Christopher Watkin 

Join The Institute for Christian Anthropology at the Colson Center and the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University for a conversation with Christopher Watkin, Associate Professor in European Languages at Monash University.

Artificial intelligence promises to place extraordinary powers at our fingertips. It writes, advises, creates, organizes and responds to our commands, offering each of us something like the privileges of a sovereign. Yet the technologies that appear to serve us can also train our desires, flatter our assumptions, deepen our dependencies and quietly reshape what we understand a human being to be. The would-be sovereign risks becoming a slave.

Drawing on Scripture and Christian wisdom, Christopher Watkin explores how AI intensifies the characteristically modern predicament of the sovereign slave, and why the Christian vision of humanity offers a richer alternative. Human beings are neither autonomous masters of their world nor obsolete machines waiting to be surpassed. We are creatures made in the image of God, endowed with a dignity we receive rather than manufacture or earn. The lecture will consider what this vision means for our use of AI, our relationships, our work and worship, and for the challenge of remaining fully human in an age increasingly shaped by intelligent machines.

Neither Sovereign nor Slave: Remaining Human in the AI Age
Monday, November 16, 2026
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm MT

Location: 
Fran & Larry Donnithorne Great Hall
Colorado Christian University
8787 W. Alameda Ave.
Lakewood, CO 80226