An Image of an Image (of God): Athens, Jerusalem, and Artificial Intelligence – Dr. Kevin Kambo

Dr. Kevin Kambo argues that AI should be understood less as genuine intelligence and more as a highly sophisticated form of simulated intelligence, like a mirror that reflects patterns without understanding them.This lecture was given on March 10th, 2026, at Southern Methodist University.For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.About the Speakers:Kevin M. Kambo is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Dallas in Irving, TX. Before completing his doctoral studies at the Catholic University of America, he earned a bachelor of science in Chemistry at Stanford University and worked as an intellectual property paralegal in Manhattan, NY. Dr. Kambo specialises in classical Greek philosophy, particularly on Platonic moral psychology and on the dramatic elements of Platonic dialogues. He also works on the reception of Platonic thought through history, from late antique (e.g., in Clement of Alexandria and Augustine of Hippo) through contemporary (e.g., W. E. B. Du Bois and Simone Weil) thinkers, and has broader scholarly interests in philosophy of technology, philosophy and literature (especially tragedy), philosophy of race, and liberal education. He is a partisan of the original Star Wars trilogy, P. G. Wodehouse, and receiving postcards--not necessarily in that order.Keywords: AI, Aristotle, Athens, Conversation, Genesis, Idolatry, Image, Plato, Psalms, Truth