Is an AI-Generated Icon an Icon? A Case Study in Artificial Intelligence and Christian Spirituality

Abstract: This article examines the potential for AI-generated icons from the viewpoints of the iconographer, the worshiper, and the liturgical community. The ability of AI programs to produce convincing images reopens questions previously thought put to rest in the eighth and ninth centuries during the iconoclastic controversy. These questions go beyond icons themselves, questioning our materiality, the nature of spiritual experience, and the centrality of the incarnation for a Christian faith. While AI-generation may produce images virtually indistinguishable from those made by human hands, the processes involved in their generation and dissemination risk spiritually deskilling iconographers and distancing those who acquire them from the community of faith.