Intelligent Design the Future

Algorithms vs Souls: The Use of AI in Global Missions

Intelligent Design the Future

Show Notes

ID The Future listeners now get to enjoy two episodes each month from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of the Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. The Mind Matters News podcast brings you insight from computer scientists, engineers, inventors, neurosurgeons, and other experts who bring sanity to the conversation about natural and artificial intelligence, going beyond the hype to explore the undercurrents of these important ideas. And although the Mind Matters News podcast will not often explicitly discuss intelligent design, it regularly explores the nature of intelligence, the origin of information, and the things that make us uniquely human, all concepts that are central to the theory of intelligent design. Enjoy today’s offering of Mind Matters News!

AI is having impact everywhere. But what about global outreach initiatives? And specifically Christian missions? How are those in the mission field using artificial intelligence? On this episode of Mind Matters News, host Robert J. Marks and co-host Jonathan Swindell welcome Dr. Don Barger to the show. Barger is the Director of Innovation and Artificial Intelligence at the International Mission Board. Don works with new technology, especially AI, and helps people use it in smart and responsible ways. He thinks a lot about how AI can help in real-life situations, especially in global missions. He also understands the limits of AI and what it cannot do. In this conversation, we'll discuss how AI is changing the world, how AI should be used responsibly in global outreach initiatives to other cultures and peoples, and what it all means for the future. Source

More from Intelligent Design the Future

Oct 23, 2026

On this classic ID the Future out of the vault, guest host Robert J. Marks interviews Roger Olsen, co-author of the groundbreaking book The Mystery of Life’s Origin. In the work’s epilogue the authors suggested that a designing intelligence stands as the best explanation for the origin of life. And with a revised and greatly expanded new edition of the book available, Olsen says that more than thirty-five years of additional research from the origin-of-life community have left their conclusions stronger than ever. Source

Oct 21, 2026

Intelligent design is fundamentally a theory of design detection. But in addition to helping us evaluate models that best explain past events, ID can also guide experiments that study the present-day operations of nature. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid records a conversation from our new Studio West in the Seattle offices of Discovery Institute.

Oct 19, 2026

You may already know that an intelligent design framework can help us empirically detect whether an outcome in nature exhibits properties that indicate design. But did you also know an ID perspective can be applied to experimental science to guide research into how the natural world operates? On this episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid is joined by Dr. Casey Luskin and Dr. Jonathan McLatchie, two members of the Center for Science & Culture's team of resident scientists, to discuss a new paper co-authored by the science team unpacking how intelligent design can guide scientific research in multiple fields of science. Source

Oct 16, 2026

Like many, you may be storing important files and photos in the cloud. But just where is this magical cloud? How is it powered? Is it safe? To answer these questions and more, Mind Matters News host Robert J. Marks is joined by Walter Myers III, a principal engineering manager for Microsoft’s Azure Cloud and a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute. Their conversation provides an overview of cloud computing infrastructure, including an explanation of where the cloud is physically located, the different service models (infrastructure, platform, and software as a service), and the technical details of how data is stored and protected in the cloud. Then, the conversation pivots to the philosophy of identity, exploring the philosophical concept known as the Ship of Theseus. This episode comes from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of Discovery Institute's Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. Source

Oct 14, 2026

How rare is Planet Earth in the vastness of the cosmos? Will we find other planets in space that could possibly harbor life? A new space telescope has just been launched that may help us with answers to those questions. On today's episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes a two-part conversation with physicist Dr. Bijan Nemati about his work on the Nancy Roman Space Telescope. In this segment, we dive deeper into what constitutes a habitable planet, how Roman will team up with the James Webb space telescope to discover hidden worlds, and how intelligent design can inform our expectations and interpretations of data sent back from Roman. Source

See all episodes →