AI is the abbreviation for artificial intelligence. This movement has recently become extremely popular and a major topic of discussion. With the recent uprising of AI, it is important for Christians to know how to respond to AI. For many Christians, they might accept it, whereas other Christians might choose to reject it. When it comes to these topics, it is important to use the Bible as our main source as we make our decision surrounding the complex matter of AI.
What Does the Bible Say?
As you can imagine, there is nothing about AI in the Bible. AI wasn't an issue during biblical times. Even though the Bible doesn't say anything about AI doesn't mean it is silent on the ethical side of this issue. When we start talking about the ethical side of AI, we can quickly see that it is not ethical. Thousands of jobs will be eradicated with the further development of AI in society. This is not good as it can leave thousands of people without work. Without work, the person who lost their job to AI won't be able to make money, which means they will not be able to have food on the table for themselves or their families. As a writer myself, I am well aware that my job is in jeopardy as many AI products have been trained or are being trained to eradicate writers' jobs. While one can say AI will be able to have a greater knowledge of the subjects contained within articles because of how they are programmed, AI is not human and cannot relate to us on a human level.
Rather than connecting to the reader, AI writing tools can only give information without giving personal experience or making a personal connection to the reader. Not to mention allowing AI to write articles for various websites could cause readers to stop reading the articles being presented to them because they know it is written by a robot—not a human. AI cannot have personal experience or knowledge of the real world because it is not human. Humans can try to program them with human tendencies; however, at the end of the day, they are still robots without souls.
As in the case of writing and numerous other jobs in jeopardy of ending because of AI, the human connection will be lost. If you read an article about struggling with depression, anxiety, or OCD, an article written by AI will not be personal to you. Since AI is not human, there is no way it can relate to you. Moreover, if you need to read an article on relationship help or how to heal after someone hurts you, you will not be given the help you seek. Instead, you will be given the writing of an AI robot programmed by a human.
Ethics
AI is also unethical in the sense that it has already been used by many students in college to write papers for them. This is unethical because using AI to write your academic papers is cheating and plagiarism. For most schools, cheating and plagiarism can leave you being terminated from the school, and your degree will be taken away. It has become so bad that colleges have to use AI detective tools to prevent students from submitting papers written by AI, including ChatGPT.
There have also been reports of people using AI to create profiles on job accounts, dating sites, and even simply to send text messages to people. If AI created the resume, the bio on your dating app, or the text message you sent to someone, you are breaking the trust of others. By using AI, you are lying to others and are not taking the time to do these things yourself. Even though a person might still try to use AI to create papers, bios, or send messages, the person needs to know that, most likely, the company, your professor, or your loved one will know that it is not you who wrote the resume, paper, or message.
Playing God
AI can also be seen as unethical in the sense that it is causing humans to play God. AI is playing God in the sense that its developers have sought to give it humanistic tendencies. In other words, humans have been trying to be their own god for ages, and AI has given its developers the chance to play God in a real way. This isn't good, as mankind was never meant to be God or to be our own "gods." Returning to the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were equally guilty of desiring to be their own "god."
When the serpent tempts Eve, he says, "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). As we can see, the serpent, who was Satan, tempts Adam and Eve by telling them that if they eat of the forbidden fruit that they would be "like God." In other words, Satan tempted them to be their own god. This appealed to Eve, and she ate the fruit, then gave some to her husband, and the result was the fall of mankind.
As shown to us, trying to play God or to be our own "god" will only result in disaster. God never created us to be our own "god." Rather, He created us to follow, serve, and obey Him—the only true God. If we create, use, or are a part of AI, we denounce the one true God. Some may say this is extreme, but if we look at all the facets, we can ascertain that AI is not leading humanity in a good direction. Developers and creators of AI have even warned of the dangers accompanying further AI development.
How Should We Respond?
With this being said, how should Christians respond to AI? When it comes down to the decision, ultimately, each person must choose what they believe. Some Christians will see there is nothing wrong with AI, whereas others will completely turn away from AI. If we accurately recognize the dangers that come with AI, it is best for Christians not to support AI. Sadly, most electronic devices are adding on different AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, which can be hard to avoid.
For Christians, who don't want to participate in or endorse AI, myself included, we need to try to deactivate AI on our electronic devices and inform others of the ethical issues and future problems AI could cause for mankind. If you are a Christian, who doesn't necessarily see anything wrong with endorsing AI, I would still encourage you to be cautious, mindful, and weigh your options carefully. As something that tries to play God, Christians need to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).
At the end of the day, our allegiance always needs to remain with Christ. If we become obsessed with AI and it becomes the largest part of our life, we will have major problems. Even for those of us who choose to turn away from AI and advocate against it, we will still have to deal with the side effects of the world accepting AI. In these times, we need to turn to God in prayer and trust Him. There is much evil in the world, yet we never need to forget the amazing power and saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. AI might try to grow stronger; however, it will never be stronger or more powerful than God Himself.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Laurence Dutton
Vivian Bricker obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Ministry, followed by a Master of Arts with an emphasis in theology. She loves all things theology, mission work, and helping others learn about Jesus. Find more of her content at Cultivate: https://cultivatechristianity.wordpress.com/.