Generously sponsored by the Ben Delo Foundation.

In this second lecture from our recent symposium, AI and the Battle for the Soul, theologian and iconographer Jonathan Pageau asks: Who, or what, does AI serve? By drawing on mythology, scripture, symbolism, and poetry, he argues that the questions raised by AI directly concern human purpose and meaning. Through the stories of Prometheus, the Holy Grail, Moloch, and the Tower of Babel, Pageau unpacks the deepest questions raised by AI, calling on us to recognize what technology reveals about ourselves and the civilization we are building.

Recorded at Ralston College in May 2026, this event brought together leading thinkers including Iain McGilchrist, Jonathan Pageau, and Stephen Wolfram for a day-long engagement with some of the most pressing questions facing technological advancement, the meaning crisis, and ultimately, civilization itself.

If you would like to support us in this work, please visit ralston.ac/donate.

Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode:

Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy
The Holy Grail (Arthurian Legend)
Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene
Scott Alexander's Meditations on Moloch
Allen Ginsberg's Howl
Alfred North Whitehead
Simone Weil
Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound
Yuval Noah Harari
Viktor Frankl: Man's Search for Meaning

AI and the Battle for the Soul with Jonathan Pageau Lecture: Whom Does AI Serve? Sacrifice in the Digital Age

The Ralston College Podcast

AI and the Battle for the Soul with Jonathan Pageau Lecture: Whom Does AI Serve? Sacrifice in the Digital Age