Tretter M (2024)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2024
DOI: 10.16995/zygon.10903
Open Access Link: https://www.zygonjournal.org/article/id/10903/
People have always pondered their afterlife. Now, as AI and robotics continue to advance and proliferate, a new question emerges: Is there also some kind of “afterlife” for robots—and how can we envision it? This article seeks to explore these very queries from a Christian perspective. To tackle the initial question, I argue that, following the thoughts of St. Paul and St. Augustine, the whole of creation is sinful and seeks completion, it would be inconsistent to nurture such an all-encompassing hope yet exclude robots from it. From a Christian perspective, we should therefore assume the existence of an afterlife for robots. To decipher how we can envision it, I examine two pop-cultural depictions from the television episode “Zima Blue” and the television series Futurama, questioning whether they provide a fitting image of eschatological completion for robots. This methodological approach allows me to present a spectrum of conceptions of robotic afterlife that, when examined through the lens of systematic theology, appear plausible, offering fresh impetus for eschatological and robophilosophical reflections.
APA:
Tretter, M. (2024). What Is the Afterlife Like for Robots? An Experimental Eschatological Sneak Peek. Zygon. https://doi.org/10.16995/zygon.10903
MLA:
Tretter, Max. "What Is the Afterlife Like for Robots? An Experimental Eschatological Sneak Peek." Zygon (2024).
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