Ilia Delio: Thinking Theologically about AI with Teilhard de Chardin

Tripp Fuller

In this episode, Ilia Delio returns to discuss Teilhard de Chardin’s philosophy and its relevance to current technological advancements, specifically artificial intelligence. We explore Teilhard’s integration of science, religion, and evolution, highlighting his concept of ‘withinness’ and ‘withoutness’ and his vision of a future marked by greater complexity and consciousness. The discussion delves into Teilhard’s anticipation of technology’s role in human evolution, the need for a cosmic perspective in understanding AI, and the potential for technology to enhance human love and compassion. The conversation also touches on Teilhard’s notion of the ‘noosphere,’ the mystical elements of human existence, and the imperative to envision and co-create a future that fosters planetary unity and the greater good.

Ilia Delio, OSF, PhD is a Franciscan Sister of Washington, DC, and American theologian specializing in science and religion, with interests in evolution, physics, and neuroscience and the import of these for theology.

Ilia currently holds the Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology at Villanova University and is the author of twenty books, including Care for Creation (coauthored with Keith Warner and Pamela Woods) which won two Catholic Press Book Awards in 2009, first place for social concerns and second place in spirituality. Her book The Emergent Christ won a third-place Catholic Press Book Award in 2011 for the area of Science and Religion. Her recent books include The Unbearable Wholeness of Being: God, Evolution and the Power of Love (Orbis, 2013), which received the 2014 Silver Nautilus Book Award and a third-place Catholic Press Association Award for Faith and Science. Ilia holds two honorary doctorates, one from St. Francis University in 2015 and one from Sacred Heart University in 2020.

Previous Episodes with Ilia Delio

• The Not Yet God
• Bonaventure & the Cosmos in Process
• Catching a Cosmic Faith
• the Entangled God of my Heart

Join my Substack – Process This!

Join our upcoming class – THE RISE OF BONHOEFFER

Join us at Theology Beer Camp October 17-19, 2024!

Follow the podcast, drop a review, or become a member of the HBC Community.