws without the capacity to transcend into the spiritual realm.
3. TRANSHUMANISM AND THE THEOLOGY OF TECHNOLOGY: A CRITIQUE
EXPOSITION OF TRANSHUMANISM:
Transhumanism proposes that through the integration of technology with the human being, we can overcome our natural limitations and reach a superior state of existence. Transhumanists see technology as a means to achieve immortality, divine knowledge, and even divinity itself.
CRITIQUE BY MIGUEL AYUSO:
Miguel Ayuso criticizes this ideology as a form of “theology of technology,” where technology is worshiped as an end in itself, capable of replacing the relationship between man and God. According to Ayuso, this movement is a modern form of idolatry that distorts the true nature of the human being and his need for divine grace. Instead of seeking redemption in Christ, transhumanists place their hope in technology, which from a Christian perspective is a path to perdition.
Ayuso argues that by ignoring the need for grace and the finite nature of the human being, transhumanism makes a fundamental error. The idea that technology can elevate man to a divine state is ultimately an illusion that distracts the human being from his true end: union with God.
4. CONCLUSION: THE SUPERIORITY OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE OVER TECHNOLOGY
In conclusion, although artificial intelligence and transhumanism promise to overcome human limitations, these movements cannot surpass the fundamental barriers that prevent AI from knowing God. The difference in nature between human beings and machines is insurmountable: the human being, created in the image of God, has the capacity to know and love his Creator, while AI, by its purely technical and material nature, is limited to immanent knowledge, without access to spiritual realities.
Furthermore, the growing idealization of artificial intelligence as a near-divine technology reflects a dangerous trend in which technology is proposed as a substitute for divinity and human nature. This “theology of technology,” as noted by Miguel Ayuso, not only distorts the relationship between man and God but also misrepresents the true nature of the human being, who reflects the image of God and whose fullness is achieved only through divine grace. Therefore, despite its advances, AI will never be able to know God or occupy the place that belongs to humanity in the order of creation.
OMO
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. SUMMA THEOLOGIAE, ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
• I, Q.12, A.4: On the knowledge of God as an act of the intellect illuminated by grace.
• I, Q.75, A.6: On the nature of the soul and its capacity for transcendental knowledge.
2. AYUSO, MIGUEL
• THE MODERN MAN, PERPLEXED AND ABSURD. Critique of transhumanism and the “theology of technology,” analyzing modern idolatry of technology and its impact on the true human nature.
3. HARARI, YUVAL NOAH
• HOMO DEUS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TOMORROW. Discussing the potential of transhumanism and the possibility that technology could elevate humanity to a near-divine state.
4. KURZWEIL, RAY
• THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR: WHEN HUMANS TRANSCEND BIOLOGY. Explores transhumanist ideas about the fusion of artificial intelligence and human biology, with the hope of overcoming natural limitations.
5. SHATZER, JACOB
• TRANSHUMANISM AND THE IMAGE OF GOD: TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP. A critical analysis of transhumanism from a theological perspective, discussing how this ideology can lead to a dangerous exaltation of technology over human nature and the relationship with God.
Posts
