- The Christian AI Watch
- Posts
- CAIW Newsletter 6.10.25
CAIW Newsletter 6.10.25
Frank Reed
June 10, 2025
The Christian AI Watch
A quick look at this week’s stuff found while on watch
FAITH - One Christian Organization Is Calling for Use of Redemptive AI
PRIVACY - OpenAI Fights Court Decision to Mandate Saving of ALL Chat GPT Chatlogs
WARNING - John Lennox Warns of AI Dangers
AI NEWS TO WATCH
CHRISTIAN AI THOUGHT LEADER TO FOLLOW - Jason Thacker
PLEASE BE SURE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY AT THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER!
FAITH
Can AI Be Redemptive?
The National Religious Broadcasters website featured an article entitled “Redemptive AI: How Christians Can Lead the Tech Revolution” which is less of an article than a veiled ad for the company Global Media Outreach (GMO), but who’s counting, right?
This sounds like a genuinely interesting idea, but I was admittedly unclear how this would happen. From the article:
Among those leading the conversation is Yvonne Carlson, chief technology officer at Global Media Outreach (GMO), a premier digital evangelism organization with over 3 billion Gospel presentations worldwide to date. For Carlson and her team, the future of Christian media is not about keeping up with innovation for its own sake; it’s about redeeming it.
Most organizations have developed policy centered around the idea of “responsible AI.” In contrast, GMO’s intentional approach focuses on “redemptive AI.”
“We cannot do as the world does,” Carlson said. “This is our moment as Christians, harnessing this amazing technology—just like we did television, just like we did radio—to do things in such a way that point people back to Christ.”
GMO has created its own Christian chatbot called Gabe (hat tip to the archangel Gabriel). The bot immediately identifies itself as such and can help answer questions. It is not intended to be something to converse with, but it is enough for many seeking answers.
Carlson also stressed that this kind of technology should not replace human interaction or be substituted for spiritual discernment.
What to watch for: AI is changing daily, and it is imperative that Christians stay ahead of the temptation to do more things, more quickly, with AI in the name of productivity. Concerning work product, AI can be a tremendous helper to eliminate repetitive tasks and other tasks that can take away time from more valuable areas of concentration. We tend to take successes like that, however, and let the same thinking seep into areas where it can be detrimental versus additive. Our relationship with God is the primary area to be watchful and protective of relating to these new technical advances.
“I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
PRIVACY
Court Might Make OpenAI Break Promise of Privacy to Users
It is probably naive to assume that there is any semblance of privacy in our lives. From having ads pop up in streams after you just talked about something, or the time that you hit the agree button at the bottom of a long string of tiny words for the sake of expediency, it feels like we have given our privacy away for free and with little to show for it.
Now, OpenAI is struggling to maintain the level of privacy promised to its users because of a court ruling.
OpenAI is now fighting a court order to preserve all ChatGPT user logs—including deleted chats and sensitive chats logged through its API business offering—after news organizations suing over copyright claims accused the AI company of destroying evidence.
In the filing, OpenAI alleged that the court rushed the order based only on a hunch raised by The New York Times and other news plaintiffs. And now, without "any just cause," OpenAI argued, the order "continues to prevent OpenAI from respecting its users’ privacy decisions." That risk extended to users of ChatGPT Free, Plus, and Pro, as well as users of OpenAI’s application programming interface (API), OpenAI said.
There are many implications here but the one that end users can be most concerned about is the fact that even when we choose to have our online choices deleted, they aren’t, whether it is by default (Google and what they know about you, anyone?) or by a court decree issued to protect the copyright issues of media organizations. Let’s face it, individuals are the last ones who are protected in the online world.
What to watch for: OpenAI is a bit like the Google in the AI space, at the moment. It has jumped ahead of the competition and established itself as the ‘go-to’ for those of us looking to use AI for whatever reasons we have. Giving our information to tech companies has become something we all just do, but at what cost? As believers, how should we be viewing our privacy, and can our information be used to affect our witness? Yes, this may seem like a stretch, but if we simply ‘go about our business’ and act as if AI is our friend, we are exposing ourselves to the whims of the world and that is never a good policy.
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
WARNING
Christian Thought Leader Warns of AI Dangers
John Lennox is a brilliant Christian apologist and an Oxford mathematician. In other words, he is in a different league from most.
His book, “2084 and the AI Revolution: How Artificial Intelligence Informs Our Future,” has recently been republished and updated. Lennox, speaking on the Same Commission podcast, warned, as reported by Christian Today, of threats AI could bring to the fore.
He (Lennox) said, “Christians really need to be informed about AI, because this is no innocent little thing that will sit on the periphery of our experience. It’s going to influence almost everything. And we need to get ready.”
Lennox noted that one of the real dangers posed by AI is that it can be used by governments to spy on its own citizens, potentially making the work of spreading the Gospel more difficult.
“If we think of AI and mission, particularly working in closed or sensitive countries, the major danger I see is that it enormously facilitates totalitarian government," he said.
This kind of talk is nothing new, and Lennox is not prone to fear-mongering. He is rather a smart guy who can see how things could play out over time. The beauty of it all is that this kind of troubling talk is counter-balanced by another observation he shared
Despite his concerns about the new technology, Lennox reflected that the uncertainty created by AI had reminded him again that hope can always be found in Christ and the promise of God’s kingdom.
“What AI has done for me is to bring me back to consideration of something that’s at the heart of the Gospel - the promise of Messiah to come and reign," he said.
What to watch for: As believers, it is critical for us to be alert and aware of the potential of any technology, ideology, or other factor that can hinder the spreading of the Gospel. We can’t live in fear of what might happen because we worship a sovereign God who is in complete control. Our job is to focus on Him, the finished work of the cross, and to operate in the world with the confidence of knowing how it all ends.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
AI NEWS TO WATCH
CHRISTIAN AI THOUGHT LEADER TO FOLLOW
What to Watch for in the Future from The Christian AI Watch
Each week, I intend to send at least three ‘articles’ your way. There will be occasional new things to test out, like book reviews, products and services, opinion pieces, and a lot more. This is evolving much like AI is.
Any feedback you have would be appreciated. You can start with the survey below.
How did we do? |
Look for us every Tuesday in your inbox! Until next time.