In a previous blog post, I introduced the concept of TI (Theological Intelligence) and its importance in considering AI (Artificial Intelligence). I also noted that I would continue that discussion in another post. This post will offer four principles derived from the biblical storyline of creation-fall-redemption-new creation that flows from Genesis through Revelation, which I believe should shape the way that Christians utilize and approach AI now and in the coming years.
Creation – You Can Use AI in Certain Ways
The Bible begins by stating that God created everything in this world and humans in His image. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden not as curators to make sure no one touches the earth, but rather to subdue it, which involves both exploring and also developing it. As God’s image-bearers, God placed in humans creative abilities to produce things to aid in that task by amplifying and expanding our abilities (which is the nature of technology). AI stands as yet another form of this technology that humans have developed in the world that God created. Therefore, developing and utilizing AI does not have to be seen as a way of opposing God but can be seen as a way of reflecting God and His design for humans. In fact, there is actually a similarity between how AI takes what humans have created and sees patterns and how humans take the world that God has and develop things from it, so this can be a way that we actually reflect the image of God. At the same time, we can’t create life, only God can, so the development of AI is a reminder of human limits, that we are created beings and not the ultimate creator.
Since the doctrine of creation tells us that humans can use technology, the question isn’t if we will use AI (all of us who are reading this blog are using AI in some sort of way!) but how we will use it. TI tells us we should use it in a way that does not abdicate our role as God’s image-bearers but rather fulfills that role, helping us do it better. A good use of it that I heard a speaker note is to use it for various tasks that we might delegate to an assistant; we typically do these things to save us time or to get perspective and ideas that we might not have on our own. For example, if we are seeking to have someone research something, the technology might enable us to get the sort of information we would have them gather more quickly. I’ve seen AI software that will proofread something and offer ways to make it more concise or help shift the tone. When working with a human in either of those capacities, you don’t just blindly follow them but receive their work and then evaluate it according to your own knowledge and goals. We should do the same thing with AI, recognizing that it is imperfect (as it is drawing from human works and human design). Such use retains our agency and responsibility as God’s image-bearers and reflects the abilities that God put in us.
Fall – Be Careful That You Aren’t Used by AI
The Bible tells us that we are made in God’s image but affected by the Fall, with our sinful natures leading to us opposing God as opposed to seeking God. Thus, technology can be used to fulfill God’s purposes and also oppose God’s purposes, with such opposition often happening in subtle ways.
There has been much discussion over the past few years about how social media and smartphones are shifting the ways we think and live, but those are not the first or only forms of technology that has influenced how we live. The same thing was true with the rise of the automobile or the printing press. We can see the same thing at work with AI. Therefore, we need to make sure that we are not using AI in ways that force us to be dependent upon it or trust in it (rather than God), nor diminishing our ability to focus, create, communicate, or interact with others (diminishing our humanity). We can’t have AI do the thinking for us or stop us from offering new ideas that emerge from the human mind. In addition, we should recognize that AI is used to target ads and what we see, thus, we should remain people who are seeking to be transformed rather than conformed to the image of God.
Redemption – Use AI in a Way That Restores Rather Than Diminishes Your Humanity
A key concern about AI is its impact on people and possible ways it dehumanizes us. For example, it has the potential to take jobs, but this would not be the first time that technology has rendered various positions obsolete. The industrial revolution did the same thing, as various forms of technology could perform certain tasks that previously required human effort. AI is doing the same thing but just more in the sphere of “white-collar jobs.”
Another danger I have seen from AI is how the various chatbots and tools can stand in place of humans, not only at work but also in relationships. One can have conversations with these forms of AI and thus it might lead to less interaction between humans. This would not be the first technology to cause people to interact with others less; we could say the same thing about the television and could even note how automobiles have spread people out in new ways. These dangers of dehumanization are real, but they are not unique to this particular technology.
The next key theme in the biblical storyline is redemption, of how God enters into the world in Christ and defeats sin and evil through taking the injustice and evil upon himself in the cross. In light of that, I think we should see the possibility that God has a redemptive purpose in AI in that what could dehumanize us can actually “rehumanize” by helping us better understand what it means to be human and allowing for us to interact and relate to more humans. The fact that technology can now do various things which were previously believed to require human intelligence should point us to the fact that we are not simple productivity machines that should be defined and measured by what we can and cannot do. Our worth is not tied to what we can do with our hands or with our minds. Interacting with a chatbot shows us that the ability to converse is not part of the essence of what it means to be a human and in the image of God, especially since there are times in which humans are not able to converse due to age or abilities – but yet they are still human. As the old saying goes, we are human beings and not human doings.
While our humanity is not tied to what we are or what we do, this might also point us to things that truly are unique to humans. What humans do that AI cannot is make various judgments and evaluate different ideas. Therefore, AI might push us to do more things that only humans can do and thus dignify our humanity in a way that we did not think was possible. It shifts us from just being machines who do things or complete tasks to ones who think deeply, who ponder what is good, right, true, and beautiful. It moves us from just repeating the same things that we have seen or done before to injecting new ideas and new activities. We should use AI in a way that reclaims our humanity, both in terms of our own personal agency and also in terms of our interactions with people around us.
New Creation – Use AI in a Way That Makes You Look to and Long for Eternity
The Bible points to our ultimate hope not being found in human achievements or developments but rather in the return of Christ, in which our bodily limitations will not be overcome through technology but through resurrection. Therefore, AI can be of help in our calling as humans to rule over this earth and addressing various challenges we face, but ultimately we need to remember that no piece of technology designed or made by humans can solve all the problems of the world. AI might help us become more productive in terms of the quantity and quality of our work, but it will not fix the problems that persist in our world nor the issues that reside in the deepest (and darkest) parts of our heart. Moreover, advances in technology should not lead us to idolizing specific people nor putting our trust in them. Rather, it should lead us to worship the God who has given us abilities to make such things and who is able to do even more than what we are capable of, as He made us and has the power to save us. We don’t use AI as a way to create some sort of “heaven on earth,” but rather should use all technology – including AI – while on earth as a way to further long for and reflect our heavenly home in which we will reside in resurrected bodies.
Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also email to be added to the list that receives weekly emails with our blog posts.
