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As I type this, there is an Asian man eating noodles and staring at me. It’s unsettling, but not because a stranger’s stare makes me uncomfortable.
This man is completely artificial. He doesn’t exist except as a collection of pixels and bytes on my laptop, but I can’t tell that by looking at him. My senses tell me I’m looking at a recorded video of something that happened in the real world. He — or rather, it — is the product of computer-based artificial intelligence (AI), and as of this writing, represents a new threshold in the technology’s ability to produce realistic content.
In fact, AI tech has gotten so good, you’d be hard-pressed to discern whether the article you’re reading right now came from the mind of a human being or was produced using a few prompts and a chatbot. GenAI — that is, artificial intelligence with the ability to generate content like images, audio, video, or text — has the power to blur the lines between what’s real and what’s make-believe. Purveyors of the technology tell us it will solve many of society’s difficult problems.
It’s a powerful tool to be sure, but right now it’s not exactly clear if GenAI will help humanity or if it will be used to oppress people on a scale heretofore unseen. I keep looking around for Ian Malcolm, Jeff Goldblum’s character from “Jurassic Park,” to say, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
From Babel to the bots
The Bible is an ancient book. There are no cars, computers, or cell phones — and certainly no artificial intelligence. You might think it has little if anything to say about how (or how not to) adopt a new technology. However, the early chapters of Genesis contain a true and tragic story about a technological advancement that changed history forever: the baked brick.
You probably know the story. In the plain of Shinar, the people tried to use the new brick to build “a tower with its top in the heavens.” It would be a place where heaven and earth came together, just as Eden had been. The tower of Babel wasn’t just an audacious building project; it was an attempt to return to paradise apart from the Lord. And though God had told humanity to “fill the earth,” the brick allowed the people to build high and wide, so they could ignore God’s command and instead settle down (see Genesis 11:4).
To us, the heated mud brick seems a practical but harmless invention. But as basic as it was, in the hands of sinful human beings it held the potential to keep men and women from the life God created them to live. Artificial intelligence, though infinitely more complex than a brick, holds the same peril. Though no one is saying AI will open up a way back to Eden, some have gone so far as to suggest AI could become a new digital god.
The truth is, nearly every new discovery or invention is itself morally neutral. It’s how we use it that matters. And for every advancement, there’s a tradeoff to consider; it’s up to us to decide whether the bargain is worth it. Before cars, travel was slow and time-consuming, but people walked more and fewer suffered from obesity. Before mobile phones and social media, we didn’t have the world at our fingertips, but we also didn’t have rising depression and suicide rates, especially among teens. You get the idea. As we stand at the dawn of the age of AI, we can take a moment to decide how — or even if — we should adopt this new technology.
It’s important to remember that our purpose in life is not to go with the flow but to walk in step with God. After all, “our citizenship is in heaven,” and we are meant to be “ambassadors for Christ.” We’re not supposed to be at home here. Our values and our priorities are supposed to reflect the kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of this world. Therefore, our approach to AI should be aligned with our blood-bought identity as God’s children, not the latest talking points from Silicon Valley.
The A in AI
The opening chapters of Genesis introduce us to God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Everything that was or is or ever will be — it’s all His. He thought it up, brought it into being, governs and sustains it. Reality belongs to God, and He created it so that we would flourish in it. In other words, we were made for that which is real.
You’ve probably discovered that the best things in life are real. Homegrown food is better than the processed alternative. Authentic relationships are better than phony ones. Live music made with real instruments is better than the fabricated stuff. We know this deep down; our hearts crave things that are real. And yet we are constantly seduced by artificial junk.
It’s been this way since the garden. The serpent posited a world where Adam and Eve could know good and evil and be like God. The devil’s temptation was really a subtle invitation to an alternate reality, one our first parents could create for themselves, independent of their Maker. This seduction continues today with fantasies born of pornography, the false promises of wealth and fame, and the seduction of worldly power. What do all these alternate realities have in common? They put us in control. But this is God’s creation; He is in control. We only find God’s perfect rhythm for our lives when we submit to His good rule.
Now consider GenAI. It promises to put each one of us in control so that we can create whatever we want in an instant. It’s echoing Satan’s garden lie: “you will be like God.” As it is today, modern life runs roughshod over God’s created rhythms, and plenty of us find ourselves burnt out, exhausted, and wondering when we lost the plot. Sadly, some have even discovered they’ve become too busy to follow Jesus the way they’d initially set out to. Because the world of AI is so big, practically infinite in its capacity, the potential for its use to pull us further out of sync with heaven’s song is immense. The more we allow the machines of this world into our lives, the more difficult it will be to step away.
Robbed of our birthright
Since God is a Creator and we were made in His image, we too are creators. It’s in our DNA. We won’t all be sculptors or playwrights, mind you, but we all have a God-given calling to make or improve things. This penchant isn’t limited to certain professions or personality types. Every last one of us is a creative. It’s part of what it means to be human. I would even say it’s our birthright as God’s offspring.
GenAI, however, can step in and do the creating for us. All it needs is the right prompt, and voila! — an essay on the migratory patterns of humpback whales in the style of C. S. Lewis, or a digital facsimile of a new Beatles song, or even a video of an Asian man calculatedly eating noodles.
Sure, it’s easy. But easy is never the point of creativity. There is joy in the struggle, and we sharpen our skills as we try and try again. We become masters of our craft as we practice it over years and decades. But if GenAI means no one must do the work anymore, we’re in danger of giving up a piece of our humanity. Like Esau, who traded his birthright for a bowl of stew, we’re about to trade ours for a bowl of easy. It wasn’t a good deal for Esau, and it isn’t a good deal for us.
I realize there are some who will accuse me of only looking at the negative aspects of AI. If I am, it’s only because there has been so little critical thinking on the subject, especially from the church. To be fair, AI has plenty of life-giving applications. In recent years, Bible translation has been given a shot in the arm by the technology, speeding our mission to reach every last people group on the planet with the Word of God. People living with disabilities have been helped by the technology as well. For example, dozens of quadriplegics are piloting an AI-based wheelchair that moves based on facial expressions. AI is being used to conduct complex medical research and also to crack down on human trafficking.
These are wonderful developments, and we should stand up and applaud them. However, there is a big difference between the careful, targeted application of a new technology and widespread proliferation without caution. What’s a blessing in one area may be a curse in another.
Silicon Valley isn’t asking our permission to put AI into, well, just about everything. But you and I still get to choose how and when we’ll use it. So let’s be sure to ask some good, soul-stirring questions before we partake. Here are a few suggestions:
- Will this help me draw closer to the Lord or will it pull me away from Him?
- Will this help me to keep in step with the rhythms of life God has prescribed for His children?
- Will this help me to love my neighbor?
- Will this bring about greater human flourishing?
Solomon once wrote, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). AI seems new, but in truth it’s just another brick in Babel’s tower. No matter how powerful the technology, it will not change the most important thing about the human condition: We were made for life with God. In His presence is reality at its most potent. Don’t let AI or anything else this world has to offer distract you from it.
Copyright 2024 John Greco. All rights reserved.
