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?

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Re-enchanting

4 June 2025

1 min read

Re-enchanting... the end of the world - Alex Evans

New episode. In a perma-crisis era do climate change, war, technology, immigration and extremism threaten to destabilise the world?

Nick Jones

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

A video grab of a man talking with text beside him reading: it's not the end of the world.

Alex Evans is the founder and Executive Director of Larger Us - a community of change-makers seeking to bridge divides and bring people together. Alex has previously worked as a think tank researcher, as a special adviser to two cabinet ministers, in the UN Secretary-General’s office and as a consultant for organisations from Oxfam to the US National Intelligence Council.

It’s given Alex a perspective on just how bad things can be in the world. Many have described our era as a ‘polycrisis’ or ‘permacrisis', as climate change, war, technology, immigration and the rise of extremism threaten to destabilise the world.

So how do we deal with 24 hour doom-scrolling? And how can Christian faith speak to a world where everything seems to be falling apart?

Last year Alex began a Substack titled ’The Good Apocalypse Guide’ about how we can survive and thrive to unlock a 'breakthrough' rather than 'breakdown' future.

Alex joins Belle and Justin as they attempt to re-enchant… the end of the world.

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