The Institute for the Study of Religion at the Catholic University of Suwon presented the results of a study on the social influence and direction of theology with this new reality. The theme of 'The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Role of the Church' was meaningful because it was the first time that church experts announced their findings.
They were united in pinpointing out the technological development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution should have humanity at the center. In terms of improving the conveniences of human life, much will be done but AI will never replace humans created intelligence. If we create a 'life-oriented anthropological model' through wisdom gained from religion and science, we will be able to cope with the destructive potential of science and technology.
Professors of philosophy also said, if we want to make the fourth industrial revolution an opportunity rather than a crisis of human existence, we must make development go into a friendly human direction. What needs to be developed further in the new technology is the spiritual and transcendent nature of humanity. There is a world of love and faith in human beings which is impossible to attain only with technical big data accumulation. The church needs to find and present the path to human spiritual development and opening to grace.
Another participant hopes for the cooperation of the different fields of study so that all will benefit. There is optimism for the era of the fourth industrial revolution. However, also concerns that various problems will arise such as human exclusion and the destruction of the ecosystem caused by the replacement of the labor force with machinery.
At another symposium on 'Today's Ecology' the participants expressed their desire for a deepening humanism but with great concern that when technology develops in the absence of philosophy, human dignity is ignored. When tools are not used correctly we have to take notice.
Neohumanism maximizes the humanity that artificial intelligence can not do and interprets it and reflects on it philosophically. Christians are able to solve the problem of human exclusion by warmly welcoming those who are alienated in this era of polarization.
There was also a voice saying that Christians should take the lead in recovering the ecosystem destroyed by industrialization. Many in society continue to pursue commercialism unwisely, and exploiting, developing, profiting, and speculating on the environment, promoting the death of the earth. Christians insist the earth and nature are gifts from God. We should reflect on practical methods for the restoration of the ecosystem through reflection on wealth and waste—living simply and sharing.
