Random Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence
It was May 1993, and I had just graduated from Erskine College and moved back home. I remember unpacking my computer and finding the information for an unused free trial of something called “America Online.” Thus, I plunged into the world of the internet.
How the internet and the world have changed in the last 33 years. I remember the old dial-up connections. Back then, you would surf the internet while watching TV because pages took so long to load. In the last quarter century, the internet has changed the world as much as electricity, the automobile, the airplane, and many other twentieth-century inventions.
This year, I had a similar experience when I signed up for ChatGPT. This was my first foray into a true artificial intelligence (AI) platform. Like the internet, AI will transform our world. In fact, I believe it will transform our world more significantly than many of the great inventions of the twentieth century combined. I believe this because of the sheer power and speed AI brings to problem-solving, especially in information management. In the Information Age, AI is a tool that allows us to find information in seconds. The applications in medicine, defense, travel—and really almost every area of life—seem limitless.
The mixed response to AI is interesting. Many are embracing it as the future, while others are offering legitimate warnings and cautions about how it could go wrong. Think of the Terminator movies. In reality, we do not need a global conflict between humanity and the machines for AI to go wrong. There are many moral and ethical issues that must be addressed as AI continues to advance and its applications expand.
How should Christians approach AI? To be honest, I have more questions than answers at this point. It is interesting that the secular world often uses divine language to describe AI. That is how powerful AI is perceived to be. People compare it to the God they claim does not exist. Christians should be careful not to ascribe to AI language that should be reserved for the Lord alone.
The problem the world faces is that it does not know what to do with something perceived as smarter than man. When you deny God and make man the highest authority, what do you do with artificial intelligence that, in some ways, functions at a higher level than humans? Christians need to remember Psalm 8 and recognize that man is made lower than the heavenly beings—and so are our inventions. The Lord alone is perfect in power, wisdom, and knowledge. Not that we would worship AI directly, but we must not give it too high a place in our lives either.
Questions about the ethical use of AI are numerous. I work in higher education, and beyond undergraduates trying to use AI to write papers, there are many considerations regarding its use. It can be a powerful research tool, but even there it presents dangers. AI’s main flaw is that it was created, programmed, and trained using information provided by imperfect humans. As a result, its output, like any research source, must be carefully checked for accuracy.
One example is found in bibliographies. Some undergraduates have copied and pasted references directly from an AI platform, only to have their professors investigate these unfamiliar sources and discover that they do not exist. Professors are often well versed in the research and scholarship within their fields, making such errors easy to spot.
In teaching preaching, the use of AI presents some unique challenges. It can be a helpful tool for the preacher, especially in research, editing, and revision. However, preachers need to be particularly careful about the speed with which AI can assist them. Part of the sermon preparation process involves slowly examining the text, praying through it, and studying it carefully.
Another concern is what AI does to our sermon-writing process. Most of us would never give a passage to AI, say, “Write me a sermon from a Reformed and Evangelical viewpoint on this passage,” and then simply preach it. But where is the line?
Some will say we should not use it at all. Others will see value in its research and editing capabilities. Some may be comfortable running a finished sermon through an AI platform and asking it questions about the sermon, much as they might ask their spouse for feedback on a Saturday evening.
I am not sure exactly where the line should be drawn. Some uses are clearly inappropriate, while others could be genuinely helpful. However, preachers need to be aware of both the issues and the dangers before using these tools. We need thoughtful discussions about how AI can be used appropriately—and how it should not be used—in sermon preparation.
The key for me is to view AI as a tool, albeit an incredibly powerful one. Think about the inventions of the twentieth century and how powerful—and therefore potentially dangerous—they are. The use of electricity frightened many people as it became more prevalent. The splitting of the atom gave us access to tremendous stores of power, but it also produced the most powerful and devastating weapons the world has ever seen.
It is important that we understand both the tool and its power. I have told my children, as they were learning to drive, that a car is not a toy. It is a powerful, heavy machine that can cause great destruction if mishandled. AI is a new and powerful tool that must be used carefully, even when employed for good purposes and worthy ends.
The church needs to be examining the impact of AI on the world. Ethical issues are already before us, and they will only multiply as AI becomes more powerful and is applied to more aspects of everyday life. Even if you oppose AI in all its forms, this is not a time for the church to put its head in the sand. Rather, we must carefully examine this new technology and provide guidance, wisdom, and warnings to both the church and the world regarding the proper use of this powerful new tool.
