Homo Disruptus does not just rebel against the ills of the digital and AI world but also is set to rebel against everything that is built on our humanist anthropocentric thinking. Perhaps, it challenges us to rethink our theological assumptions. Being Christian, I embark to examine some of tenets of faith that may require scrutiny or reinterpretation with deep love for my faith as well as great respect to other faiths. Basing on our understanding of unique exceptional character of human intelligence (HI), we have interpreted Imagio Dei as imaging divine intelligence. This looking at the Imagio Dei through the lens of intelligence may have to be revisited. Thomists think that divine intellect is more perfect than His will while the Franciscans think that it is the will of God that is perfect. With bursting of AI on the scene, we seem to have a humbling experience that has opened us to several forms of intelligence. Hence, human intelligence cannot be a bench mark or measure for any other form of intelligence. Does this means that we turn to the will? AI does not to exhibit human like will for now. Does that mean we can put the faculty of Will in the gaps of science which will then enable us to think of God’s will as supremely perfect and Imagio Dei as imaging that will in humans . What if science tomorrow fills that gap?
Is there some other character more intimate and deeper to humans that can be viewed as imaging Imagio Dei? In this context, we might see humans as loveable and loving as the Imagio Dei that we are looking for. This means posthumanism and AI technology is setting up and imperative for our theological anthropology and Christology to renew itself. God did not just created humans in his image and likeness but also recreated humans and the entire creation in His son Jesus Christ. Posthumanist critique does not reject both creation and recreation of humanity. It only reinterprets humanity’s position in the scheme of things This means the new understanding through the lens of love does manifests that humans as caregivers like the divine and are called to give care to the entire creation. Perhaps, we have to embrace the existential analysis of Martin Heidegger that positions humans as care. This means humans as care givers exhibit their supernature , in other words the Imagio Dei that they are.
This brings us into what might be called performative anthropology. It is taking us to our becoming of humans, rather than to some fixated static sense of humanness. Performative anthropology of Pierre Bourdieu can illumine our Christian discipleship as a journey with Lord Jesus Christ. This is why perhaps, posthumanist critique that we are trying to introduce along side the bursting of AI, puts us human on a dynamic performative mode. Discipleship is performative. Disciples follow their master as socially acting beings. This turn towards performing discipleship takes us from emphasis to orthodoxy alone to orthopraxis too. This approach reminds us of existence first approach of the existentialists of the twentieth century.
Perhaps, we might say that the Homo Disruptus is called to become Homo Amor. This journey towards Homo Amor is a performative task. The Homo Amor that we are talking about here is not one that is proposed by Unique Self Institute of Dr. Gafni. Homo Amor we are speaking here is the image of Deus Amor. It opens us new possibilities to do theology in the advent of AI .
Homo Amor not just turns to God and humanity . But turns to creation. Homo Amor has the challenge to performatively join the creation in its manifestation of divine glory by becoming productive. In other words, humans have a challenge to become God’s Amor along with the created world. Thus, Humans have the calling to move from mastery approach over nature to the mystery approach to nature. This requires a sea change. It requires us to embrace a new emancipative performative journey. While the AI and the digital revolution revives the Homo Oeconomicus, we have the challenge to give a heart to this mindless and heartless ride of humanity. Homo Disruptus evolving into Homo Amor is best suited to the new Homo Oeconomicus emerging on the wings of AI. Indeed, Homo Amor that is best suited to transform the heart of Homo Oeconomicus and establish God’s household on this planet earth. Homo Digitalis without leaving the digital world, has to embrace Homo Amor without leaving the prophetically discerning Homo Disruptus .
