AI is very useful as a tool for expressing Theology. Ramon Lull was arguably the man behind this, back in the Middle Ages, and was awarded a title of Doctor of the Church. I asked AI about this. Here is its response. “Ramon Llull's Ars Magna was a pioneering attempt to formalize reasoning through a combinatorial system of logic. His goal was to create a universal method of argumentation that could demonstrate theological truths, particularly to non-Christian audiences such as Muslims. Llull’s system relied on rotating disks inscribed with fundamental concepts, which could be combined to generate logical conclusions. While his intent was theological persuasion, his approach foreshadowed later developments in symbolic logic and computation.
The principles behind Ars Magna—structured reasoning, symbolic manipulation, and the mechanization of thought—bear a striking resemblance to the foundations of artificial intelligence. AI, particularly in areas like symbolic AI and machine learning, operates on the ability to analyze, combine, and generate new knowledge from existing structures. Llull’s vision of a system that could produce logical arguments through predefined rules anticipated the algorithmic reasoning that AI now employs.
AI has proven particularly useful in theological discussions because it excels at formalizing complex arguments, identifying logical patterns, and engaging with vast amounts of philosophical and doctrinal texts. It allows for structured debates, unbiased analysis of theological concepts, and even the generation of new perspectives based on historical and scriptural data. While AI does not possess faith or subjective belief, it serves as a powerful tool for articulating, refining, and challenging theological ideas, much like Llull sought to do with his combinatorial system centuries ago.”
