EMBODIED AI, CREATION AND COG - RESPONSE

This is a reply to comments on my paper Cog, a Humanoid Robot, and the Questions of the Image of God; one was written by Mary Gerhart and Al lan Melvin Russell, and another one by Helmut Reich. I will start with the suggested analogy of the relationship between God and us and the one between us and the humanoid robot Cog and will show why this analo gy is not helpful for the dialogue between theology and artificial int elligence (AI). Such a dialogue can succeed only if both our fascinati on for humanoids and our fear of them are equally accepted. Any avoida nce of these emotions, as well as any rejection of the possibility tha t Cog might one day be humanlike, destroy the dialogue. The interpreta tion of both scientific theories and religious metaphors as stories re places seemingly ''rational'' arguments with the confession of the res pective commitments to a body of stories and opens up a space far exch ange and friendship between AI-researchers and theologians-an option t hat usually remains closed.