In the boundless expanse of the digital realm, where information surges like a mighty river, Christians today find themselves navigating an ever-shifting landscape. Just as a seasoned cartographer uses stars to chart their course through the night sky, so Christians can be using the luminous capabilities of ChatGPT to navigate the complexities of our modern world.
The author of the opening paragraph you just read is ChatGPT.
I asked the artificial intelligence driven software to “write the opening paragraph for an article to Christians on how to use ChatGPT, using a memorable metaphor or image.”
After rejecting its first 10 attempts, I used the above paragraph. But I still made a few edits. Perhaps that speaks to its limitations or to my idiosyncrasies. Either way, it is impressive.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a chat-based software that makes it feel like you have an online butler. It takes us from the search engine to the solution engine. Google can give you search results. But ChatGPT can solve problems.
You can make a request as if you are texting a friend. Within moments, you will get a reply and feel as if you have spoken to a real person who knows what they are talking about.
Using ChatGPT is simple, intuitive, and impressive. There is a free version anyone can use in exchange for an email and a more advanced paid version. By January 2023, the artificial intelligence tool raced to more than 100 million active users in record time.
Google can give you search results. But ChatGPT can solve problems.
ChatGPT can write emails, social media posts, essays, poems, song lyrics, movie scripts, excel formulas, and even code for websites.
For the Christian, it can give you 10 reasons to preach gospel-centered sermons, design a small group Bible study for people who live in Delhi, outline the book of Romans, respond to theological questions like ‘Who made God?’, prepare sermon outlines, and write the opening paragraph to an article about itself.
Can it do these things well? Honestly, it can do them well enough. Perhaps, even better than many Christians can.
Yesterday’s science fiction is today’s reality. Such power is too wonderful for us, too lofty for us to contain. What are we to make of it? What does wisdom look like in a world of increasing artificial intelligence? How should Christians think about using ChatGPT?
Read (Or Hear) All About It
In his book Technopoly Neil Postman famously said, “When a new technology enters the world, it is not the same world with a new technology. It is a new world.”
“Many predict these technologies will be as transformative to society as the printing press (the Enlightenment Age), the combustion engine (the Industrial Age), and the computer (the Information Age),” say computer scientist Mike Kirby and pastor Matthew Emadi.
It is true that technology is a good master and a bad servant. But how many human beings can truly master a lion?
Usually, human beings have knee-jerk reactions to change. Either we flee from it in fear or admire it without question. But to be a Christian is to be prudent and mature in thought (1 Cor. 14:20, Matt. 10:16). It means we ought to carefully examine, truly understand, and thoughtfully engage with every new world.
What Paul did in the age of philosophy, we ought to do in the age of artificial intelligence (Acts 17:22-23).
As you would research a company before you invest in it, you ought to hear what Christians and experts are saying about AI before you commit to it.
Test and See if the Search is Good
The vital question in any interaction between human and artificial intelligence is this one, “Who is the discerning authority here?”
No one should be using ChatGPT to supply what is lacking in them. Although a version of ChatGPT passed the bar exam, it can also “invent facts”. Though it may know the Bible as much as the devil does, it can compromise its meaning as easily as he can.
When something is free to use, often it is free to use you in exchange.
Ultimately, its answers are only as good as the questions we ask. If you ask a leading question, it will tell you what you want to hear. It has a commitment to speed, efficiency, and clarity. But it has no fidelity to the truth.
If you are not a discerning reader, using ChatGPT can easily lead you to trust in believable lies. Use it to serve your purposes, not to substitute your weaknesses. Be the teacher in the room, not the student.
Use ChatGPT Wisely, Not Deceitfully
Every new invention nurtures the familiar intention to invent new kinds of evil. Artificial intelligence can lure us away from real character. It is true that technology is a good master and a bad servant. But how many human beings can truly master a lion?
In a culture of cutting corners, ChatGPT is a wonder-drug. It is addictive and dangerous for anyone who is lazy, deceitful, or opportunistic.
The real battle with technology is not for our data. It is for the desires of our hearts.
Already, there are reports of students cheating on exams using ChatGPT. Imagine teachers wasting hours grading assignments composed by AI-based software.
However, using ChatGPT can be helpful too. It can be a great assistant to the tired labourer, a creative voice to brainstorm ideas, and a kickstarter to find solutions to problems.
Curb Your Enthusiasm (and Scepticism)
The villain in the latest Mission Impossible movie is an AI software gone rogue. In the real world, Elon Musk—the man who launches rockets for a living—called for halting developments in AI. However, nobody listened. In April 2023, Italy banned the software. On October 25, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said, AI dangers must be faced “head on.”
The most concerning thing about AI could be that we do not know what we do not know.
ChatGPT is one of the many instruments to advance the kingdom of the technocrats. Artificial intelligence is written by naturally flawed human beings. Bias is baked into the system. It is not invested in advancing the kingdom of God, nor should we expect it to be. When something is free to use, often it is free to use you in exchange.
At the same time, living as a Christian in a world of AI should not terrify us. It does not change what God has shown us or what he wants from us: “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:8, 2 Pet. 3:14).
Treasure God’s Wisdom Over Any Intelligence
Artificial intelligence ought to be of less concern to us than dwindling Christian wisdom. The digital, virtual, augmented, and artificial realities of our time are making us more dependent on created things and less conscious of our Creator. It is a new way to lead us into the old way of idolatry.
The fear of the Lord is still the beginning of wisdom.
The real battle with technology is not for our data. It is for the desires of our hearts. Artificial intelligence can create real desires for superficial things that undernourish our hearts, loosen the bonds of our relationships, and weaken the quality of our lives. We are most in darkness when we hide in the light of our screens.
God’s chief concern for us is the question of what is our chief concern (Matt. 6:21). We may not know who has access to our data. But we must know who has control of our hearts. More important than securing our data, is securing our hearts in the love of Christ (Eph. 3:14-19).
The fear of the Lord is still the beginning of wisdom. It will always be the end of artificial intelligence, superficial spirituality, theological misinformation, and unsatisfying lives. Sadly, fools still despise wisdom and instruction (Prov. 1:7).
We are most joyful when we can clearly see the beauty of his sovereign authority over our lives, the utmost wisdom of his ways, and his unmatched kindness for his people in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). Only in God’s wisdom can anyone thrive in a world of artificial intelligence.
