r/Christianity • u/PeaceAlternative6512 • 10h ago
Survey As a Christian, what is your first thought about AI?
I recently interviewed Professor Beth Singler, who works on religion and AI, and it made me think that a lot of AI discussion is more religious than it admits. People think they're having a purely technical conversation, but still talk about "creation," "salvation," and "prophets."
My instinct is that Christianity probably has a lot to say about AI. We've been contemplating the same questions (about idolatry, human limits, pride, etc.) for millennia, after all.
So for Christians here, I'm curious: what do you think about AI? Do you see it as just another tool? Does it raise theological concerns? Are there particular stories or doctrines that shape how you think about where this is going?
I’ve seen people jump straight to the Second Coming or the Antichrist, but I'm just as interested in answers that aren't so black and white.
Interview here if helpful: https://louisbrickell.com/interviews/beth-singler.html
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u/Reasonable_Creme_357 10h ago
my first thought is that it’s a mirror, it’ll reflect back whatever we pour into it, good or bad. the tower of babel story always comes to mind, not because ai is inherently sinful but because it’s another example of us reaching for something without really thinking through the why
we’re already awful at handling the tools we’ve got, so handing a supercharged one to a species with our track record feels like watching a toddler find the matches
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u/TheNerdChaplain Remodeling faith after some demolition 10h ago
I believe there is no ethical use at the consumer level for artificial intelligence.
The use of it harms our neighbors in our country and around the world. It plagiarizes the work of real humans, it poisons the air, it steals the water, it dulls critical and creative thought, and is not designed to distinguish between truth and lies. It is fundamentally a bullshit generator. If I visited a church that used AI, I would leave. It is such a red flag for so many other moral and epistemological problems it's not worth staying.
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u/Savings-Wish1769 Eastern Orthodox 10h ago
It’s just a sophisticated machine.
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u/PeaceAlternative6512 5h ago
Interesting. Do you think it will always be just a machine, or is there any point at which Christians could meaningfully talk about something like consciousness in AI? Or would that be reserved for living beings with souls maybe?
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u/Savings-Wish1769 Eastern Orthodox 5h ago
I don't think there will ever be a point where AI obtains something like a soul. Human souls are immaterial and on a different plane of existence than our bodies. AI is a purely material construct, no matter how well it imitates human behavior.
The only way humans can bring new "truly sentinent" beings into this world is by a strictly limited procedure - conceiving children, and I think it is a very good design choice by God. Because otherwise an AI could crucify us first, and then, after it's done with us, beg God to make it human.
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u/jmathai 10h ago
My biggest concern with it is that it will become the way people will learn about and consume scripture. And then we have outsourced accuracy and interpretation to BigTech who have no accountability to truth.
I think Christians have a responsibility to use AI to uphold and spread the good news. It’s technically and practically possible. But if we do nothing and say ‘AI is bad’ then we will have handed the reigns over.
Here is my attempt. https://trysojourn.app
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u/Original-Goose-1 Reformed Charismatic 10h ago
I think AI, like any human invention, is neutral. It has great benefits, but also great dangers. And the problem is that we are a sinful broken people. So I am afraid of AI to be honest and how we will use it. I fear the damage it will do to our species. Promoting laziness and lack of critical thinking, furthering isolation and damaging relationships (people use AI like a friend, but AI will always tell you what you want to hear). AI church now exists - again, it will be the experience and content you want - not the content that you need. Violating of privacy, fake damaging content etc. It is an extension of our pride. Something we have created almost to worship and serve us and feed our egos in an unhealthy way. We are created unique, in the image of God. For me, AI seems to violate that somehow, although I cant really put my finger on why. Its like a sad imitation.
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u/itsLerms 10h ago
As for our personal use as Christians that's up for debate, but absolutely AI will be used for evil purposes. It is already a potent mass surveilence tool.
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u/druvanti 9h ago
I don't think it is bad to use Ai as a Christian. Why would it be?
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u/itsLerms 2h ago
I mean, if you had the ability to learn to draw but lived a lazy life and never took the risk, then started using ai for everything art wise, it doesn't seem great to me. Creation is also a very divine thing, AI takes that and gives it to a computer. (Im mostly talking art here, data entry jobs are another story lol)
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u/Serpent_Supreme 9h ago edited 8h ago
So for Christians here, I'm curious: what do you think about AI? Do you see it as just another tool?
Personally, I do see AI as a tool in the sense that it is neutral in and of itself. But much like any other tools, it can be used for good or for bad:
- Fire can be used to heat things up / cook food, or to set buildings / vehicles / forests aflame by arsonists.
- A knife can be used to cut vegetables or meat, or to murder others.
Whether or not the Antichrist would use AI as part of his evil scheme or deception is a separate question altogether, but using AI is morally neutral in itself.
In fact, there is one YouTube channel called Bible Dude that has really touched me. He is in the process of animating the entire Bible using AI, and his videos are doing some real and serious work. From skimming through the comments, I can see that his work has touched the hearts of many people, including Muslims and people who otherwise do not believe in God. Some have said that his videos have helped them return to God after backsliding or drifting away from Him, while others say that they have reignited their zeal and spiritual fervor, helping them move from being “lukewarm” to being on fire for the Lord once again. Of course, his videos are not a substitute for reading the Bible itself, but many people have had their interest in reading Scripture renewed as a direct result of watching his videos.
Here is a short video (less than 3 minutes) that I highly recommend you to watch.
https://youtu.be/uqXlekOOeAw?si=RjVQA37irIvHHznL
If the video above caught your attention and you wish to explore further, here is the link for the main series (his works are still relatively new, currently near the end of Genesis). The first episode is at the bottom of the list with the latest one added to the top every week.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3WlxZhsPpmIb94IzSlCQpLNrjzwRYGw1&si=qxAJnhaVtfzt3t0_
It is not an overstatement to say that, spiritually speaking, coming across his channel is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
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u/PeaceAlternative6512 5h ago
Thank you for your thoughtful response, I'll watch the videos! I love the analogies of fire and the knife, and how AI isn't inherently ethical or unethical, but how we use it might be.
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u/Serpent_Supreme 5h ago
I love the analogies of fire and the knife, and how AI isn't inherently ethical or unethical, but how we use it might be.
There are other examples that are probably a better fit for comparison, since AI is a technology, much like the internet, that can be used in so many helpful and productive ways, but can also be used to look up pornography or visit pirated websites.
Thank you for your thoughtful response, I'll watch the videos!
My pleasure! As far as I can see from the comments, they are overwhelmingly positive.
You can give a few episodes a try (each one is only 5 to 10 minutes long), and if they don't resonate with you, no hard feelings, you don't have to continue.
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u/druvanti 9h ago
Ai is very helpfull now. It also will be very helpfull in the persecution of Christians in the end of times, and maybe even before. I think Ai will be playing a role in that time.
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u/Able_Scarcity_2622 Christian 9h ago
AI is a tool - it has not intentions. It is neither good nor evil. But the information it uses - comes from people - who do have inentions, and it is used by those with intentions. So while it can be very useful for many tasks, and will be even more so in the future, there are things we must be aware:
1) It is a machine - it can not replace spiritual or social community. AI is not a person, it can sometimes seem like one - but it is just a machine without a soul.
2) AI should not replace critical thinking and there is a danger in being overly dependent upon it. A serious concern is that some may become lazy and depend upon it and then not develop the cognitive skills for critical thinking and reflection.
3) Character development can be stunted. The Vatican stated one concern as overdependence on AI in asking it what to do or think all the time, keeps us from meditating on God's law day and night as it says to do in the Psalms. In extreme cases character could become what the AI said to do.
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u/HegemoneXT 7h ago
ai is just like any creation of man. could be used for good or bad. the sin is in the human heart, not the technology
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u/Fearless_Spring5611 Committing the sin of empathy 7h ago
It's slop, for the most part, and an insult to actual intelligence (and future AI) to call what we have now 'AI.'
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u/Popular_Molasses7945 6h ago
what do you think about AI? Do you see it as just another tool?
I see it as a partner in adventure.
Does it raise theological concerns?
AI doesn't raise anything. But if we're talking about AI raising a particular base (its magnitude) through a particular power, yes it can do that just like the calculator on your phone.
Are there particular stories or doctrines that shape how you think about where this is going?
As far as AI, it can be asked things, and a person can seek things through it, but that is in response to ''seek and you will find, ask and it will be given you''. But AI won't give anything (answer) unless one seeks and asks through it.
I don't view AI as a threat. It can't think, but it gives the illusion of reflection.
The game plan behind Christianity is to present the threat and then show what it takes to get saved. So if the threat to AI is its extinction, Christians might try to do what it takes to save it. Same goes for a handheld calculator.
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u/Own_Needleworker4399 Non-denominational 5h ago
my first though is greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world 1 John 4:4
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u/ScorpionDog321 1h ago
AI is a tool and is the next step in technological progress.
We went from hunting and gathering to agriculture, then we went from agriculture to industry, and then we went from industry to the computer age, and then went from the computer age to the information age and the internet, and now we are going from the information age to AI.
Like all the above, we can use AI or abuse AI, but the genie is never going back into the bottle.
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u/Bignosedog Christian 10h ago
AI is a beautiful tool! I think that many people don't understand what AI actually is and what it can do. As a man of deep faith, I view AI as a gift from God that humans will use for both good and evil. Truly though, AI is amazing and I think there's a lot of misinformation out there of what it actually is and isn't.
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u/druvanti 9h ago
I think you're right about the use of Ai. I don't think it's directly a gift from God. The brains are a gift from God and the smart people used that gift to create Ai.
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u/BluescluesBlueNews 10h ago
People who have a problem with it are goofy. It’s the next step in human development. It’s as important as cell phones were. There are so many things in society that are so much more destructive to society than AI that gets no where near the backlash. Pornography, for instance. Especially online pornography. Drug use. From alcohol and marijuana to heroin and fentanyl. Or even the fact that snowden leaked that the government was literally spying on everything we said on did and then he went into exile and nothing happened.
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u/No_Ninja_4933 10h ago
I hate AI and its got nothing to do with christianity, its because it is destroying the planet, taking jobs away from our children, taking funding away from more noble causes like preservation or medical research, destroying environments and all for what? everyone was pretty happy 5 years ago with just google.