It’s an Unsettling Question
The title of this article is a blend of questions I have been seeing online regarding humankinds’ response to the fast-emerging promise and peril of A.I. (that is, Artificial Intelligence).
It’s not hard to find those advocating the promise of AI or warning against its peril. (Thankfully, AI makes such articles easy to find!)
Regarding AI’s peril to humanity: In 2023, more than 1000 tech leaders signed a letter warning that AI poses profound risks to society and humanity. A more recent letter signed by hundreds of AI researchers claimed that the risks of extinction from AI should be treated with the same urgency as pandemics and nuclear war.
Yikes…
Regarding AI’s promise, it sounds much better but still eventually begs the question in our title: When AI can do it all, what will we humans do? What will our purpose be? What will it even mean to be human anymore?
AI is Not Just Coming… It’s Already Here
Not long ago, such existential questions seemed to be asked only in dystopian movies and science fiction novels set in the far future. But not anymore. AI is not just coming; it’s already here.
Now, you might be asking, “Why is a guy whose focus is usually on Christian mission and discipleship turning to a topic like AI?” (Or, as my wife bluntly put it, “What do you know about AI?”)
There are two reasons we need to focus on it:
Because the unsettling questions AI poses about the meaning of being human and our purpose on this planet go to the heart of the Christian message. The questions need to be answered biblically, simply, and relevantly so that we can help people with God’s good news.
AI requires Christians to further clarify what our purpose (mission) on this planet is and prioritize discipling people to participate in accomplishing that purpose (mission). A lot is at stake here. Clarity of mission and priority of discipleship in the age of AI is more important than ever for Christians.
What’s the Answer?
So, what is a biblical, relevant answer to our question: What will we do when AI can do it all?
The good news is that we already have the answer because Jesus has already given us the answer in the gospels. What? Yep. The purpose of Jesus’ teachings and His work on the cross is to redeem and restore humanity’s true identity and purpose which God created and established in the first place. Jesus answers the questions of what is the meaning of being human and what is our purpose on this planet?
That means, no matter what happens with AI, no matter how it transforms or disrupts, no matter how good or bad it is, no matter whether it liberates us or enslaves us, Jesus-followers can know who we are and what we are placed on this planet to do. In fact, according to God, we are simply irreplaceable. AI notwithstanding.
Your Irreplaceable Purpose
Here’s your irreplaceable purpose, “You shall love,” Matthew 22:37. There you go. Simple but powerful. Your purpose on this planet is to love God and love your neighbor.
And where do we get this love? “We love because He first loved us,” 1 John 4:19. “As I have loved you, love one another,” John 13:34. Abundant, unlimited love, comes from God (1 John 3:1 and 4:7). From God, to us, through us to the people around us who need His love so badly.
And exactly what kind of love is this love? It is self-sacrificing love. Agape love. Christ-like love. Redemptive and restorative love. In other words, grace. (See Ephesians 5:2.)
AI may be able to conceptualize what Christians are here to do, explain it, mimic it, and even create art that represents it, but it can’t actually DO it. Only humans in relationship with God through Christ can embody God’s love to people who need to experience it.
Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, this is who we humans are and this is what we humans do.
Martin Luther once put it this way: “A Christian passively receives God’s grace in Christ by the Spirit through faith, and a Christian actively lives out God’s grace in Christ by the Spirit for others in love,” (“Freedom of a Christian,” 1520).
Boom.
In other words, according to God, we are simply irreplaceable. AI notwithstanding.
The New Temptation of AI is Nothing New
The temptation that lies within the power and potential of AI is the same old temptation we have fallen for over and over again throughout time. The temptation is this: we want to be limitless; we want to know all; we want to be able to call our own shots. AI is the latest tool to supposedly help us fulfill this temptation. Will there be consequences? There always are. Such was the temptation of Adam and Eve, of the people who built the Tower of Babel, of the Israelites when they demanded a human king rather than God to be King, and on it goes. It never actually works out.
And it continues in our so-called “modern” times. With the advent of every new advancement, the temptation flares up again. (“We don’t need God. We can be gods.”) It flared up when we began navigating across oceans, or seeing into space, or conquering with superior weapons, or spreading ideas with the printing press, or healing diseases. More recently, it flared up with the advent of broadcasting, computers, the world wide web, and now AI.
Whether in the Bible or today, when we humans develop a new technology, we are tempted to again cry out, “We don’t need God!” Until, of course, it turns out we do. Then we cry out, “God, help us!” And, of course, He does in His mercy and grace. Back and forth it goes like the Israelites in the days of the Judges.
Do You Have Some Good News for Us? (Yes, and a Purpose)
The good news is that God, in His grace, continues to answer that cry over and over with His redemption and restoration through Christ. We Christians are not only beneficiaries of His grace, we are now agents of His grace to the people around us who need it so badly, too.
This is who we are. This is what we do.
According to God, we are simply irreplaceable. AI notwithstanding.
Let’s get busy and have some fun spreading hope and good news to those who need it. AI notwithstanding.
(A special shout out to Pastor Chris Asmus from Vertical Church, St. Paul; and the Concordia Journal for its recent articles on AI.)