(I want to begin answering interesting questions through a theological lens. And when I say a theological lens, I mean my theological perceptions of various subjects. Sound interesting? Stick around.)
I find this question fascinating. Where do you even start?
One could begin by looking at the advancements of A.I. and how humane robots are becoming, or one could analyze what is meant by the soul and contrast that to the possibility of A.I. having such a thing.
That seems to make more sense to me, so I will go with the latter.
For starters, historical and orthodox Christian theology has always believed in the idea of the soul. To oversimplify, it’s the idea that there is something humans possess that is distinct from their corporeal body.
And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7
For example, there is a basic Christian belief in the afterlife. When a Christian dies, they don’t. Death is just a detachment from one’s temporal abode (However, Christians are adamant that one day there will be a reunion of soul and new glorified body in the new heaven and earth.)
But the point is this: Christianity, and its Scripture, refer to the body as something different than a personae or person. A body is something we have not who we are.
Jesus even made the distinction,
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Matthew 10:28a
So Christians do believe in a soul.
A Contrast
Perhaps highlighting the contrast would be necessary.
The contrast, at least that is apparent to me, is the philosophical idea of determinism. Determinism, applied to the current discussion, would be the idea that we are nothing more than our brain matter. We don’t have a soul but mere chemicals and genetic predispositions that produce our actions in the world.
How does that conflict with the idea of the soul?
Usually, the idea of the soul in Christian theology and apologetic discussions centers around the idea of free will. Are humans conscious creatures able to enact potentials? By potentials, I mean, something other than what currently is.
If a human is presented with an apple, is it their free will to choose or deny the apple, or is it their brain chemicals creating a perceived mirage of choice?
It gets even trickier because many Christian theologians don’t believe in free will but in divine determinism. Instead of being determined by brain chemicals, one is determined by the sovereign intervention of the Creator at every temporal moment.
One is left to ponder how the concept of divine determinism and the idea of a soul correlate.
The idea of divine determinism is often cited by said individuals to extrapolate upon a monergistic view of salvation. In short, it has nothing to do with the human but everything to do with God.
However, for the sake of the question. We will say that Christianity teaches the idea of free will, and, therefore, humans are more than mere brain matter that can actualize potentials beyond the chemical algorithm coded within their brains.
A.I. Have a Soul?
The question then becomes will A.I. ever have the ability to do things beyond what they are coded for? Will they be able to actualize things based on their own volition?
The obvious answer to that question would be, no.
It would be impossible for an A.I. to do something different than they were coded to do. Their actions might transcend what one could believe to be their coding, but in the end, it would be what they were programmed to do. It wouldn’t matter how advanced the action or decision would seem to be.
Therefore, the only way A.I. could have a soul is if we changed definitions. It would just be a word fight. If what you mean by soul is what is meant by a human agent with autonomy, then there would be no world in which A.I. would have such a thing.
They might have the perception of a soul, as stated above, many philosophers would see humans in a similar light, however, based upon the historical definition of the soul A.I. could never have one.
A.I., unlike what historical Christian theology believes about humans, would be a mere mash of encoded data and will always act following what the data prescribes.
The even more important point is that humans are not like A.I. They are volitional creatures that make conscious decisions because they have souls.