(Contending Modernities) — Would Noah have updated his Instagram story while building the ark? On TikTok, millions have watched Artificial Intelligence-generated short videos that imagine just that: Bible characters recast as modern-day influencers in 2025. We see a pregnant Mary posting vlogs from a barn—giving it five stars for privacy and zero for comfort—and Daniel livestreaming from inside the lion’s den. For many viewers, these may be humorous, ephemeral clips to be “liked” and scrolled past. Part of their appeal lies in making ancient stories relatable; imagining Moses checking his phone for a “divine notification” collapses the temporal and cultural gap between the distant past and the familiar present. For all their humor, however, these AI-generated vignettes are more than fleeting memes or “AI slops.” They are also potent artifacts that show how today’s most powerful computational systems can be used to repurpose ancient texts, extending a colonial logic that operates in a datafied world.
Read Dr. Jang’s full article here.