Download the AI for Christians—Navigating new ethical waters
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When you hear the term “AI,” what immediately comes to mind? Do you think of opportunities or threats? Do you think of new technologies that will launch humanity forward, or do you think of an ominous future like in Terminator movies?
From simple voice searches on our mobile devices to driverless cars, artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming an important part of our daily lives. More specifically, the kind of AI that has taken the world by storm most recently is called “generative AI,” which is artificial intelligence that is designed to create content rather than just sort or organize it, as many AI tools have been used in the past.
Some are eager to see how this new advancement in AI can help humanity move forward; more are skeptical. Studies show that Americans are more concerned than excited about the impact of AI on our lives. As with any major, novel technological advancement, it’s important for Christians to think about these new developments in AI technology and its applications to our lives and ministry.
Throughout church history, Christians have excelled at using new technologies for the spread of the gospel and the good of God’s kingdom. The early church used the highly advanced Roman Roads to take the gospel far and wide. Of course some of the earliest and most widespread uses of the printing press were for Christian texts. And even more recently, world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham used radio and television in some trailblazing ways.
Our present wave of AI advancement and its effects are far too wide-ranging to effectively cover in a single blog post, however, we’ll do our best to conduct a brief flyover of the technology and how we might think about it as Christians.
As we consider advancements in AI and how novel artificial intelligence may invade our daily lives and change our world forever, perhaps the most prevalent concern is maintaining human dignity and remembering the value of the imago dei in all humans.
The core of so much of AI technology is replacing humans in some form or fashion. The artificial intelligence of spell check helps reduce the need for editors, or at least the number of hours an editor has to spend proofreading a piece of writing. The AI behind self-checkouts at grocery stores reduces the need for so many cashiers.
Given that human replacement for the sake of efficiency (of time or money or both) is one of the chief uses of AI should concern Christians. What effect does it have on people’s dignity to have their job taken by some form of AI? How might churches prepare themselves to serve people in their communities who lose their jobs due to AI technologies? Perhaps modern churches who face these situations can learn from churches in factory communities who have experienced similar situations in the past.
Concerning the matter of generative AI—the newest and most intriguing form of artificial intelligence in which AI has shown its ability to pass complicated tests, write music, or even create visual art—what are Christians to make of this sort of technology? With tools like ChatGPT or Midjourney, as an example, human “drivers” can write prompts that lead AI to express itself artistically, pass tests like the Bar exam, or other such feats that formerly could only be achieved by gifted humans. Christian understandings of the imago dei and our special place as God’s image-bearers should give us pause as we see AI beginning to, for lack of a better term, infringe on activities that were once uniquely human.
Further questions abound like:
These three questions are just a few of the many considerations worth serious Christian thought. And the questions don’t stop with our values. What do we do with AI in regard to our Christian ethics?
Without a doubt, one of the most important topics for Christians to consider when thinking about our AI future is how this evolving technology impacts our ethics as Christians. While we are not saved by our works, how we live our lives matters. We ought to reflect the love of Jesus and the holiness of God in every part of our lives. We should manage our money in accordance with Christian ethics. We need to parent our children with Christian ethics in mind. And we need to evaluate our relationship with any kind of technology through the lens of our Christian ethics as well.
This short article is not the place to conduct an overview of Christian ethics or even all of the different ethical considerations around AI, but we would be wise to review some ethical concerns we should have as Christians when it comes to AI.
The increasing prevalence of AI and always-online devices in general should raise concerns about privacy and data security. Some statistics show that half of American phone users use voice search every single day. Without getting too technical, it is important for us to know how the data we input in our phones—via voice or otherwise—is being used and how it could compromise important parts of our identity. The reality is that laws and regulations to protect consumers lag pretty far behind the technologies that companies use to harvest and sell user data.
This should concern us as Christians not because the Bible talks about data privacy and security, but because technology users are being treated as rich wells of oil to be tapped for lucrative personal data instead of image bearers worthy of dignity and privacy. This should be seen as antithetical to the Christian belief that every person is created in the image of God and worthy to be treated as such.
Another ethical issue around the use of AI is related to how it can be abused in government systems, especially within justice systems around the United States and the world. To put it simply, artificial intelligence can only be trained on data that already exists.
In the last decade or so, as powerful AI and algorithms have increasingly been used in all kinds of government and justice systems, a lot of research has shown that algorithms and other kinds of AI are inherently biased against different groups of people based on race, religion, income, class, etc. These AI tools are trained using text or data that is biased in some way and it, therefore, perpetuates that bias in how it is deployed.
The scary part about bias in algorithms and AI is that a lot of people really aren’t sure of the best way to handle these issues. This should concern Christians for an obvious reason, and it is much like the concern around privacy: when we deploy AI tools that are biased against certain groups of people, we deny the image of God in those people and treat them as less than human.
No matter how “convenient” AI may be, or how much more “efficient” it may make us, Christians must never stand for technologies that sacrifice human dignity and the imago dei for ease of life or massive profits.
Those two ethical issues are just a couple of the many ethical issues Christians should consider as they engage with AI tools or talk about AI with friends and colleagues. It is good for us as Christians to figure out new ways to use novel technologies for the good of God’s kingdom, but it is foolish of us to not scrutinize these technologies.
When I have had conversations with Christian leaders—whether pastors or leaders of nonprofits—about AI and ministry, the sentiment around using AI for Christian ministry tends to settle around one of two ends of a spectrum.
Some Christian leaders I speak with are extremely excited about the opportunities AI presents and eager to see how artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, could support and enhance Christian ministry. On the other end of the spectrum, some Christian leaders think the simple idea of using AI in Christian ministry is an abomination and unethical on its face, without even naming examples of how it is inherently bad.
I find myself in between these two ends of the “AI hype-or-hate” spectrum. I think there are probably some ways that Christian churches and nonprofits could use AI in ways that allow rote, mundane administrative tasks to be accomplished more efficiently so that staff time could be spent on more hands-on ministry matters.
At the same time, it is important for Christian leaders to consider all of the possible concerns and ethical issues that have been explored in this article. Even if AI tools are free or cheap, there may be hidden costs for users regarding data privacy and other such issues.
Generally speaking, regarding artificial intelligence (or frankly any other emerging, novel technology like it), I promote the idea that Christians should intentionally engage these technologies rather than uncritically embracing or passively ignoring them. Christian leaders should look at something like the emerging AI revolution and engage it with intentionality and discernment rather than just assuming it’s going to be an amazing boon for ministry or assuming it has no ministry relevance at all.
Likewise, insofar as Christian leaders have the opportunity to engage with their communities around AI and its related developments, we should help others see the possible threats AI poses to human dignity and how it could hinder justice. At the same time, we should be careful not to be fearmongers, preaching against AI at the cost of sharing the gospel.
For obvious reasons—because of all of the concerns explored above—Christian organizations, churches, and Christians generally may be hesitant to embrace the advanced AI technologies that have begun to flood news headlines. This is good! Christians would be wise to not uncritically embrace such transformative technologies without concern or skepticism.
At the same time, Christians shouldn’t fear AI and its implications on our lives and ministry. Not only would fearing AI demonstrate a lack of trust that God is sovereign over it, but it may also make us miss out on opportunities to use AI in ethical ways that could streamline mundane tasks and free up ministry time for more intentional gospel conversations and service.
As we move into this ever-evolving future of AI and its integration with our everyday lives, we would be wise to not totally embrace or totally expel AI from our ministry work. Wholesale endorsement or rejection is not the answer. Rather, we should seek out people far smarter than ourselves—trustworthy Christians who share our values and ethics—and learn from them and how they understand these new technologies and how Christians should or should not engage them.
Christians are not alone in their walks with the Lord, and our call to be in community with one another should extend to our attempts at understanding AI and its effects on our lives and ministry. We don’t need to navigate these waters alone. We can try to help one another.
Human ingenuity is truly incredible, isn’t it? As much as there is to be concerned about when it comes to artificial intelligence and its countless, unpredictable implications, it is remarkable to think about the countless hours of human handiwork that has had to be invested to even get us to this moment.
While I am personally quite concerned about many of the implications of AI on our world, especially the implications of generative AI technologies, I am hopeful that there are at least some ways that we will find AI to be used for good. While it is easy to only grow more and more anxious about AI because of all of the ways people use it for ill—from cheating on homework to deceiving millions of people with deep fake videos—perhaps we should pray for God to remind us of his sovereignty over AI and all kinds of other technologies we don’t understand.
God is not surprised about our current technological moment, and he is not afraid. So perhaps we shouldn’t be. Amid our concerns and our optimism, let us keep our minds on the things of God and do all we can to share the hope of the gospel.
