As Bishop Steven prepares to conclude his ministry as Bishop of Oxford after ten years in post, another chapter is also drawing to a close.
This month marks the departure of Dr Simon Cross, who has helped shape and sustain the Diocese of Oxford's engagement with artificial intelligence, technology and ethics over the past seven years.
In their final AI newsletter, Bishop Steven reflected on a significant moment in the wider public conversation around AI. Recent weeks have seen the publication of Pope Leo's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, focused on developments in technology and artificial intelligence, alongside one of the largest parliamentary debates on AI and its human implications in recent years.
Reflecting on his own decade-long engagement with these issues through Parliament, the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation and the wider Church, Bishop Steven wrote:
"It's been a fascinating journey and one I hope to continue in some way into the future – I look forward to continuing to network and work together."
Few people have accompanied that journey more closely than Simon.
Since 2019, Simon has explored the opportunities, challenges and ethical questions raised by rapidly developing technologies, helping churches, policymakers and readers navigate a field often characterised by both excitement and anxiety. Through this newsletter and his wider work, he has encouraged Christians not simply to ask what artificial intelligence is, but what it means for human flourishing, dignity and purpose.
Looking back over seven years, Simon concludes that the most important lesson he has learned can be summarised in a single phrase – borrowed and adapted from Bill Clinton:
"It's the purpose of being human, stupid."
While public debates have often focused on whether AI challenges our understanding of what it means to be human, Simon argues that the deeper question concerns what human beings are for. The challenge posed by AI is not simply one of meaning, but of purpose: how these technologies might strengthen, distort or even undermine the things that make human life worth living.
Over the years, Simon has watched the Church's response evolve from asking "What should we think?" to "What shall we say?" and increasingly to "What should we do?" As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in everyday life, he believes practical wisdom and discernment will be needed alongside theological reflection.
For Simon, that discernment begins with a simple conviction:
"The point of being human is to know God and to enjoy Him forever."
As he steps away from the role, Simon was keen to express his gratitude to Bishop Steven, whose support helped create space for a unique and highly experimental ministry.
"I really can't express my thanks and appreciation to Bishop Steven enough for giving me such freedom, trust, and opportunity to explore a unique role and to develop its experimental elements in such unconstrained direction. The past seven years have been a huge pleasure as well as privilege, and much of that joy can be located directly in working for Bishop Steven personally."
Simon also thanked the many readers who have followed the newsletter over the years and contributed to the conversation.
While this edition brings the newsletter to a close, neither Simon nor Bishop Steven suggest the conversation itself is ending. Both speak of continuing their engagement with the ethical and human questions raised by artificial intelligence in the years ahead.
For his wisdom, curiosity, generosity and thoughtful leadership in this field, we offer Simon our sincere thanks and every blessing for the future.
Read the back catalogue
Simon and Bishop Steven leave us with a wealth of resources to read and reflect on. You can follow Bishop Steven on Substack and read past editions of the AI newsletter below.