This is my latest article in Evangelicals Now – you can get the original here –
AI: Is it a gift of God or a tool of the Devil?
It is a fact of life that every major human invention is just a tool – which has the potential to be used for either good or evil.
The inventing of the printing press ensured the mass distribution of the Scriptures, and enabled the perversity of porn to spread throughout the whole of society. The internet enables me to share Christian teaching throughout the world; it also facilitates abuse and hate mail. It is little wonder that we view each new technological development with both a sense of anticipation and a sense of dread.
The latest is Artificial Intelligence (AI). In this article I want to offer some personal reflections on the use of AI, rather than an overview. For those who wish a better understanding and fuller introduction, from a Christian perspective, I would highly recommend John Lennox’s 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity.
But what is AI? According to Grok (X’s version of AI), “AI, or artificial intelligence, is generally understood as the ability of computers or robots to perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as reasoning and learning.”
Like many Terminator watchers, or perhaps those of a religious bent, looking for yet another mark of the Beast, I too was, and am, deeply suspicious of unleashing a force which, whilst it could bring great good, could also do untold harm.
So I decided to do some digging. Chat GPT, Google’s Gemini, and Amazon’s Alexa are the most-used systems, with Grok quickly catching up. The first thing that became apparent to me was that AI depends upon the bias and prejudices of the programmers. In an infamous incident, Google offered a picture of black Nazis. This happened because the AI was programmed to include diverse representations, even in contexts where it didn’t fit, like historical depictions. That’s how we ended up with female popes and some of the US founding fathers being black!
I found that Grok tends to be much less tilted towards the woke ideology so prevalent in the Californian media moguls. For example, when I asked Grok about my own blogsite, “the Wee Flea”, it came up with a generally accurate summary – although it did have some amusing mistakes. To be fair it corrected those when they were pointed out. But the bias is shown in the analysis – Grok suggested I might be too Christian for the general audience and therefore that would limit my “reach”. It suggests that my “traditional” (i.e. Christian) views on marriage and abortion are controversial – but it would never suggest that anyone who held a “progressive” view would be seen as controversial.
AI can be used in a positive way. As a search engine it is superb (but still flawed). In terms of analysis, it can offer one, or even several, perspectives – but these are still all based on flawed human ideologies and philosophies, not on the wisdom of Christ (see Colossians 2 for Paul’s warnings about this). And it is limited by the fact that it can only work with information that is public, and it can only analyse on the basis of the bias of its programmers.
I can see how a lazy minister could just type in “give me a sermon in the style of …… (insert your favourite preacher) on Hebrews 11” and you would end up with something half decent. But it would be soulless, spiritless and dishonest. However, plagiarism – passing off other’s work as your own – is nothing new. I’m reminded of the Free Church professor who on visiting a country church remarked to the preacher: “I thought it was excellent; at least it was the last time I preached it”. The preacher had lifted the professor’s sermon almost verbatim. Will we really offer to God that which costs us nothing? (2 Sam. 24:24).
And AI will never be able to do what the word of God does. AI is not alive and active, it is not sharper than any double-edged sword, nor does it penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; and it cannot judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb. 4:12).
In theory AI could mean that we need no more journalists, drivers, artists, writers, musicians, stockbrokers, lawyers and preachers. In reality that would be a disaster. Human beings are made in the image of God – computers never will be. We can use them as tools to glorify God, or to promote the Devil’s work. But at the end of the day our task remains exactly the same in the 21st century as it was in the first – we proclaim Christ “admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ…” (Col. 2:28). with all the energy that Christ so powerfully works in us (not computers). We need preachers, not programmers, to do that.
(This article was written with the aid of, but not by, Grok!)
David Robertson, is the minster of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church, Newcastle NSW and blogs at http://www.theweeflea.com
I find it a bit unnerving that sometimes it takes me longer to type a question on ChatGPT than it takes to answer. I think it’s worth the extra spadework to go to verifiable sources that include traceable origins.
You have not answered the question. Indeed, you respond in a style very similar to an AI tool…on one hand this, on the other hand that.
The question was answered…although I accept it was not answered to your satisfaction. I tend to find that most questions do not have simplistic yes and no binary answers. As I pointed out in the article AI is a human tool – which like all human tools can be used for good or evil…the fact that AI itself mimics a form of human arguing no more negates it, than the fact that it says that two and two is four means that basic arithmetic is negated….
Yes, I share your concerns about AI’s dangers. Perhaps all the more so because of well it isa able to access, order and in some sense assimilate the topic you have asked it to explore. I have put to ChatGPT various theological issues and on each case it has provided a fairly thorough and fitting answer. It seems to grasp where I am coming from and the kind of information I want. So far I have not detected a theological bias. It often gives a fair analysis reaching what I consider to be the right conclusions. This very ability makes it dangerous. (I find it a shortcut way to find verses, the perspective of writers etc. It functions as a verifier.)/
In the world of finance, AI models are making real-time decisions about investments, risk, and fraud detection. Financial analysts who complete an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy Course are equipped to understand and interpret these models critically. Strategic thinking ensures AI tools are used to enhance—not blindly dictate—financial decisions.