Why "The Christian AI Watch" Now?

I have asked myself many, many times if there is room for another AI-related newsletter. The last thing I want to do is add to the noise about AI in general.

I am a regular guy who uses AI in a regular way. I ask questions. I ask more pointed questions. I know what prompt engineering is. I generate images from time to time. I tend to have 'a-ha moments' where I think I should run something through Chat-GPT (paid version, of course, because hey, I need it ... I think …). Work, play, research, and more are all fair game for me to approach with AI.

The one aspect of the tech and its seeming stranglehold on all areas of our digital lives that has been gnawing at me is how AI, in its present form and its unknown future iterations, and my use of AI are impacted by my Christian worldview. Also, how should the regular Christian, not an academic, theologian, or pastor, look at AI in their life? And finally, why am I not hearing more about these things at the street level in the church?

Having worked in tech sales and Internet marketing for the bulk of my professional life, I ran this idea by a trusted friend who is Christian and has genuine expertise in the field of AI. I got this response:

In some ways, I didn’t want the validation because then I could walk away and feel fine. But I am also hearing parents in my circles struggle with the implications of AI on their kids’ schoolwork. My daughter, who is graduating from high school this year, attends a school that initially fought the use of AI, then basically capitulated. They gave in. Kids use it for everything, so I wonder what they are learning aside from handing off assignments to a soulless technology that gives an answer but doesn’t teach. How would any of this bring glory to God?

All of this is happening while I look at the world through the lens of a conservative, evangelical Christian husband, father, friend, work associate, and more. I feel we are sitting back, letting this happen to us, and waiting to respond when it stings enough. That seems like a weak way to approach a technology that will create moral, ethical, theological, and philosophical issues we have never encountered in human history. All of this and its eschatological implications, as well? Don’t even get me started!

Finally, this is not intended to be an exercise in complaining. I think there are many positive aspects of AI in our lives. I just want to be sure that believers are going into this new era with our eyes and our Bibles wide open. If nothing else, AI provides opportunities for power like never before in history. Power is a dicey play for most and particularly tough for Christians. We have to be on watch.

Much like AI itself, I have no real sense of where this is going, but it is going whether I want it to or not. I intend to have more than one thing for my readers to choose from and consider each week. This will be a process, for sure.

Look for a new edition in your inbox each Tuesday. 

Thanks for joining me on this journey! Let me know what you think!

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

(1 Peter 5:8 ESV)

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