What Does AI Mean for Christians?
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AI (Artificial Intelligence – written as AI for the purpose of this article’s readability) is creeping steadily into our lives. On the morning this article began, Google announced a $300 million investment in Anthropic, a start-up AI company. Everyone, it seems, is jumping on the AI bandwagon. But to what end? What does AI mean to and for Christians?
Driverless cars (once all the bugs are worked out)
Speech recognition software (Extremely helpful for physically disabled persons)
Artificial limbs which respond to brain commands
Language translation via headsets
Banking (in our close-to-cashless world, the micro-management of AI is a benefit)
Robotic surgery (Minimally invasive, more precise, faster healing, and less chance of infection, usually)
For sheer convenience:
Automatic coffee makers (waking to the smell of coffee is a dream to lots of people)
Weather (computers help predict the percentages and flow of storms, etc.)
Robotic vacuum cleaners (a boon to homemakers)
Movies (AI aided graphics look real)
In 2019, a group of more than sixty evangelical leaders (The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission) released a declaration concerning Artificial Intelligence. The Gospel Coalition reports this document was generated to “equip the church with an ethical framework for thinking about this emergent technology.” The preamble of the document states, “As followers of Christ, we are called to engage the world around us with the unchanging gospel message of hope and reconciliation.”
As with anything we Christians engage, we submit to our biblical worldview first and foremost. Our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Everything (worship, evangelism, service, etc.) comes under the huge umbrella of what brings glory to God. AI does, too. We must carefully assess the benefits of AI according to the precepts of the Bible. Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 14:28, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” Jesus used a parable to speak about the cost of following Him. But which do we want, the approval of man or the pleasure of the Father? If an aspect of AI causes you to stumble (John 11:9), steer very clear of it. We have value and worth in the eyes of our Creator; consider the very fact we are made in His image.
God has given us incredible brains with which to think, emote, and reason. Do we shut down our brains and let AI take over? AI can be used for evil at worst and for our benefit at best. We must approach AI with our God-given wisdom because there are vast risks in its use — the greatest of which is to attempt to supplant God with an idol.
We are not only stewards of His creation, we are also His ambassadors; He is spreading His message through us (2 Corinthians 5:20). AI must be used by Christians “in accordance with His perfect will.” Only the Lord Jesus Christ can fulfill our ultimate needs. AI cannot and must not be placed in a position which promises that which can only be fulfilled in Jesus.
What’s our best use of AI? As Christians, we can use computers to write and disseminate the Gospel through myriad online venues! We thank God for a holy use of AI as we meet with believers all over the world via our computers. There are so many more good uses. I pray you avail yourself of them all, which were too many to include here.
In the end, human intelligence is wholly a gift of God. AI, while helpful in certain situations, often concerns itself with man’s attempt to usurp God’s design and twist it into his own. When we reach outside what God has ordained for man, we venture into the territory of the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).
The Bible tells us to, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).
Lord, help us in all wisdom as we navigate these dark days. Fill us with Your Spirit that we may walk in Him in obedience to Your call and commands. For it’s in Jesus name and for Your glory we pray. Amen.
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Photo credit: Pixabay/Gerd Altmann
