The Saint Benedict Institute will host a lecture by Dr. Jared Ortiz, titled 鈥淭he Monk and the Machine: How St. Benedict Can Help Us Preserve Our Humanity in the Digital Age,鈥� on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, at 7 p.m. in Winants Auditorium at Graves Hall on the 91自拍论坛 campus in Holland.
Many have an increasingly uncomfortable relationship with digital technology. While relishing the remarkable powers and convenience it provides, we worry about the negative effects it has on our minds, habits, social interactions and mental health. Especially with the rapid onset of AI technology, we sense we are living in the middle of a revolution, one that will have dramatic consequences for how we live and what it means to be human. How did we get here? How should we understand this technology? What does it do to us? Is it changing our humanity? How should Christians respond? In this lecture, Dr. Ortiz will address these questions by examining the roots of the modern scientific project and the aspirations of the makers of AI as well as by drawing on the perennial wisdom of St. Benedict.
Admission to the lecture is free and is open to the public.
Jared Ortiz is the Lavern 鈥�39 and Betty DePree 鈥�41 Van Kley professor of religion at 91自拍论坛. He is also the founder and executive director of the Saint Benedict Institute. Dr. Ortiz is the author and editor of numerous books on early Christianity and is currently writing a commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict.
The lecture is supported by a grant from the Lumen Christi Institute with funding from the John Templeton Foundation and is co-sponsored by the Character Forward Grant and the religion department.
For inquiries, please contact the at info@saintbenedictinstitute.org.