Will Robots Too Be in the Image of God? Artificial Consciousness and Imago Dei in Westworld

The HBO series Westworld smartly plays with explicit and implicit timeless questions regarding human nature and human distinctiveness: What does it mean to be human? Is there anything special about us? Could other entities, namely Artificial Intelligence (AI), ever be considered equal, or even superior, to us? In this chapter we explore the challenges posed by the emergence of truly intelligent robots-as some of the Hosts in Westworld seem to be-to Christian theological anthropology in its core claim that humans are special because they are created in the image of God (imago Dei). To do this, we first assess the current understanding of human uniqueness in science, philosophy, and theology, with a focus on the various theological interpretations of imago Dei. We then look at the notion of strong AI and sketch its implications for theological anthropology. Further, the focus moves on Westworld in an attempt to understand what are the precise characteristics of the type of AI depicted in the television series. Do the Hosts qualify as strong AI? Is their consciousness a relevant topic for theological debate? A careful dig underneath the Westworld construction of consciousness will reveal a surprising theological twist. Equipped with these analyses, we will finally approach some of the most fundamental and fascinating theological questions raised by Westworld: can we still speak of humans being in the image of God if AI becomes conscious? Would robots too be in the image of God? Could the Hosts too be religious?