Institute for Religious Studies Machine-Relations

AI and the New Self.

Artificial intelligence is currently changing not only technical processes, but also the way in which people perceive themselves, others and the world. This project examines three central fields of such transformations: the everyday use of dialogue-enabled text models such as ChatGPT, the use of socially interacting robots in patient care and the algorithmically generated visualisation of idealised body images on digital platforms. In many highly industrialised societies, ideas of the human have long been shaped by religious traditions and their secular continuations. The current shifts are having a profound impact on these cultural orders - with an effect that is comparable to the structuring forces of religion in terms of their extent and design.