Issue Monday: Neither Sovereign nor Slave – Remaining Human in the AI Age
Join Centennial Institute and The Institute for Christian Anthropology at the Colson Center for a conversation with Christopher Watkin, Associate Professor in European Languages at Monash University.
Artificial intelligence promises to place extraordinary powers at our fingertips. It writes, advises, creates, organizes and responds to our commands, offering each of us something like the privileges of a sovereign. Yet the technologies that appear to serve us can also train our desires, flatter our assumptions, deepen our dependencies and quietly reshape what we understand a human being to be. The would-be sovereign risks becoming a slave.
Drawing on Scripture and Christian wisdom, Christopher Watkin explores how AI intensifies the characteristically modern predicament of the sovereign slave, and why the Christian vision of humanity offers a richer alternative. Human beings are neither autonomous masters of their world nor obsolete machines waiting to be surpassed. We are creatures made in the image of God, endowed with a dignity we receive rather than manufacture or earn. The lecture will consider what this vision means for our use of AI, our relationships, our work and worship, and for the challenge of remaining fully human in an age increasingly shaped by intelligent machines.
Issue Monday: Neither Sovereign nor Slave: Remaining Human in the AI Age
Monday, November 16, 2026
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm MT
Fran & Larry Donnithorne Great Hall
Colorado Christian University
8787 W. Alameda Ave.
Lakewood, CO 80226
MEDIA CREDENTIALING: While members of the media are welcome to attend our events, they are not allowed inside university buildings or facilities for the purpose of reporting unless they have received prior approval in writing from the Communications and Creative Services Department. For more information on how to apply for a media credential, please email centennial@ccu.edu.
About Christopher Watkin
Christopher Watkin is Associate Professor in European Languages at Monash University, based in Melbourne, Australia. His work investigates how people make sense of the world, with a particular focus on modern and contemporary French thought, social critique, and competing accounts of what it means to be human. He is the author of numerous books, including Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture (Zondervan Academic, 2022).
