A Broad Wealth of Ideas and Biblical-Ethical Counsel

Elias Brasil de Souza and Keldie Paroschi, eds., Technology, Ethics, and the Future: Navigating the Digital Age With a Biblical Focus. Silver Spring, Md.: Biblical Research Institute, 2025. xvi + 523 pp. Softcover. US$25.

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As technology advances more rapidly than ever with the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), a book titled Technology, Ethics, and the Future is particularly relevant. This volume comprises 20 chapters by 22 authors on a range of technology-related topics. The technologies and ethics addressed are broad, including artificial intelligence, transhumanism, tools for interpreting and analyzing Scripture, industrial farming and the ethics of animal care, cloning, digital communication, end-of-life care, and digital evangelism, to name a few.

Artificial intelligence (AI) does not receive quite as much focus as one might assume for a book with more than 500 pages. Nevertheless, Germán H. Alférez begins by outlining the basics of AI, then notes concerns about its potential to spread misinformation and other unspecified harms (pp. 106, 107). A section on ethical concerns includes the possibility of plagiarism, deepfakes, a reduced demand for knowledge workers, privacy and protection of works used to train AI systems, and the accuracy of generated images. These problems are largely left for the reader to ponder from an ethical standpoint, except for deepfakes, which are reasonably described as theft and an attempt to bear false witness (p. 111).

The larger contribution this chapter offers is its guidelines for AI. These include principles derived from the golden rule, such as not focusing AI “on profit and power,” ensuring fair use by providing all with the knowledge and tools to create and use AI, and avoiding damaging use cases in favor of the common good (pp. 115, 116). This speaks more to the policymaking level than to individual use cases. The chapter closes by considering the future possibilities of AI. This ranges from artificial general intelligence (AGI), in which AI systems reach a degree of superintelligence surpassing that of humans, to symbiosis with machines or a digitization of consciousness (pp. 117, 118).

What is missing here is that AI systems have already surpassed human capabilities in many areas, including efficiency, memory recall, and the ability to quickly and successfully complete tasks (such as coding, editing, and other computer-related activities). Capabilities have doubled every seven months since 2019, and this pace has since doubled to approximately every three months in early 2026. Whereas just a few months ago AI systems could, with a single prompt, complete up to five hours of certain kinds of work, this has more than doubled to 12 hours in the first quarter of 2026.[*] Granted, at the time the chapter was written, developments were further behind.

Despite the potential for AI systems to achieve AGI and superintelligence, this does not mean that consciousness will ever be replicable by AI or that human consciousness will become digitizable. A defining characteristic of consciousness is the capacity for a spiritual connection with God, and it is inconceivable that technology could replicate this. While this chapter is informative for policymakers regarding the biblical principles that Adventists affirm should guide their use, what that looks like and how it might be practically incorporated at the organizational level are left for others to figure out.

Adriani Milli Rodrigues writes about transhumanism, which is a recurring topic throughout this volume. Transhumanism is the idea that humans may one day overcome mental and physical limitations, such as death, through science and technology. This also includes curing aging, radically expanding knowledge, and eliminating suffering and disease with genetic engineering (pp. 67, 68). Transhumanism tends to assume a view of human nature that people are fundamentally good, thereby underestimating the evil in human nature (p. 72).

One of the most practical chapters in the book is Mark A. Finley’s ‘Digital Global Evangelism.’

Several connections are made between transhumanists’ dreams of using technology and biblical narratives. On the positive side, Rodrigues explains that Noah’s ark and the sanctuary in the wilderness both represented a redemptive use of technology to preserve human life and well-being. On the negative side, technology was used in constructing the Tower of Babel to elevate humanity and oppose God, whereas the golden calf outright counterfeited God’s intentions and method of working with humanity (pp. 77, 78). The main problem is the human intent to escape death without recognizing a need for Jesus or salvation, and thereby dismissing sin (p. 80). The chapter concludes by encouraging a redemptive use of technology in harmony with God’s purposes (p. 81). This does not disparage realistic transhumanist aims, such as improving longevity and well-being, which are good, but it would exclude such counterbiblical, science-fiction objectives as seeking to escape death without recognizing the reality of sin, evil, or humanity’s need for God and salvation. This distinction is both balanced and helpful.

Vanderlei Dorneles’ chapter addresses virtual reality (VR). He begins by describing how VR seems like a real form of reality because people can work and relate to others in it (p. 83). He explores how VR extends human abilities by enabling individuals to live effectively in an alternate reality, assume different identities, experience relationships, and more (p. 85). Dorneles parallels virtual reality to what Plato envisioned: a world in which all real things have a metaphysical, normative form outside our reality, and all that we experience and can know is just a shadow of the real (p. 87). Is it fair to relegate VR, or the use of computers, tablets, phones, and more, to an imaginary hyperreality, though? Dorneles goes on to suggest that Plato’s reality and evaluation oppose God (p. 89), with the implication that VR and technology may also tend to do this in some way. And yet these technologies are all real things, produced in the real world. Can we not engage with real people in real activities (from work to worship) via Zoom, FaceTime, or voice calls, regardless of whether we use a VR device or a phone?

Concerning transhumanism and the possibility of transferring human consciousness to an “embodied avatar” with virtual immortality, Dorneles compares this to the human presumption exemplified in the construction of the Tower of Babel (pp. 90-93). He traces the idea of an “avatar” to Hinduism, in which it is a “manifestation of a deity or a released soul in bodily form within the material dimension of reality” (p. 94). This is paralleled with separating the soul from the body and transmitting it to an avatar in VR. While it is true that transhumanists speculate that this may one day be possible, it is unclear whether these science-fiction dreams warrant a negative framing of VR technology’s use in other, more positive and real ways. Just because “VR and cyberspace also intend to provide an experience where people can feel in control over their own lives and destiny” through certain uses, such as gaming, we need not categorically view it as a counterfeit “dominion” that God encouraged humanity to have over the world (p. 104). This is because VR technologies are not strictly tied to gaming. Such modern devices as the Apple Vision Pro and an increasing number of augmented reality (AR) devices are designed to innovate and enhance productivity in communication and work. A more nuanced approach that differentiates how such tools are used and offers guidelines at that level would be more valuable given these advances.

Not all the chapters are as focused on philosophy and ethics, however. One of the most practical chapters in the book is Mark A. Finley’s chapter, “Digital Global Evangelism.” He looks at the many forms digital evangelism can take, from websites, social media, and YouTube, to blogs, eBooks, and more (p. 394). He lists numerous popular social media, streaming, networking, communication, and other digital platforms to suggest potential avenues for digital evangelism. His steps for starting and running an effective YouTube ministry are helpful, with highlights including the need for a variety of content lengths and types, consistent posting, and creative ways to connect with your audience through offers and downloads. If someone is looking to engage in digital evangelism, this chapter is quite helpful with its tips and resources.

Although those who judge a book by its cover might assume a narrower focus than Technology, Ethics, and the Future takes, the benefit of a multiauthor volume is that it offers a broad wealth of ideas and biblical-ethical counsel. In my view, that makes it worth picking up.

[*] “METR: Model Evaluation and Threat Research,” accessed Mar. 31, 2026, https://metr.org/.