Artificial Pastoral Care: Abdication, Delegation or Collaboration?

This article considers the relationship between Christian pastoral care and Artificial Intelligence systems. Four aspects are identified from definitions of pastoral care: the horizon of contingency in mortality, the role of wisdom rather than mere information, the oppressive and/or liberatory poten...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Stoddart, Eric 1960- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2023
In: Studies in Christian ethics
Year: 2023, Volume: 36, Issue: 3, Pages: 660-674
IxTheo Classification:NBE Anthropology
NCJ Ethics of science
RB Church office; congregation
RG Pastoral care
ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies
Further subjects:B Good Samaritan
B Transhumanism
B Wisdom
B Pastoral Care
B Artificial Intelligence
B Empathy
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:This article considers the relationship between Christian pastoral care and Artificial Intelligence systems. Four aspects are identified from definitions of pastoral care: the horizon of contingency in mortality, the role of wisdom rather than mere information, the oppressive and/or liberatory potential of AI and the importance of empathic presence. In rejecting a transhumanist argument that mental processes are substrate-independent, it is contended that pastoral carers embrace, rather than seeking to circumvent, their crucial finitude in being humans who care. A distinction is drawn between probabilistic reasoning and judgement in retaining a vital place for decision-making that is social. Whilst not eschewing value in AI systems, this article argues for critical evaluation of technologically framed contributions to addressing barriers to people's participation. The importance of empathy is highlighted—in the light of claims not only of robotic mimicry but of interindividual models of emotion. It is concluded that the notion of artificial care be ruled out although the possibilities of AI-assisted care are not dismissed. Opportunities for humans to abdicate from the responsibilities to care, in favour of AI substitutes, are deemed to be best avoided.
ISSN:0953-9468
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/09539468231179571