Faithful Automation is a project kicked off by Marcus Gubanyi, an assistant professor of computer science at Concordia University, Nebraska. It started from a recurring conversation he kept having with students, educators, and other professionals about the role of AI in their work and lives.

A different starting point

Many of these conversations about AI focus on its capability.

What can it do?

Other conversations discuss the societal impacts of AI, the opportunities and risks.

What will the future look like?

Faithful Automation focuses on something else:

• What is the purpose of this task, and why would I use AI for it?
• What is true, and how do I know?
• How is this shaping my thinking, and how am I using my time and gifts?
• What is this doing to my connections with other people?

Note the order. Capability questions have answers you can look up and answers that change. These questions are different. If you don’t ask them first, AI may end up deciding the answer for you.

A Christian foundation

Faithful Automation is written from a Christian perspective. It starts from the conviction that we lack the wisdom to use AI faithfully on our own, and that Christ, who is faithful even when we aren’t (2 Timothy 2:13), works through us in our vocations to serve our neighbors. The framework is an attempt to support Christians as we strive for faithfulness to God and to our neighbors. Readers who don’t share that faith are welcome, and the questions are written to be useful to anyone.

Core convictions

• Christ is faithful, and the wisdom we need comes from God, not from our tools.
• Our work is a vocation, a calling through which God serves our neighbors.
• Technology is a tool, not an authority.
• Efficiency is valuable. It just isn’t the highest good.
• People are more than producers of output.
• Learning and growth often matter as much as the finished product.
• Decisions about automation should consider their effects on people, relationships, and communities.
• Discernment requires both wisdom and context.

Credits

This site is built with Astro using its blog theme. The home page photo is by Marcelo Cidrack on Unsplash.

Unless otherwise noted, all original content on this site is © Marcus Gubanyi. Please contact the author before reproducing substantial portions of it.