AI & Our Existence - A Conversation with Noreen Herzfeld & Benjamin Chicka

In this episode, I'm joined by two theologians who are asking important questions about technology—including AI: Noreen Herzfeld and Benjamin Chicka. You'll get to know them as our conversation unfolds, but a little context first.This is actually a follow-up.  The last time the three of us got together publicly was at Theology Beer Camp, and the response was overwhelming. There were so many questions we simply couldn't get to them all.  So, we booked a second conversation to finish what we started. This is that conversation.Noreen Herzfeld is Reuter Professor of Science and Religion at St. John’s University and senior research associate with ZRS Koper. A theologian and computer scientist, she is the author of several books, including The Artifice of Intelligence: Divine and Human Relationship in a Robotic Age and In Our Image: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Spirit.Benjamin J. Chicka is Lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Curry College in Milton, MA. He is a philosophical theologian whose work connects classical American pragmatism, process theology, and ground-of-being theology. Such bridge-building between supposedly incompatible positions reflects his conviction that intrareligious pluralism is as important as interreligious pluralism for the future of theology. He is the author of God The Created and Playing as Others.Additional LinksListen to the initial AI panel here.Learn more about the 2026 Ellul society conference here.Learn more about Theology Beer Camp 2026 here.