We all use Artificial Intelligence, or AI, online. It determines our search engine results, curates our social media feed, and guides how we click through websites. Recent refinements in AI mean that it can compose text and produce images faster, and sometimes better, than humans. Chatbots are used for customer service and online diagnostic tools, and as social surrogates. The better AI mimics human activity, the more questions it raises: Is AI smarter than humans? Could it ever become human? Could it replace us? What do the advances in Artificial Intelligence mean for society, the Church, and the world?

In this book Fr Andrew Pinsent answers these questions and many more as he recounts the history of “intelligent machines”, evaluates the nature and impact of the present capabilities of AI, and offers some informed speculation about the future relationship between humans and artificial intelligence.