> Are not 'guile' & 'sneakiness' characteristics of humans due to the entry
> of sin into the world.
It depends on one's definitions, I suppose. My Webster's dictionary
gives one definition of the verb 'sneak' as 'to move quietly and
stealthily so as to avoid being seen or heard'; on the whole, that
doesn't necessarily seem sinful. Sometimes, I have heard the term
'sneaky' applied in a complimentary fashion to certain actions or
objects (e.g. mathematical proofs) not because they are deceitful,
but because the usefulness of certain actions is not apparent
until the whole act is completed. In that sense, I think God
is awfully sneaky sometimes. :)
> If so and if ever computers do come sentient, what
> would their relationship to God be and would there be the feasibility of
> such sentient 'machines' eventually sinning and would Christ's atonement be
> sufficient for them.
> This may sound esoteric, but this question has surfaced when I have been in
> discussion with those who think that AI will eventually be achievable.
I'll let others more qualified than I debate the question, but as
a computing professional let me point out the following: AI and
sentience need not be synonymous. One may create 'intelligent'
programs (in fact, many argue that we *have* created intelligent programs)
without necessariliy creating programs which are self-aware and
conscious.
--Jim Huggins (huggins@umich.edu / huggins@acm.org)