4 Perspectives on AI and God
This Sunday, my family and I will be celebrating Resurrection Day.
I’ve always been open about my faith in Jesus, but I haven’t shared much about how my faith affects my thoughts around AI.
If you’re already subscribed to the Anti-Generic Newsletter, you’ve heard my perspectives around how the widespread use of AI is affecting business and the economy. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so here.
But without considering the deeper moral issues around AI, any conversation we have about it will be incomplete.
So this week’s newsletter will fill you in on exactly where I stand when it comes to God, faith, and AI.
You are welcome here whether or not you agree with me. Nothing I share is meant to exclude anyone; quite the opposite. I believe we work best together when everyone is transparent and open about their beliefs and ideas.
Perspective 1: When humans try to become all-knowing, bad things happen.
If we go all the way back to the account of the Fall of Man in Genesis, what we find at the heart of the story is man’s desire to be like God, to know everything that God knows.
And I see that same mentality in certain AI tech titans. They want to develop a tool that is smarter than humans and holds superior intelligence. One could make an effective argument that they are looking to create a God-like tool.
Sam Altman, the CEO and Co-founder of OpenAI, recently stated that his children will “never be smarter than AI.” Source. Altman frames this as a positive thing, where our own children will look back on current times as “pre-historic.” When we have a group of ultra-wealthy individuals at the top of society actively trying to create something that is smarter than any human, that feels to me like humans trying to play God.
It didn’t pan out well in the Garden of Eden, and I think there will be many, many adverse consequences should we continue down the path of growing AI with the particular set of leaders who are at the top of it now.
Humans were never created to be all-knowing. We were created to be dependent on God. When we try to deny that, we suffer.
Perspective 2: God is sovereign, and He has a purpose for allowing AI to be developed.
I turn 46 years old tomorrow, and one thing I’ve learned to accept is that I will never fully understand the wisdom of God.
What I do know is that I can take Him at His word.
Numerous times in the Bible, God allowed things to happen that would be nearly impossible to understand from a human perspective.
For example, the entire book of Job shows Job as someone who is faithful to God. Yet God allows Satan to test Job. Job loses almost everything (his home, his family, his friends, his health), but his faith in God does not waver. And God ultimately restores more than what Job lost.
Why was a faithful man allowed to go through such horrific testing?
I will never understand it via my human brain. And I’m okay with that. I accept that God’s wisdom is deeper than my own, and I have a peace that He is weaving a righteous plan together for all believers (see Romans 8:28).
I see many problems inherent with the rise of AI (massive job loss, parasocial relationships that have already resulted in death, lies being touted as truth) . . .
But despite all of these problems, I know that God has a purpose for allowing this technology to be developed right now, in this time, in this way.
I may not fully understand it, and that’s okay.
My purpose and my obligation is to trust Him to lead me around how to use it with discernment and how to teach it in a way that honors Him.
Perspective 3: We have more influence from inside the system.
There are some faith-based business owners and executives who just want to bury their heads in the sand and pretend like AI will go away on its own.
They don’t want to have anything to do with it.
But time and time again throughout the Bible, we see that some of the greatest most prolific changes to society were made when believers worked inside the systems that were oppressing them.
For example, Esther was only able to save the Jews as the wife of King Ahasuerus. She had to gain the access to power to be able to make a real impact in the lives of an entire nation of people.
Daniel, too, worked from the inside. He was a part of the royal court — yet he still made requests to honor his faith, to be allowed to eat as God would have him eat. He proved that God’s way was the best way, as he grew stronger and healthier by following the dietary rules of God’s people instead of eating the rich food at court. And in so doing, he showed the wisdom of God’s plan.
Even Moses was raised by Pharoah’s daughter. He had to have a place inside Egyptian royalty in order to lead the Jews out of Egypt.
If believers want to make any sort of positive impact around the results of AI in modern society, we need to understand it as a tool. We need to be able to use it as well as, or even better than, those who do not follow Jesus and who are currently setting policies and parameters around these tools.
Perspective 4: We do not need to fear AI.
God is abundantly clear that believers do not need to fear anything but God himself (and that fear is to be a HOLY fear).
We are not to be afraid of other people, of change, of financial policies, or of technology.
My life verse is Romans 8:31:
“What then, shall we say in response to this, my brothers? If God be for us, who can be against us?”
I take that verse to heart.
We’re not called to fear AI.
If you are a believer, you are called to serve God in ALL you do.
Work is a form of worship.
And if your work touches realms that AI touches, I believe it’s your responsibility to understand it and use it according to the discernment God gives you.
A Final Note
A person I very much respect in business told me that if I were to share about Jesus within this newsletter, it would be like “an F-bomb” to some people.
I believe this person was well-intentioned and genuinely trying to help me.
But God didn’t give me a platform to deny that He is the only reason I have a business.
Jesus is the only reason I can feel secure in my work, and in my life.
So this will not be the last time you’ll hear the word Jesus cross my lips.
I welcome people of all faiths to subscribe to this newsletter. And my promise to you is that I will always be sincere and transparent about mine.
As always, I am wishing you great success.
Anna
P.S. Which of these perspectives resonated most with you? Or is your viewpoint totally different? Send me an email and let me know. I read every response.