Technology and Theology: Should Christians fear A.I.?

Thank you for your question. As with most things this side of glory things, or tools, may be used for good or evil.

Do you use your fingerprint or Face ID to open your smartphone? That’s A.I. Do you use navigation technology in your vehicle? That’s A.I. Do you use spellcheck to write an email? That’s A.I. Whether we know it or not we use A.I. far more than what we think!

Artificial intelligence (or, A.I.) is a growing field of study within the field of computer science. It essentially concerns designing systems that may think, act, and respond like human-beings. Realism is one of it’s goals.

The Good

Artificial Intelligence can be used for very good purposes. It’s a tool that may be used for good, moral, and godly purposes. Such tools are gifts from God, a form of common grace.

For instance, using A.I. one may access knowledge and answers very quickly. Somewhat like the Gutenberg Press in Luther’s day used to spread the truths of the Gospel during the Protestant Reformation, today A.I. may be used to spread the gospel across the globe. Come, Lord Jesus!

The Bad

On the other hand, A.I. may be used for bad purposes. I’ve seen A.I. images of the Pope with prostitutes. It was a lie! Artificial Intelligence may be used to spread false information, such as a well-known pastor spreading heresy. It looks and sounds like the pastor, but it’s really only another believable A.I. lie!

It can be used in a bad way for politics, in criminal enterprises, or on social media platforms to influence the masses. It may be used to steal the truth and sow destruction in the wake of it’s path (John 10:10).

The Ugly

Not being able to discern truth from fiction, A.I. can get ugly very, very fast. Generative Artificial Intelligence, or Gen. A.I., is a growing field. It uses computers to generate new content; including, audio, images, texts, video, etc. Some Gen. A.I. is so refined at generating new content that it’s often indistinguishable from genuine human generated content.

This is seen often on social media. Who are the truth checkers? Where do truth checkers obtain their information? A.I.? Is that real information, or fake, or a mixture of both?

The news spreads at the speed of light in our age. In some cases whoever gets the first A.I. “lie” posted may be the one believed by the masses. So, not only individuals but the whole world may be manipulated by A.I. (cf. 2 Thess. 2:11). Think for a moment about all the untruths posted on FaceBook during COVID-19.

God is Sovereign

This said, A.I. couldn’t exist if not for and by God’s holy divine purposes set down in eternity past (Isa. 46:10; Eph. 1:11). Though the Christian should be cautious where they receive and how they distribute information (Heb. 12:1-2), they should not fear A.I. (Isa. 41:10). Matthew 10:28 states, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Even with all of the destructive uses of A.I. today, God is still in control.

Wisdom

As the Parable of the Two Builders in Matthew 7:24-29 illustrates, wise Christians should build their faith on a solid foundation and not rest upon the ever changing fields of the sands of science. It’s not time for Christians to change the meaning of the text of Scripture because of A.I. may illustrate such. It’s rather time to dig deeper into the very foundations - every morsel of truth - upon which their faith is built; that is the unchanging truth found in the very Word of God.

A.I. isn’t the Gospel. It’s not God. It may be able to mimic our voices and even present false images of us doing or saying things, but it can’t raise one from the dead (1 Cor. 15:51-59). Oh, Gen. A.I. may be able to fake a death and resurrection, but it’s not capable of forming real truth since there is no truth in it’s lies.

The Christian must be cautious in this day and age as the ruler of this world (John 12:31), the god this age (2 Cor. 4:4), the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2), and the thief who comes but to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) walks around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may destroy (1 Pet. 5:8). Therefore, we shouldn’t be ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11; 2 Tim. 3:12-13), but rather stand strong in the complete armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18) understanding the reality of the true Gospel in Christ! We must continue to study to show ourselves approved before Almighty God (2 Tim. 2:15-16; 3:14-17). Weigh the content of A.I. by Scripture alone. Check and double check all general revelation against unchanging special revelation and then walk and talk according to the Spirit.