The last sentence of a book is not where I would ordinarily begin a conversation, however, it’s the choice for today. In the last lines of his book, Robert Marks shares, “Non-computable you are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.” These words arise from one of my favorite passages in Scripture, Psalm 139, and capture, at least for me, the essence of what all of us need to remember if we desire to cultivate a flourishing life in the Hustle Culture that so easily distracts us from this blessed assurance from God.

Even for those who do not choose a life of faith in our Creator, I imagine they would offer very little pushback in a discussion regarding how Wonderfully Made the human body is. Just in the area of nutrition, as I mention in the post Use and Eliminate, the amount of coordination it takes to digest a hot and cheesy slice of pepperoni pizza is intriguing. Then considering the nuanced precision required for fine motor skills to engage a scalpel in heart surgery–mesmerizing. Forget attempting to fathom all that occurs in the body when we sneeze or blink or evaluate any other aspect of our physical existence. Yes, we are indeed Wonderfully Made.

Now, if I approach being Fearfully and Wonderfully Made from the perspective of human flourishing, specifically as it relates to current culture realities like artificial intelligence, it’s vital for me to address the fact that I have been created by a Creator to engage with His creation in a way that no tool can duplicate. Lori Roeleveld looks to the “Hebrew word pala [which] reinforces the notion of our individual craftsmanship and purpose…We are set apart…our design—physical, biological, mechanical, functional, mental, emotional, and spiritual—reflects our God’s expansive intelligence, wisdom, and creativity.” And it is this creative aspect that Marks wants us to grasp as he shares about the history of AI and its potential future in his book Non-Computable You.

Marks encourages us to consider that artificial intelligence is really about algorithms. “An algorithm is a step-by-step set of instructions to accomplish a task. A recipe for a German chocolate cake is an algorithm.” And guess what? “Humans can behave and respond non-algorithmically…For example, you perform a non-algorithmic task when you bite a lemon. The lemon juice squirts onto your tongue and you wince at the sour flavor. Now, consider this: Can you fully convey your experience to a man who was born with no sense of taste or smell?” Marks defines being Wonderfully Made through the lens that you are non-algorithmic, there are things you experience that cannot be written into computer code. “All computer code is the result of human creativity—the written code itself can never be a source of creativity itself.”

Another way that Marks explains how we are Wonderfully Made as a non-algorithmic creative being is the fact that computers have no sense of humor, they can’t recognize the Amazing Ambiguity that most of our lives entail. Marks enjoys collecting flubbed headlines like “Include Your Children when Baking Cookies.” You need both a sense of humor and some common sense to interpret the headline correctly. Whether it’s laughing at flubbed headlines, or like my dad, reading funny church signs, you need to be able to chuckle at the puns, nuances, and sarcasm. “Unlike artificial intelligence, you, my non-computable friend, experience common sense. You have a sense of humor, You can disambiguate…You also have creativity” because you are Wonderfully Made.

What I treasure about Marks’ perspective on being a non-algorithmic human is that he doesn’t de-value the importance of AI in our culture. Like me, he prefers not to return to the days before GPS, however, he recognizes the reality of technology’s limitations. I’m a huge fan of the algorithms that streaming music engages to determine songs to play for me; however, it cannot know how annoying it is for a single person to hear the Wedding Song Canon in D every few minutes while listening to a piano/violin playlist. Or speech recognition and text prediction…we all know how few errors occur utilizing those algorithms [noted sarcasm]!

I relish the fact that we have a Creator who Wonderfully Made us with designs to be unique and creative so that we can invent life-giving technologies that benefit our lives; and I do encourage everyone to consider crafting a Digital Philosophy that allows you to have a healthy relationship with all the technology that comes our way. And before we enter into part two about being Fearfully Made, I ask you to consider, and share in the comments below, other ways that you see us being Wonderfully Made by our Creator.

References:

Marks, R. (2022). Non-computable you: What you do that artificial intelligence never will. [Kindle version]. Discovery Institute.

Roeleveld, L. S. (2022, November 10). What does Psalm 139 mean by ‘fearfully and wonderfully made.’ Christianity.com Retrieved from https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/what-does-psalm-139-mean-fearfully-and-wonderfully-made.html