Technology and the vision of a Christ-centred cosmos

A technological revolution is happening in the way information is handled. It has been happening for at least 20 years but has achieved a level of impact and accessibility to make everybody sit up and take notice.

The modern world could be defined not as the Bronze or Iron Age but as the Ink Age – because words were the most powerful resource, beginning with the Renaissance and Reformation, through the Enlightenment and into the era of mass media through radio, television and information technology. This trajectory already indicates that words have been turned into pictures and images as a primary form of communication.

Those who were very skilled with words and image creation in this ‘Ink Age’ have often enjoyed a level of power, prestige and pay that lifted them into elite status.

What is called Artificial Intelligence (AI) is way of analysing language (which can be seen as words, images, styles, procedures, etc.) with the ability to summarise, rework, imitate, create, organise and produce at a scale and speed that is extremely unnerving for those who have invested so much of their identity, status and employment in doing those things ‘by hand’.

In other words, there is a massive revolution in the way that words, images, videos and sound are produced, edited and accessed, with massive implications for employment and education. Many jobs that once required great skill, training and time are disappearing entirely as the new technologies do these tasks extremely quickly and often better than humans were ever able to do.

These revolutions have happened before, of course. The highly talented handweaver of the 18th century became an irrelevance in the industrialised 19th century – with all the dangers as well as the productivity that these dehumanising factories brought.

In his great trilogy, Tolkien seemed to be aware of the threat of this kind of disruptive, aggressive technology, so it is the fallen Saruman and his orc armies that pursue technological power at any cost.

Yet there is another, older and more positive view of technology.

In 1098, ‘Saint Bernard took charge of the [Cistercian] order. He moved it in a direction that would complete a major technological revolution … A typical Cistercian monastery straddled an artificial stream brought in through a canal. The stream ran through monastery shops, living quarters and refectories, providing power for milling, wood cutting, forging, olive crushing … Cistercian monasteries were, in reality, the best-organized factories the world had ever seen – versatile and diversified …’ [John Lienhard, University of Houston].

What was the vision behind this technological revolution of the 12th century? It was part of the grand Christian vision of the cosmos with Christ at the centre. It grew out of a powerful confidence in the universe as real, rational and reliable. Yet, crucially, it had a very high view of human beings, whose true purpose was to be set free from the sweat and toil, pain and bitterness of the curse of Genesis 3 – set free to enjoy the living God and serve one another with fruitfulness and love.

Jesus-loving Bernard of Clairvaux wanted his monks, and humans in general, to be liberated from the grinding toil of manual labour so that they could all pursue the mind-and-heart-expanding life of the kingdom of God. Technology was no threat to him, but the wonderful possibility of alleviating the curse – perhaps even part of our yearning for the new creation.

‘In 1136, Abbot Arnold of Bonneval chronicled the life of St Bernard, describing the rebuilding of Clairvaux. Interestingly, he made no mention of the church but gave a delighted account of the abbey’s water-powered machines for milling, tanning, blacksmithing and other industries.’ Vishal Mangalwadi The Book That Made Your World (Nashville, Nelson, 2011) p.104.

Now, we know that this fruitful approach to science and technology ended up being hijacked not only by the paganism of the Enlightenment but also the greed of Mammon. However, in all the fear and disruption around the new technologies of our day, let’s remember how the new AI tools are like ‘creative exo-skeletons’ for most people, enabling them to do so much more than they could before– whether in research, writing, organising or creating.

Every technology can be used for evil, because we are such sinful, messed-up people. However, remember Bernard of Clairvaux. This great lover of Jesus and lover of humanity was able to see the right way that technology could be used, in the cause of Christian humanism. Technology should be developed and used to enhance human life; to free us up to worship, serve and enjoy the living God as we were designed to do.