Rupert Wegerif

AI and Spiritual Evolution
What if AI’s ability to take on so called intellectual work could in fact be an opportunity to focus on something much more important?rupertwegerif.substack.com/p/ai-and-spiri…

I’ve just finished Tom Holland’s Dominion and thoroughly recommend it. I was especially struck by his final chapter: many commitments of secular humanism — equality, human rights, dignity, concern for the weak, opposition to empire — have deep roots in Christianity, even when expressed in anti-Christian terms. Recognising their history might make us more self-aware when we seek to spread them around the world through education, NGOs and, sometimes, military action. How much of that impulse continues the missionary spirit that once animated the Crusades?

I was talking with ChatGPT this morning about “human maxxing” in the age of AI and how it might relate to “spiritual evolution.” It pointed me to Hartmut Rosa’s work on resonance, which speaks remarkably closely to questions I’ve been exploring for years. How had I missed it? I recommend this interview if you want to learn more: scielo.br/j/civitas/a/f7…

AI can expand the space of dialogue and be a stimulating companion for intellectual adventures. Then my wife came downstairs and reminded me to sort out my dental care. Hmm.

This seems like a good question to ask. Are we sure that more people getting academic qualifications and studying theory heavy subjects at university is actually helping either them or the economy or general human flourishing? It might be, but there is quite a big assumption here that could do with a better evidence base.

What Makes Education Educational? rupertwegerif.substack.com/p/what-makes-e…
Much of what we call education is training students to produce expected answers. AI can now produce those answers. That is not a crisis. It is a chance to ask what education is for in the first place.