A Christian Look at Artificial Intelligence

As I Was Saying is a forum for a variety of perspectives to foster faith-related conversations among our readers with the goal of mutual learning, even in disagreement. Apart from articles written by editorial staff, these perspectives do not necessarily reflect the views of The Banner.

Recently, I took a ride in a Waymo car through the streets of Los Angeles. Waymo is a self-driving car service operated by Google, in which a person uses an app to summon a vehicle that transports riders through the streets of 10 U.S. cities, all without a driver. This trip was surprisingly comfortable—the music paired to my Spotify account, and the temperature settings were preset to my personal preferences when the car arrived. At no point did I ever feel unsafe—the car stopped for trains, avoided pedestrians, and pulled over for emergency vehicles. Waymo isn’t perfect of course—well-known incidents of Waymo’s flaws have included cars that stopped in the middle of intersections during a power outage, and cars passing stopped school buses. Still, indications after 127 million miles are very encouraging, with traffic accidents involving Waymo cars down by as much as 90%.

The advent of driverless cars got me thinking about the role that artificial intelligence plays in our lives—and specifically, what role it should play in our lives as Christians. Artificial intelligence is pervasive in our daily lives, in ways that we are not even aware of. When you reach out to customer support online, you are chatting with an AI bot. College students use Chat GPT to summarize lengthy books, or in some cases, to write their papers for them (much to the chagrin of their professors). Solomon Ray is a Mississippi-born soul musician with numerous chart-topping hits enjoyed by over a half-million of his monthly listeners on Spotify. Yet he lacks a soul, because he too is AI generated.

What’s more is that people are turning to AI technology not only for tasks traditionally performed by humans, but also for the relationships that once were solely in the domain of humans. Couples have turned to Chat GPT for relationship counseling, and singles have turned to AI for relationships. Some studies suggest that over 50% of American adults have had “some kind” of relationship with an AI platform (such as Amazon’s Alexa, Chat GPT, or X’s Grok), and as many as 30% have pursued an intimate or romantic relationship with an AI tool.

AI and Preaching

This raises another question: can AI technology help us spiritually? As I sat in a Starbucks on a Saturday afternoon, with Sunday morning—and its requisite preaching responsibilities—just a few hours away, I wondered if AI might be useful in doing the heavy lifting of sermon preparation. I typed in a prompt to Chat GPT, expressing my concern that Sunday was just a few hours away, and I was desperate for a sermon. I asked it to prepare an expository sermon that was Reformed in its perspective and Christ-centered, with real-world application to a variety of backgrounds, using the text that I was planning to use for my message. The AI bot must have picked up on my stress level, as it was quick to reassure me, “Take a breath, you’ve got this,” before generating a four-point sermon exactly as requested in less than a minute.

When I read through the manuscript that it had conjured up, I was surprised to find that it was pretty good, at least as far as exegesis and application are concerned. The sermon flowed well and consisted of an explanation of 2 Peter 1 that was rooted in the biblical text and had several thoughtful applications. The tone and cadence sounded like something Rob Bell might have preached in the early 2000s. Ending on a reassuring note, the Chat-bot promised me (with the praying hands emoji) that it was “praying that it lands with power tomorrow.”

AI and Faith

Should pastors use AI to help them write their sermons? Might Christians seek spiritual guidance from Chat GPT or Amazon Alexa? Is dating AI a viable option for lonely singles?

How should Christians make use of AI technology in their work, home, or social lives? This is the critical question facing believers today.

To answer this question, consider for a moment what my experience with AI reveals about the limits of AI technology. When the sermon was presented to me, AI promised me that if I was unsatisfied with the final form of the sermon, I could ask for some modifications, including the inclusion of “personal illustrations.” I was intrigued (and a bit unsettled!) by this possibility; how could AI add personal illustrations without knowing me? Indeed, it could not, but when I asked it to do so, Chat GPT had no qualms about adding in made-up stories, told in first-person, as though they had happened to me. Had I preached the sermon as suggested, my sermon would have included a lie.

But there is a more fundamental problem in play. The process of creating a sermon by asking a chatbot assumes that a sermon is primarily information transfer. AI can scour terabytes of data spread far and wide across the internet, sort out what is relevant, organize it in a cogent form, and then present it in a compelling fashion. If the illustrations aren’t technically truthful, they still illustrate the relevant data, and as far as AI is concerned, that’s all that matters.

However, biblical preaching isn’t mere information transfer. A good sermon is at least the gathering of information (understanding how the language, grammar, and context of a text all work together to form the meaning of a passage) and it certainly includes thoughtful application, but a powerful message also arises from the way a sermon goes to work in the life of a pastor first. The best sermons are those that have first shaped a preacher, who then communicates—however imperfectly—that message to the church. This means the sermon might end up sounding less polished and less rhetorically impressive than an AI-generated sermon, but it is far superior to anything Chat GPT can fashion, even with billions of terabytes of information at its disposal. Additionally, good sermons require wisdom in knowing how to apply a principle to a specific people in a particular time and place.

AI and Relationships

The same principle applies to relationships, whether they be friendships, dating relationships, marriages, or relationships within the body of Christ. An AI chatbot can analyze a series of text messages between a boyfriend and girlfriend and identify relationship dynamics (healthy or unhealthy) and can offer advice on how to better communicate with one another. But relationships, like preaching, are meant to be embodied.

As image-bearers of God, we are embodied souls with longings and desires, with preferences, and convictions. He created us to know and to be known—at the same time one of our greatest longings and deepest fears. To be known is not merely to have information about me revealed, but more, it is to be seen in all my imperfections and weaknesses, and still loved. True intimacy happens in the context of a fallen world too—and that means authentic intimacy includes putting up with the shortcomings in another person (as they do with us) and resolving through the conflicts that inevitably arise such that we are sharpened in the process. Without a soul, AI cannot now, nor ever, fashion a connection that resembles human relationship.

Servant vs. Master

So as a follower of Jesus, where does automated technology fit in your life? In short, AI has the potential to be an excellent servant, but a terrible master. What does that look like? For starters, two biblical principles can serve as guardrails at opposite poles.

First, we need not eschew the use of AI technology out of hand. Woven into the cultural mandate of Genesis 1:28 is the principle of cultivating creation—drawing out the potential of the world in innovative ways, all to the glory of God. Rejection of technology simply because it’s new or unfamiliar need not be our stance.

AI technology could be implemented (and indeed it already is implemented in your life, even if you are not fully aware of it) for tasks that can be simplified or improved with automated technology. I’ve used Chat GPT, for example, to create summaries of books that I’ve read. Generative AI can be used well for problem solving, or for teaching us skills that we might not otherwise have. AI could be used to brainstorm solutions to problems or challenges that you might encounter in your work. It might be implemented to help clarify writing or to explain how to perform tasks around the house.

But as with all tools, it’s important to be discerning. Is your use of AI a way of being lazy, or is it helping you do something you otherwise couldn’t do on your own? Are you being upfront about how you are using AI technology in your work, or are you claiming credit for what AI did for you?

At the same time, we are foolish to adopt a posture that AI technology can be our salvation. It’s not uncommon to hear tech companies and tech moguls make claims that they or their company can save the world through their innovation. The Psalmist reminds us that the idols made by human hands might have eyes, ears, hands, and mouths, but they cannot save us (Ps. 115:4-8), and woe to us who trust them to solve the deepest problems of the human condition. A failure to discern the limits of AI technology, adopting it uncritically as the solution to all problems, is sure to lead to problems.

No Soul

This brings me to a less obvious but equally important principle: AI is not made in the image of God, and AI does not have a soul, and we should not use it to function in ways that require either of these. Since chatbots and AI offer only a cheap counterfeit for genuine relationships, it is unwise to turn to AI as a substitute for relationships. If you are tempted to use technology for friendship, romantic relationships, or even a counseling relationship, consider where you might seek out authentic human relationships instead.

The church is meant to be a place where we experience community. Rather than turn to AI for counseling, might you seek guidance from your pastor? A trained counselor? A mentor couple? Furthermore, relationships challenge us to grow by requiring us to confront our own faults, while accepting the shortcomings in others. They demand that we address conflict with others in a way that is redemptive and healing. They provide physical connection that no computer can.

Further, AI should not function as a replacement for creative work. It would be better to produce a creative work of mediocre quality—whether that be a sermon or a song—that is your own than to use AI to create an artistic work that seems better. Whether writing a paper, designing visual art, or composing music, AI lacks the soul that is at the root of good artistic work.

There is no going back from the introduction of AI technology, particularly generative AI. We need not reject the use of automated technology out of hand, since it can help us to do what we might otherwise be unable to do. Yet as we look for ways to make use of technology, let’s be wise and discerning in how we implement AI into our daily lives.