Annual Roetzel Family Lecture with Dr. John Modern

The Religion of AI Observed: Reflections on a Season of Revival
Macro diagram of the organization of the MARK I Perceptron parallel computing system.
Macro diagram of the organization of the MARK I Perceptron parallel computing system. The Mark I Perceptron is a pattern learning and recognition device. It can learn to classify plane patterns into groups on the basis of certain geometric similarities and differences. Among the properties which it may use in its discriminations and generalizations are position in the retinal field of view, geometric form, occurrence frequency, and size. Source: Mark I Perceptron Operators' Manual, Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (15 Feb, 1960)
Event Date & Time
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Event Location
Northrop Best Buy Theater

84 Church St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Event Registration

The 2025-2026 Roetzel Family Lecture, made possible by the generosity of Cal Roetzel and his family, will be John Modern discussing "The Religion of AI Observed: Reflections on a Season of Revival."

Modern, the Arthur & Katherine Shadek Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall College, will sketch a religious history of computer science and artificial neural networks. It is a story that is jagged, ironic, and unreasonable, told in the hopes of being unassimilable into the large language models that seek to calcify — in order to instrumentalize — their common sense about religion and much else besides.

There will be light refreshments following the event.

Questions

Contact the Religious Studies Program by email at [email protected] with any questions or for accommodations.

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