Christmas countdown day 23: the poets

Tennyson, Eliot, Rossetti and L’Engle: at Christmas, sorrow doesn’t preclude joy.

Beatrice Scudeler

Beatrice writes on literature, religion, the arts, and the family. Her published work can be found here.

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Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash.

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The Christmas Countdown

It’s the season to be jolly, stressed, and all round Christmassy. On the Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast, we’re here for you with our Aloud Christmas Countdown!

Every day in December, we’ll drop some of the best seasonal content from Seen & Unseen Aloud. From how to survive Christmas, reviews of the best Christmas movies and the origin story of Santa Claus.

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Throughout the year, the Seen & Unseen Aloud brings you the week’s best articles, in a short 20 minute podcast episode. Browse the index for episodes from Seen & Unseen Aloud, Re-enchanting and GodPod.

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Podcast

Culture

Re-enchanting

24 November 2023

1 min read

Re-enchanting... artificial intelligence

An academic expert in AI, Ros Picard helps Justine and Belle explore the big questions around artificial intelligence. What does it mean for the future of humanity? And, how do we ensure that it doesn't dehumanise its creators?

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

a woman at a desk video call gestures with her hands to make a point.

Professor Rosalind Picard is founder and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at MIT. She has pioneered the field of life-saving wearable technology that responds to human emotion and wellbeing. Ros is an expert in machine learning and AI - a field that has exploded in public consciousness recently, moving from the world of sci-fi to everyday life with the advent of Chat GPT and numerous other interactive AI programmes.

What does all this mean for the future of humanity? How do we ensure that technology doesn't dehumanise its creators? Ros approaches these questions not only as a computer scientist but as a Christian, having undergone an adult conversion to faith. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall ask how we can re-enchant AI and technology in a world where the human touch seems to be being replaced by automated chatbots and virtual relationships.

For Ros Picard: https://web.media.mit.edu/~picard/

For Re-Enchanting: https://www.seenandunseen.com/podcast

There’s more to life than the world we can see. Re-Enchanting is a podcast from Seen & Unseen recorded at Lambeth Palace Library, the home of the Centre for Cultural Witness. Justin Brierley and Belle Tindall engage faith and spirituality with leading figures in science, history, politics, art and education. Can our culture be re-enchanted by the vision of Christianity?