AI chatbots have become part of our everyday lives, whether on our smartphones, in the workplace, or even on a church website. They are an impressive simulacrum of human cognition and their seeming endless knowledge, authoritative outputs and friendly behaviour is alluring and sucks us into deeper engagement. This paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of AI chatbot technology, how it may shape us and how we can live virtuously as Christians with these applications and avoid being nudged into unhealthy habits by our vices.
Author Jeremy Peckham is a technology entrepreneur, AI ethicist and author of "Masters or Slaves? AI and the Future of Humanity" (IVP, 2021). He spent much of his career in the field of Artificial Intelligence, founding his first company in 1993, and is a Commissioner for the AI Faith & Civil Society Commission.
First published: Cambridge Papers | VOLUME 34 | NUMBER 3 | SEP 2025 | ISSN1361-7710 | ‘Living virtuously with AI chatbots’ https://www.cambridgepapers.org/living-virtuously-with-ai-chatbots/