This presentation explores how contemporary developments in artificial intelligence and transhumanism compel a re-examination of the meaning of being human. The paper critically assesses the transhumanist claim that human identity can be reduced to informational patterns transferable to machines. The aim of this presentation is to investigate what is essential to being human that AI systems and humanoid robots cannot share. Inspired by early Muslim theologians, it moves beyond the mere doctrinal assertion that "humans have a soul (rūḥ) and robots do not," toward a deeper philosophical inquiry into what it means to be human and, correspondingly, what it means to possess a soul. This question requires a renewed engagement with Islamic philosophical theology (ʿilm al-kalām), in light of technological paradigms that privilege quantifiable traits such as intelligence and efficiency while marginalizing emotional depth, ethical intuition, and moral agency.
Drawing on classical kalām, the presentation reconstructs a non-dualist understanding of the human self in which embodiment, consciousness, and moral responsibility are inseparably intertwined. While some contemporary scholars, such as Ali Ghandour, argue that this non-dualist conception is compatible with a materialistic transhumanist framework, this paper challenges that claim. It argues that the dominant transhumanist model—conceiving the mind as software and the body as hardware—ultimately rests on a subtle form of dualism, thereby undermining its purported compatibility with Islamic non-dualist anthropology.
Finally, the presentation advances a relational account of humanity rooted in a dynamic web of relationships with others, nature, and the self. From this perspective, AI systems, regardless of their computational sophistication, remain fundamentally incapable of replicating the full relational, ethical, and existential dimensions of human life.