The God and the Machine project frames AI systems as powerful tools which mediate the world and influence human thought and behaviour, drawing on the rich resources of theological thought in these areas to move beyond a false binary of technological utopianism or dystopian fear. The project has two main work streams: interpretation and hermeneutics, and influence and formation. The first stream will involve experimental work with Large Language Models (LLMs), examining the ways that they interact with theological texts, despite LLMs' lack of lived participation in the world which makes them different in kind from human interpreters. The second stream will theologically analyse the ways a range of AI systems are already reshaping human desires and knowledge, including consideration of epistemology and the formation of political loyalties.
Beginning in December 2026, and running for three years, the project is actively recruiting for three roles:
Researcher in Large Language Models (full-time)
Researcher in Political Theology and AI Science (0.5 FTE)
Researcher in Theology and AI Science (full-time)
This project is made possible through the support of grant #63871 from the John Templeton Foundation.
