Being a Person in the Age of AI: How Can We Stay Human?

Susannah Black Roberts

As artificial intelligence accelerates, reshaping our economies, relationships and even our sense of what it means to be human, Together for the Common Good (T4CG) is convening a vital conversation: "Being a Person in the Age of AI."

This online lecture forms part of Staying Human, a four-part series exploring how Christians can respond faithfully and constructively to the change of era we are living through - a time marked by technological disruption, social fragmentation, and deep inequality.

Following earlier lectures by Luke Bretherton, Jon Cruddas and Maurice Glasman, this latest conversation turns to the personal: what does it mean to be human when machines begin to imitate us?

A Christian exploration of humanity in a technological age

The speaker, Susannah Black Roberts, will invite viewers to rediscover the meaning of the human person in the context of AI. Drawing on the thought of Aquinas, Aristotle, CS Lewis, Catholic Social Thought and the Christian humanist tradition, she will outline how believers can cultivate a practical, life-giving resistance to the dehumanising effects of the algorithmic world.

"These technologies that seem to make us more powerful are actually making us weaker - if we let them. The AI world has no bodies and no minds, yet it seems to imply the obsolescence of both. We must insist that neither are obsolete, and we must use both; we must not let our being-human skills grow rusty.

This isn't just about personal virtue - it's about community. Staying human means gathering around tables, learning from one another, creating spaces where we can still see the image of God in our neighbour. That's the kind of renewal our society is hungry for."
- Susannah Black Roberts

From her vantage point as both journalist and observer of the technology frontier, Susannah proposes a new Christian humanism, a "creative Christian asceticism" - a way of life that pushes back against distraction, isolation and the dopamine-driven impulses of digital culture. Her lecture will explore how simple, local and relational practices lived out by church communities can help society "stay human" in the face of accelerating technological change.

An invitation to spiritual and civic renewal

Founder and Director of Together for the Common Good, Jenny Sinclair, highlights why this conversation matters now:

"We are living through a change of era. The old is dying, and the new is emerging - but the future is not inevitable - we have a responsibility to participate. The decisions we take now will shape the kind of people we become. The Church has a vital role, indeed a vocation, to help people recover what it means to be human, what it means to be made in the image of God.

Staying Human is about helping Christians to engage with these profound shifts - not in fear, but with faith, imagination and hope."

Sinclair continues: "This lecture is an opportunity to rediscover the spiritual and civic practices that make for a humane society. We are inviting Christians from all traditions to join us in the work of renewal."

About Susannah Black Roberts

Susannah Black Roberts is Senior Editor at the international magazine Plough Quarterly and an Editor at Mere Orthodoxy. Her writing has appeared in First Things, Front Porch Republic, and The American Conservative. A native New Yorker married to an Englishman, she divides her time between New York and the West Midlands, UK.

This series is made possible with the support of CCLA, the leading investment manager for mission-driven organisations in UK. This event is also supported by Plough Quarterly, a magazine of stories, ideas, and culture to inspire faith and action. Our thanks go too to the Catholic Union of Great Britain for help in kind.

Event details

21st October 2025, 6.30pm-8pm
Staying Human: Being a Person in the Age of AI - Online
Speaker: Susannah Black Roberts
Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/staying-human-being-a-person-in-the-age-of-ai-tickets-1613679481769

Staying Human is a series of talks from Together for the Common Good exploring how Christians can respond to social, political and technological upheaval in ways that renew civic and spiritual life and uphold the dignity of the human person.

Together for the Common Good (T4CG) is a UK Christian charity dedicated to spiritual and civic renewal. Working with leaders, churches, charities and schools, T4CG helps Christians of all traditions make sense of this time of seismic change and discern their unique vocation for the common good.