Transcript
Ben Fallon: Paul, we have a doomsday type of question today, but it's not about the rapture although we have received plenty of those. Here it is. “Will AI, that is artificial intelligence, be the end of humanity and civilization as we know it? Well, we've actually received several questions related to AI recently, and so here are a few. “Are you afraid of AI and how quickly it is changing everything about our lives?” And then, “How should Christians interact with, and think about, artificial intelligence and rapidly emerging technology?” So, what are your thoughts, and what does the Bible have to say about AI and emerging technology?
Paul Tripp: So, when it comes to AI or artificial intelligence, I just want to say, “Luella, my dear wife, often tells me that my intelligence is artificial.” So, we need to begin there. If we're doomed, I'm doomed.”
Now more seriously, here's the way that I think a Christian should think about this. I think this is going to surprise people; this is the overarching picture. Because God loves us and he wants us to thrive, because we're the creatures that he's made, he gives gifts of wisdom, insight, and understanding to people so they can create new things that contribute to our knowledge, our health, and longevity, and our ability to do things in life with greater ease. Theologians call this “Common Grace.”
Listen, it's the grace of God that I have a flushing toilet. It's the grace of God that I have a toaster, a microwave oven. People have this nostalgia of wanting to go back to medieval times. Not me! Everything in life was difficult, and by God's goodness, by his love for us, he's continued to give human beings amazing insight, amazing ability to solve hard problems, and to create life for us that is so much easier.
A couple of weekends ago, Luella and I were flying back from an event, and I put my hand on her leg and said, “You know, we couldn't do ministry without jets.” And we thought of us getting a tube and shooting across the world, it's Star Wars stuff that we get used to, and landing in another city, safe and well, bodies not torn apart! And so, we should not, as Christians, be anti-technology. You could argue, again, I want to summarize, that the advancement of technology is a sign of God's love for his creation.
Now, we should always, on the other hand, be concerned about new, innovative, influential, potentially life-shaping technologies. I think all the time that when Steve Jobs decided to give us a screen and not a keypad, human culture changed forever. Because now we have, in our pockets or our purses, a source of technology that connects us to every source of information around the world. Imagine my ability to send a picture to the Philippines, let's say, in two seconds–that's craziness! And the fact of the matter is the church has made powerful use of technologies for the advancement of the gospel. From the time of the printing press on, guess who used the printing press the most in the beginning? The church did. And all of a sudden, people got Scriptures that could never hold Scriptures in their hands before. And out of that came wonderful Christian writing.
Billy Graham realized that this young thing called television was a massive source of a massive platform for proclaiming the gospel, and he used it in amazing ways. And we would not know about Billy Graham if it hadn't been for television. I couldn't be doing what I'm doing apart from God blessing us with advancement of technologies. This morning, I did three tweets that will be projected around the world, and I'll get responses back from France or from Brazil or someplace in Asia. It's amazing–without me ever leaving my chair!
We also need to be aware that technological advances don't just change the way they do things; they change us. One example is we all feel this need to be in contact with everything that's happening with the world all the time. That's just not necessary; but we feel it is. So, we get up in the morning; first thing we do is we go to our phones, and we pull up some new site to make sure that the world is okay. I think that adds to us a tremendous amount of stress. We carry burdens about things that we have nothing to do with and no control over just because we have the technology to do this.
So, let's talk about AI. AI, used correctly, has the potential to make things in our lives easier. I remember hearing an interview with a doctor who uses AI now in his research. And he said:
When I'm researching an area of illness, I can collect all the body of information because of AI that I need in a matter of minutes that would have taken me days, weeks, months to get. That means I can serve my patients better and more quickly.
So, AI has the potential to be a wonderful tool.
But here's the big caution of AI; “We must not let Artificial Intelligence replace God's image bearers as the primary caretakers of his creation.” I want to say that again, “We must not let AI replace God's image bearers, with their spiritual emotional sensitivities, as the primary caretaker of his creation.” God has given us that; theologians call that the “Creation Mandate.” There's a Psalm that says, “The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man” (People). So, letting AI write your term paper, letting AI write your sermon, letting AI write major portions of your book, is not a proper use of this technology. Robots replacing humans, where moral decisions are vital, are not a proper use of this technology.
So, the hope of humanity is never found in technological advances, but in the person and work and presence of Jesus. Scripture tells us that the world has not been, is not now, and never will be under any other control than the sovereign rule of God. This world, as we know it will end only when God decides for it to end. And anything that happens in between happens under the wise, infinitely powerful, inexhaustive, and glorious rule of our sovereign God.
Daniel 4:34-35 says, “He rules over the host of heaven and the inhabitants of earth, and no one can stop his hand or question what he has done. (Paraphrase) So, I'm not afraid of the rise of technology, I'm not afraid of the rise of AI, because my rest is in the same place; it's in the royal reign of my redeemer. And he is the definition of everything that is wise, and everything that is good, and everything that is loving. And so, we can look at these technologies, we can understand that they will be used for good, and they will be used for ill. But we do that without panic because, ultimately, our rest is not in the move of history, our rest is not in the rise of technology, our rest is not in political power; our rest is in the Lord. He rules! End of story!
And that's the way we should think about any new technology that comes. God loves us, he wants us to thrive; he's going to give wisdom and insight to people to create things that make our lives easier. Think of all the medical technology that exists, and we now live longer than we've ever lived in human culture. We need to rest in his rule, but we need to be careful how these technologies are used.
BF: Thank you, Paul. Well, Paul Tripp Ministries is starting to think carefully about implementing AI to increase our mission. We are an almost exclusively digital ministry, creating content like “Ask Paul Tripp” to distribute all around the world. And if you would like to partner with us as we create and distribute free bible teaching that connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life, you can join our community of generous partners by donating at paultripp.com/give. Every dollar is being stewarded so that our brothers and sisters around the world can understand how the gospel applies to their lives, “Right here; Right now!”
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