CHRISTIANS & AI: Why YOU Should Care About AI. What should YOU do? – S1 E3 | Part 1

Today, we’ll be exploring the new hype around AI, ChatGPT and why we as Christians should care about what’s going on in the Artificial Intelligence scene, and finally what we should do about it. As with almost every topic I’ll be covering on this show, this is a deep and vast subject. I cannot possibly talk about everything in this short episode. If there is anything specific you would like me to cover, please feel free to get in touch via social or email send an email.

 

AI is everywhere

Whether you are aware or not, Artificial intelligence AI is now involved in almost every aspect of our lives. It powers your phone, social media, traffic management, your email, google, online banking, Netflix and more. The advancement of this technology seems to be happening at an exponential rate. To the point that even those behind it are calling out and saying, “Erm guys, things are going too fast and we can’t keep up with safely regulating it.” For example, Elon Musk who was one of the co-founders and early investors in OpenAI which is the company behind what you know as ChatGPT signed a petition asking for the development of AI to slow down so that safety regulations could catch up. You could argue that he has his own personal motive but that’s not today’s topic.

AI seems to suddenly be everywhere. Kids are using ChatGPT for their school essays and there’s no doubt you’ve seen those surreal images generated by the likes of Midjourney. It also seems that in a bid not to get left behind, many businesses are forcefully trying to integrate AI into their business in one way or another.

I mean, dude, you’re a fisherman. What do you need AI for?

 

The idea of AI isn’t new

Although the concept and technology behind artificial intelligence have been around for quite a while. In an unhelpful way, the hype was also heavily magnified by Hollywood and its doomsday scenarios. In fact, personally, One of my earliest introductions to the whole artificial intelligence was via this Steven Speilberg movie from 2001 called Artificial Intelligence. Have you seen that movie? I don’t think many people have seen this movie, it doesn’t seem to be that popular. I watched it as a child and let’s just say, it had a memorable impact on me.

 

What is Generative AI?

So, why all the renewed focus on AI? The latest hype is due to something called generative AI. Which gained even more popularity when ChatGPT was released in November last year. So what is Generative AI? According to a quick Google search, “Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence system capable of generating text, images, or other media in response to prompts that it gets given. Examples of these are ChatGPT, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and many more. So, the way Generative AI works is by learning the patterns and structure of the training data it receives and then generating new similar data from this.

By the way, it’s worth mentioning something we all know which is that the best innovations don’t just appear overnight. Even the latest AI tech that they are letting everybody play with right now is already just a toy. They’ve already advanced way beyond this in their back room.

 

So, why should we as Christians care about AI?

Whether you are a Christian or not you’ll probably agree that things get very interesting when the big players and major companies of the world get serious about a cause and start pouring billions into it. When this happens, we need to pay attention. In 2021, the amount invested in AI was almost $100 billion. A recent study by PWC shows that AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030. Wowzer! You know that anything to do with Money and Power in this world, the devil is there waiting to maximise the opportunity and take advantage.

By the way, I don’t believe that all uses of AI will lead to evil. As with most technology, this is also being used for good. The question is, where do we draw the line? Because we need to be careful because even the bible says that the devil can transform himself into an angel of light. Can you imagine such a powerful tool in the hands of wicked human beings who have little regard for life? These are usually the same people who claim that a baby in the womb is just a clump of cells and has no value. When you dig deep enough, and I’m talking to the bottom, bottom, you’ll find that the people behind a lot of these tools are the same people who champion Eugenics and euthanasia.

So, I’ve got many reasons why I think Christians should care about what happens with AI. In this episode, I’ll be sharing with you just one. I’ll be sharing more in subsequent episodes so please make sure you are subscribed so you don’t miss it.

 

AI brings attention to major life questions that concern our worth as human beings.

And these are questions that only our creator God can answer. You’re probably thinking, huh? What’s the connection? Trust me, there is one. I’m talking about questions such as who designed us and for what purpose. What is the point of life? Who gets to define the value of each life? What makes us human? Like actually, what constitutes a human being? Can a robot be classed as a human being just because it’s able to carry out complex cognitive functions powered by AI in a way similar to a human being? In 2017, Saudi Arabia became the first country in the world to grant citizenship to a robot named Sophia. You can call it a publicity stunt if you wish. Sophia’s creator argued that he created it to speak out on women’s rights. Yes, people, a non-living thing with no sense of personhood or human dignity will teach us about women’s rights. It gets even darker, the robot apparently has more rights than real women in that same country.

 

AI is reductionist

We already know that the quest of those who deny God has always been to reduce human beings to their emotions, cognitive function, and bodily processes. This is how they were able to sell the whole concept of evolution to a lot of people. In fact, it makes sense to them that the next step in evolution is the merging of humans with machines using AI. I love this quote by the author of “The Age of AI”, Jason Thacker”. He said, “In our bid to humanise AI, we end up dehumanising ourselves”. This is what AI does. it reduces us down to those bodily functions and then tries to mimic us. But the thing is, it’s not real, it’s a simulated perversion.

Feel free to disagree with this but I believe that at the core of it, there’s something anti-human and nihilistic about AI.

Again, why should Christians care about the impact of AI on these major life questions? Because the answers that AI offers are in direct contradiction to what we believe as Christians. AI says we are just a bunch of atoms with extra computing power which means we can be easily replicated. I think this is dangerous because nothing truly matters if we don’t care about our true worth and value as human beings as defined by God. If we don’t care that a powerful and loving God created us in his image and likeness for his purpose and glory, what’s the point of life? Of course, a lot of people already don’t care or believe in God. I believe that AI will only seem to solidify their stance and give them more evidence that points them away from God. AI will bring stronger delusions. If we believe that we are of no divine worth, then the death of Jesus Christ, the shedding of his blood for our sins and our redemption, means absolutely nothing. I believe this is the direction AI will go. It will try to undermine our human hood on a major scale and a lot of people will fall for it.

 

My last point is, what should we as Christians be doing about AI?

I strongly believe that the number one thing is to pray like never before. Pray for God’s leading and strength for whatever is up ahead. We don’t really know how far this thing can or will go. We need to become deeply rooted in God and his word so that we don’t fall for whatever deception the devil is planning.

We also need to preach the gospel of Christ like never before so that others can also find their true worth in him and have hope and have eternal life. We need to continue to reach out to those surrounding us because let me tell you, AI is just another device Satan will try to use to harvest as many souls as possible.

 

As I said, there is so much more to share with you on this topic, so please make sure you are subscribed.