Paul Luckraft reviews ‘God and My Mobile’ by Nigel Cameron (CARE, 2018)

Last week we reviewed Nigel Cameron’s book ‘The Robots Are Coming’ published by CARE (Christian Action Research and Education). Professor Cameron is a leading Christian thinker on the new technologies and their impact on society.

This week we look at his second book, which is also highly recommended - not just for those with a particular interest in technology but for all Christians who want to be better informed about our digital age.

Despite its title, this book is about more than the mobile phone. It is an exploration of the whole digital explosion (a better term than ‘revolution’) that the author insists is far from over. In fact, “It has hardly started” (p13). Ours is a world unimaginable 40 years ago and which will continue to be transformed year on year.

Christians are going to need to come to terms with a society not only full of technology but driven by it. We will have to occupy the same world as everyone else, but when it comes to technology we will need to learn to “handle it differently” (p15). This book helps us towards that goal.

More Than a Phone

Of course, the mobile phone is more than just a phone and as such represents the whole digital world. In one chapter, Cameron lists 25 things your mobile can do (which may not be a comprehensive list). Moreover, the device we carry about today is already a million times more powerful than the mainframe computers that put a man on the moon, and we need to understand the challenges that this presents.

The device we carry about today is a million times more powerful than the mainframe computers that put a man on the moon.

The fundamental question is whether this century will see technology take over and start to rule over us, rather than vice versa. Throughout his book the author often refers to, and quotes from, the Centre for Humane Technology, a group “run by world-class disaffected leaders from the earlier days of the big tech companies that wants to put technology in its proper place” (p22).

‘Smart’ Lives

After the introductory three chapters, the book divides into four parts. Part 1 describes ‘The Incredible Journey’ of how we got here and is followed in Part 2 by six major challenges. Part 3 focuses on how we live ‘the mobile life’ and the final part asks what are the next steps. The book ends with three useful appendices for further study, discussion and prayer.

The history outlined in Part 1 is fascinating to read and leads us to the point of wondering what it will be like to live in an increasingly ‘smart’ home, where real-world objects are connected to the internet and (through the internet) to each other. These ‘cyber-physical systems’ will be all around us, and everything will eventually get plugged into everything else. One estimate is that we shall soon have 100 connected devices in every home. The house that spies on you is not far away!

The chapter on Amazon’s flagship technology ‘Alexa’ is particularly informative. Machines that listen to us and can speak back are becoming commonplace. Cameron also examines the whole social media phenomenon, explaining how the big companies exploit data for financial gain. As this is a new book, the examples are very up-to-date.

Christians have to occupy the same world as everyone else, but when it comes to technology we will need to learn to handle it differently.

The six challenges are illuminating. We know that our mobiles are immensely powerful portable friends helping us access global knowledge and communication, but here we learn about how they are also designed to distract us and prey on our vulnerabilities.

The author also discusses issues of privacy and security, exploring how we are at the mercy of the wealth, power and reach of the tech tycoons.

A Dangerous Gift?

Cameron believes that the internet should be seen as a gift from God, something to be welcomed that can enhance our lives in so many ways. Yet he is also clear that it has many dangerous features. One he highlights is that it is a breeding ground for fake news, false ideas and pseudo-science. The internet has become a playground for charlatans, eccentrics and other online crazies.

Towards the end of the book he again stresses how our vulnerability becomes someone else’s opportunity: for profit, exploitation or indoctrination. Our attention is deliberately captivated, potentially to the extent that addiction and spiritual wreckage can follow – not just for ourselves but also potentially for our children.

Overall, this is a well-produced book on glossy paper with colour photos. It has good endnotes and a useful glossary of terms, and is well indexed for easy reference. Recommended.

‘God and My Mobile: Keeping the faith in a digital world’ (168 pages, paperback) is available for £8.00 + P&P from CARE.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘The Robots Are Coming’ by Nigel Cameron (CARE, 2017).

Professor Nigel Cameron is a leading Christian thinker on new technologies and their impact on society.

In conjunction with CARE (Christian Action Research and Education) he has produced two significant books which are highly recommended - not just for those with a particular interest in technology but for all Christians who desire to know what will be affecting humanity in the near future. This week, we review his first book, on robots.

Smarter Than You

Many will be familiar with scenes of robots in factories, making cars and putting together electronic equipment, often doing routine jobs, but now the whole area of robotics is getting more sophisticated – some might say smarter - and more widespread. You may have such a device in your home. You may talk to one regularly. In fact, you will certainly have talked to one over the phone, even if you weren’t aware of it. And one day everything will be ‘smart’: not just your phone or TV but your car and maybe your whole house.

As the author states in his introduction “Every single day that passes, our ability to make these super-intelligent machines even smarter increases. And they get smaller. And cheaper. Every day” (p.viii). So what are the benefits and dangers of such an increase in technology? What are the practical problems and ethical issues? Indeed, what will being human mean in the 21^st Century? These are just some of the questions considered in this fascinating book, as well as the important question of ‘Is there a Christian view of robots?’

One day everything will be ‘smart’: not just your phone or TV but your car and maybe your whole house.

The most fundamental question to address, however, is what exactly is a robot? What is meant by such a term? Cameron explains that they come in six main kinds, not just those that look like robots. Some just look like machines. Others look like toys or pets. And then there are a multitude of ‘invisible assistants’: algorithms, with a voice and without. And finally there is the ‘Internet of Things’, a new term for the way everything is becoming interconnected via the internet, for instance, smart meters that communicate directly with energy companies.

After asserting that humans are special as created beings in God’s image, Cameron asks where what we are creating is taking us – are we moving further away from God or in line with his will? For the first time we now have the ability to create something smarter than we are. So what will happen to humanity as we hand over more power and control to these new ‘beings’ which will be able to think and learn faster and better than us?

Future Prospects

Cameron provides some historical background into automation and robotics, and also reminds us of some of the spookier stories that appear in film and fiction, which now seem eerily predictive. But it is the here-and-now, and the immediate future, that grabs our attention.

There is an interesting section on bio-technology and the creation of cyborgs, as well as how cognitive science or neuroscience will transform humanity once we are ‘plugged in’ to all that the new technologies offer.

Cameron discusses prospects for jobs, and the use of robots in the lives of children. ‘Talking’ dolls have been around for decades, but now there are ones that ‘see’ and ‘sense’ the child and can react to a conversation that the child initiates, or even start one based upon the observable mood of the child. If such a doll becomes a special friend, how will this impact the child’s emotional and psychological development? Robots of all kinds are becoming common toys – perhaps you bought one for a Christmas present? Parents need to be aware of what they are giving to their children. Who has produced it and programmed it?

Cameron asks where what we are creating is taking us – are we moving further away from God or in line with his will?

Robo-therapy is new territory but one which is attracting more and more attention. For instance, can robots provide care and companionship for the elderly? Will replacing human carers by robots solve our care crisis?

The author raises many other intriguing aspects of the likely development in robotics. What relationships will develop between robots and humans, and even between robots and robots? How will they be programmed to behave in certain situations? As they become more like us, will we need to provide them with a code of ethics, or a system of ‘robot rights’?!

God is Not Surprised

When considering what God thinks about all this, Cameron stresses that it is important to realise that God is not taken by surprise by what we are doing. We may be surprised by it, but he is not! Cameron points out that God is already “out there in the future” (p 106), always ahead of us. However, whether he is pleased or not is another matter. Whether we are heading towards a self-made catastrophe is left open to debate, but the author is prepared to contemplate another thousand or even another million years of technological progress rather than an imminent end-of-the-world scenario. Discuss!

Overall, the book contains 17 short chapters, easily digestible, and with some questions at the end of each chapter for further thought. There is some repetition as you reach the end, however the book ends in a most intriguing way. The epilogue consists of two imagined future scenarios, set in 2040. The author engages in a bit of fictional speech-writing, suggesting what a future Prime Minister and Archbishop of Canterbury might have to say in two decades’ time!

The book is a glossy production with colour photos and set out in a most accessible way. It is a ‘must read’, for we cannot ignore how our world is already changing. We must become more aware and better informed, and then share with others. The robots are coming – in fact, they’re already here…

‘The Robots Are Coming: Us, Them and God’ (148pp) is available from CARE for £9.99 + P&P. Find out more about CARE at https://www.care.org.uk/. Next week, we review Nigel Cameron’s second book, God and My Mobile.