Column Title: Communitas
Column Entry: “Competing Narratives for The Good Life: Human Flourishing, Artificial Intelligence, and the Imago Dei”
Column Description: The term Communitas refers to an unstructured community of equal members often traveling from one place to another. Like the characters in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, we are fellow pilgrims on the road towards the Father’s house, following Jesus as the way, truth, and life. This column is a space to share common ideas about faith, communication, and culture with the intent of affirming the image of God in all persons.
By Elizabeth McLaughlin, PhD, Bethel University
July 2025 / May 2025 / April 2025 / September 2022 / August 2022 / July 2022 / January 2022 / September 2021
In his classic work Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action, Walter R. Fisher shares the basic presumptions of his narrative paradigm where humans are “storytelling animals” who make decisions based on the “logic of good reasons.”[i] We all decide between competing stories and choose the ones we will live in based on that which we perceive ring as true. What is the truest story about what contributes to human flourishing? What are the stories we are hearing and telling about the hyper development of Artificial Intelligence and human potential?
I was in the drugstore last week and picked up a magazine entitled “Artificial Intelligence: The Second Wave,” describing the frantic advance of AI technology. On the cover, several blurbs previewed the promises of what AI can do for the reader:
- “Write scripts that AI will turn into actual movies.”
- “Interact with dead people through digital avatars.”
- “Automate chores like cooking and laundry.”
- “Ride self-driving cars and much, much more.”
Who would not want a robot who can do the laundry? Further, in other forums AI promises to make us more creative, faster, better connected, and can even cure loneliness. However, out of this magazine’s ninety-eight pages, only twelve mentioned the potential negative effects on humankind. Is this the same narrative about how technology will make our lives better with minimal downsides? Can Generative AI make our lives better and free us for the good life? The cautionary tales of science fiction, warning from groups like the Center for Humane Technology, as well as daily news stories (Chat GPT Psychosis?) forewarns us about what can happen. Concerning is the pace of development and the potential of exceeding human capacity and dignity.
On the hopeful side, initial results from the Global Flourishing Study sponsored by Gallup, Baylor University, The Templeton Foundation, Harvard’s Human Flourishing program, and the Center for Open Science offers promising information about how human beings can live well, with lives of hope and satisfaction. Asking the question, “what contributes to a life well-lived,” this study was conducted over five years, with 207,000 participants from 23 countries and territories covering six core dimensions: Happiness and Life satisfaction; Mental and Physical Health; Financial and Material Stability; Meaning and Purpose; Close Social Relationships and Character and Virtue.
In this study, human flourishing is defined as, “the relative attainment of a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good, including the contexts in which that person lives.” Part of the study indicates that attendance in religious services contributes to flourishing. The importance of meaning, social groups and communities, group activities in both religious and civic settings contribute to living well.
The story told by this research is compatible with the rich biblical narrative of how God created humans in his own image to represent him, care for creation, flourish through meaningful work and relationships, and ideally can live in obedience to him. The Imago Dei embodies human ability for rational thought, agency, creativity, and productivity. All humans share this inherent dignity and sacred worth redeemed and reconciled to God through the Risen Christ. This compelling story underscores our needs for meaning, purpose, belonging and creativity.
In his presentation on “How Technology is Downgrading Humans,” Tristan Harris describes how social media and AI technology is striving for engagement in ways that exceed our human limits and weakness to process it all. Some examples include information overload that short circuits our attention spans, and our needs for social validation potentially leading to low self-esteem and depression. His call is for the narrow path of power and responsibility.
While these ethical conversations are occurring in the development of speed-of-light technology, Christian communicators and communities of faith can join the conversation and challenge to find ways to emphasize the critical importance of how loving one’s neighbor should be the standard for technological engagement. The logic of good reasons dictates that human dignity, reflecting the divine image, must be the primary measure of technological advancement. Our awareness, voices, and practice about what makes a good life can manifest the kingdom and answer the needs for belonging, community, creativity, and love.
* The views of any CCSN columnists are their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of the CCSN. We invite and embrace a wide range of views and critiques on important communication and cultural issues from a Christian perspective. The CCSN is a community of Jesus followers who study communication. We do not support or promote a particular social, political, or denominational agenda.
Notes
[i] Fisher, Walter R. (1989). Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action, 64.