ROBOTS AND FREE MORAL AGENCY

By Dr. M. R. Dowler

I, Robot is a compilation of nine science fiction short stories written between 1940 and 1950 by the late Isaac Asimov. One of those stories, Little Lost Robot, written in 1947 was adapted for the 2004 motion picture, I Robot. The story and the movie is about a robot that develops human emotions and the ability to choose. Far fetched? Not really. Not today.

A 2014 London Independent news article reported about ERWIN, the first functional robot with human emotions. ERWIN, standing for Emotional Robot With Intelligent Network was developed at the University of Lincoln (UK) with five human emotions. But the ethical questions emerge---Can a robot learn right from wrong? Can a machine be taught to be “good”?

Other than salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and the scriptures themselves, the greatest gift God ever gave His human creation is freedom of choice. Simply stated, God did not create us as mindless, emotionless robots. We were created as free moral agents with the ability (and freedom) to choose (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15; Revelation 3:20).

In a broad sense, the theological aspect of free moral agency affects how some Christians minister to those around them. If we believe the fate of humans has already been determined by God’s foreknowledge and predestination (as in Calvinism), rendering them hopeless to change their eternal destiny, why bother to present the gospel to them? Conversely, if we believe mankind has a free-will to choose between heaven or hell (as in Arminianism), why would we not try to win them to Christ? (Romans 10:14-17) Think about it.