• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

DONATE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Our Bloggers
    • ESN Writing Inquiries
    • Commenting Policy
  • Reading Lists
  • Scholar’s Compass
    • Scholar’s Compass Discussion Guide
    • Scholar’s Compass Posts
    • Scholar’s Compass Booklet
  • Connect
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us

artificial intelligence

Science Corner: Should AI Stand for Alien Intelligence?

June 2, 2021 by Andy Walsh Leave a Comment

Over the holiday weekend, I chatted with my sister-in-law about a study her and her dog participate in on providing communication tools to canines. Maybe you saw this segment on CBS Sunday Morning or some other reporting on this work. The dogs are given buttons, each of which plays a recording of a spoken word. We know dogs have some capacity to understand spoken language, since they can be trained to respond to commands. The word buttons close the loop, allowing the dogs to use words as well. While the sophistication … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Should AI Stand for Alien Intelligence?

Filed Under: Science and Faith Tagged With: artificial intelligence, communication, language, science, science corner

Science Corner: Sing a New Song

May 6, 2020 by Andy Walsh Leave a Comment

Music has been helping us stay together even as we stay apart, from window serenades to video conference concerts. It is hard to imagine we will ever have a shortage of music making, not to mention the decades of existing music recordings. So we don't need to train computers to make new music for us, but of course that hasn't stopped us. We don't do it so that they can replace us, we do it so we can better understand the music we make and what makes it appealing. And whether it is the intention or not, I think teaching … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Sing a New Song

Filed Under: Science and Faith Tagged With: artificial intelligence, music, science, science corner, worship

Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking I Am Mother with Sam Blair

October 2, 2019 by Andy Walsh Leave a Comment

I Am Mother still of human child resting her head on her robot mother's shoulder

Welcome to the first Emerging Scholars Network Sci-Fi Film Festival! I'll be having a conversation here on the blog on various classic and current science fiction movies. Feel free to watch alonggh and join the conversation. This week's film is I Am Mother, a Netflix film from this year about a robot raising a human in a post-apocalyptic future (FYI: there will be spoilers). I'm joined by Sam Blair. Sam (@revsblair on Twitter) is a hospice chaplain in the Pittsburgh area and co-host of the Church of the Geek podcast. … [Read more...] about Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking I Am Mother with Sam Blair

Filed Under: Movie Reviews, Science and Faith Tagged With: artificial intelligence, I Am Mother, Sam Blair, sci-fi film festival, science, science corner

Science Corner: Predicting Periodically

July 10, 2019 by Andy Walsh Leave a Comment

The periodic table turned 150 earlier this year, or at least March 1 was the 150th anniversary of the publication of Dmitri Mendeleev's version. Chemists had organized the elements in a tabular fashion previously, and some features (like interactivity!) of contemporary representations would be added later. Still, Mendeleev's published version was a significant milestone, since he recognized regularities within properties of the elements which suggested some elements with specific features were undiscovered. Even better … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Predicting Periodically

Filed Under: Science and Faith Tagged With: artificial intelligence, chemistry, machine learning, periodic table, science, science corner

Science Book Review: The Big Nine – How the Tech Titans & Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity

June 5, 2019 by Andy Walsh Leave a Comment

Cover art for "The Big Nine" featuring a circuit diagram and the names of the nine AI companies

Amy Webb, author of The Big Nine – How the Tech Titans & Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity, describes herself as a futurist, a job I wasn't entirely sure actually existed outside of science fiction. Sure, plenty of people reason about the future and some do so in rigorous and quantitative fashion, but often in very narrow and specialized areas--predicting stock markets or elections or planning for consumer trends. Futurism strikes me as needing more of a generalist, and Webb seems to fit the bill. She takes … [Read more...] about Science Book Review: The Big Nine – How the Tech Titans & Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity

Filed Under: Book Review/Discussion, Christ and the Academy, Science and Faith Tagged With: Amy Webb, artificial intelligence, science, science book club, science corner, The Big Nine

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Become a Member

Membership is Free. Sign up and receive our monthly newsletter and access ESN member benefits.

Join ESN Today

Scholar’s Compass Booklet

Scholar's Compass Booklet

Click here to get your copy

Top Posts

  • Science Book Review: Unthinkable - An Extraordinary Journey through the World's Strangest Brains
  • The Message of Genesis 1
  • Faith and Reason, Part 2: Augustine
  • Book Review: The Problem of Pain
  • The Mechanism of Creation - The View from Science, Pt. 2

Facebook Posts

Facebook Posts

Footer

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Recent Posts

  • Encouraging One Another
  • Science Corner: Grandmother, What Grey Fur You Have
  • ESN Conversation: Nailing It

Article Categories

Footer Logo
© 2025 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®. All rights reserved.
InterVarsity, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, and the InterVarsity logo are trademarks of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and its affiliated companies.

Member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us