Antropološki izzivi kateheze v času umetne inteligence
Anthropological challenges of catechesis in the age of artificial intelligence

slovenian

2024

volume 84, issue 4

artificial intelligence   catechesis   existential questions   kerygma   salvation   theology of the body   transhumanism

Univerza v Ljubljani, Teološka fakulteta
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

The paper addresses the question of how catechesis is responding to the rapid advances in digitalisation and artificial intelligence. The development of digital technologies and the great advances in the development of artificial intelligence represent a profound social transformation that is radically reshaping the world of human life, changing the way we think and experience, and challenging the human understanding of ourselves and of reality. How should catechesis respond to the rapid advances of digitalization and artificial intelligence, how should it engage with modern man? The transhumanist view of man, which promises man redemption from suffering and death and eternal life as a direct result of the development of artificial intelligence, sheds light on the eternal existential questions and challenges facing humanity. Some currents of transhumanism believe that it will soon be possible to transfer man’s consciousness into a digital form and thus free them from their bodies, their pain and their death. The anthropological question thus becomes a fundamental challenge for today's catechesis. In this article, we explore how the confrontation between the transhumanist and the biblical understanding of the human person can help catechesis to purify and renew itself kerygmatically. The kerygmatic renewal of catechesis emphasises the beauty of the Christian life, of salvation in Christ and of relationships in the Christian community. In this it differs fundamentally from the transhumanist vision of the person, which ignores its relational character. We note that kerygmatic catechesis is increasingly based on the biblical anthropology that underlies the theology of the body. The theology of the body emphasises that the human person is not created as an object, but as a person who is loved and capable of loving, and who in this imago Dei is created in the image of God.

10.02.2025