When you consider the massive wisdom of God and His abundant knowledge, we can recognize that we can rely on Him to guide us in the decisions we must make each day. Human knowledge and human inventions and innovations pale in comparison to the limitless knowledge - and intelligence - of Almighty God. Proverbs 1 (ESV) relates:
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
And, in the New Testament, in 1st Corinthians 2, we can read (ESV):
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The Bible directs us to seek and exercise Godly wisdom, and leads us to its source. Now, there is certainly a fascination these days with this “shiny object” called artificial intelligence, which is ultimately a creation of human wisdom, the wisdom of this world, that has grown in popularity. But, there is a cautionary aspect of these technological entities.
A new Lifeway Research article notes: “Both U.S. Protestant pastors and churchgoers have a mixed view of artificial intelligence, according to a Lifeway Research study. They aren’t completely opposed to it, but they have concerns about how AI is implemented and its potential influence on Christianity.
Regarding pastors, the survey shows only about 1-in-10 are using it, with about a-third “experimenting with it.” About a-fifth have a “wait and see” attitude. A similar number of pastors are avoiding it entirely; another fifth are ignoring it.
And, church attendees are expressing concern about AI, as well. The article says: “U.S. Protestant churchgoers find consensus in their AI concerns. Three in 5 (61%) say they’re concerned about the technology’s influence on Christianity. Fewer than 3 in 10 (28%) disagree, while 11% aren’t sure.”
Churchgoers are also split on whether or not a sermon should be prepared by pastors using AI as a help.
Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell says: “While both the availability and use of AI are spreading rapidly, several surveys have shown many Americans have concerns about it. Churchgoers are no exception as they think of its influence on Christianity,” said McConnell. “Just as every new technology requires some investigation to use it well, Christians have the opportunity to investigate AI’s uses biblically.”
Certainly, the use of AI raises so many issues, including matters of honesty and integrity - for instance, could a sermon we may hear online be considered legitimate if it was written using AI? Or, can an answer to a Bible question be accurate if we are asking a bot rather than going to a Biblical source?
We must carefully answer matters of the soul and spirit using spiritual wisdom, but can an AI entity really understand the deep matters of the heart? I think not.
But, I think there are some great benefits to using AI - it can certainly make for a more efficient creative experience and can help to shore up what we write. As we experience with so much, it seems, discernment is the key. But, we must be careful with allowing the technical to interface with the spiritual.