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Good morning, Saints Family, and warm greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Today’s devotional thought centers around Christian faith and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Coming from the leader of a high school ministry, you may be predicting that this message may take a sharp turn against all things AI, and be filled with opposition - some in education have taken that approach. Rather than opposition, today's goal is to share a few deeper concerns and a few items for reflection in faith.
It is no secret that the topic, availability, and use of AI are everywhere. Yes, especially in the current, evolving news cycle and across every outlet. After all, it's the time of midterm elections, when news cycles mostly drone on and on and on - you get the point. Most adults use some form of AI, some for detailed and deeper searches, some for productivity, and some even for help in writing emails, reports, and letters. Our students, of course, are using AI. The safety of AI, along with literacy and proper, ethical use, is on the minds of and in the action plans of nearly every elementary, middle, and high school, as well as higher education institutions, in America.
No doubt, it is an interesting time in our Nation’s history, and in our Church’s history. As Christians, we can’t help but be concerned about the use of AI and its impact on our children, which we can barely glimpse at this time. What impact is AI having, and what impact may it be playing on faith development? These are two (of many) very large questions I don't have answers for today, but they should be in front of us as we manage, monitor, educate, guide, and shepherd our children daily.
One thing I do know is that in its current form, AI can help our students organize their lives. It can explain complex mathematical and scientific concepts in depth. It can help edit (yes, I said edit, not write) an essay, point out grammatical errors, and help develop concise writing, to name a few. As a helper, AI looks much like a copilot, a calculator, a spell-checker, or a digital assistant. What AI is not is human. AI doesn’t have a nervous system, a heart, or a soul. AI doesn’t and can’t care about you, and when you close the tab, it has zero risk, zero vulnerability, zero relationship capabilities, and zero real love to give. These are important distinctions.
AI and forms of social media are designed as tools and are, by nature, artificial. They are not a parent, sibling, or friend and, as such, leave users feeling empty and isolated by artificial design. This is because receiving a generated response (text or other) is not the same as being seen and loved. Psychology recognizes this fundamental gap in bonding because connecting and bonding require human subjective worlds that meet in the middle to form a real human relationship. AI can bring vast knowledge, tailored language, and information in an instant - it excels at “doing for.” AI lacks a nervous system, a subjective self, vulnerability, and shared mortality, and it cannot “be with.” AI is briefly at your service – you ask, it answers – and is driven by transactional algorithms. As humans, by God’s grace, we have the ability for subjective growth, can feel pain, emotions, and fatigue, and can form an emotional attachment to a real human being.
When it comes to being human, humans are simply superior to AI. By God’s design, humans can mirror their parents' facial expressions and vocal tones, and even experience emotional arousal as infants. In contrast, AI can only mirror algorithms, gather, formulate, and present data, having no ability to understand or share an emotional state. AI can continuously recalculate and adapt using data to improve answers to other data. In contrast, humans make mistakes, correct mistakes, misread cues, ask for forgiveness, and strive to build relationships through a complex cycle rooted in care, concern, and love. Human relationships require perception, individual thoughts, intentions, and internal emotional states that come together in a complex way. AI simply does not possess the ability to perceive the complexities of a human relationship. Humans have a heart and soul. AI does not.
AI can answer and assist with your homework, but by faith, only Jesus can hold your human heart. AI gives answers, not empathy. Jesus says. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-30. When the Lord decided to comfort and save humankind, He didn’t send a computer-generated message with information from heaven. In fact, He used no automation; He sent His only Son, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The Lord knows we don’t just need information for our human condition (sin). We need a Savior, a real, physical, human, flesh and bone, present Savior who loves. A Savior who can abide in us, and we can abide in Him, “Abide in me, and I in you...” John 15:4.
Thanks for tuning in today, Saints. Undoubtedly, there is more to know and do about this complex tool. AI is much more complex than a simple devotion. It's pervasive, seductive, and on a slow creep into our culture and lives - the beginnings of a slow-cook Crock-Pot recipe for the Evil One’s playbook. I pray that together we find ways to use AI safely and productively. Remember, when it comes to being human, and you’re feeling sad, anxious, and alone, that the peace of Jesus our Savior will fill your heart, and abide in you - something AI will never be able to do. May the Lord bless and keep you all. Amen!
In Christ’s love and mine,
Dr. Jeffrey S. Beavers, CEO
Crean Lutheran High School
dr.beavers@creanlutheran.org
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