This is obviously a controversial topic on which there are a plethora of opinions.

The Bible doesn’t speak to the issue of Ai with specificity because it is obviously a new issue, so we need to be careful we don’t try to create Biblical mandates where there are none. The Bible does, however, speak to some of the macro issues.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17).

Considerations

Here are a couple of macro principles to consider:

1. Technology as a Tool: Technology is a tool and it can be used for good or bad. If we use any form of technology, we should use it for good and for God’s glory.

2. Producers over Consumers: We are supposed to be primarily producers and not primarily consumers. So, technology should primarily be used to create, produce and save time in being more productive with our lives.

Concerns

1. True Education: For our children, we don’t want to short-circuit true education with a time-saving device. They need to learn to do productive research and write compelling essays on their own (not have it done for them.) This also ties into cheating academically.

2. True Facts: Much of the information shared by Ai is factually inaccurate (it typically draws from human-created content on the internet). Our children need to learn to fact-check any information they receive. We need to teach our children how to be discerning regarding misrepresentations and fake stories or images that are frequently shared on social media, especially through Ai generated photos or videos.

Just because something appears to be real, they need to understand it may not be.

3. True Intelligence: To some extent, Ai will actually make us all dumber. This is not new. Calculators and GPS devices have been doing that for a long time. Time saving/convenience oriented devices always introduce trade-offs. Have smart phones made us “smarter”? Overall, faster access to more information doesn’t actually give us more intelligence, and certainly not more wisdom in most cases.

4. True Counsel and Friendship: Increasingly, teenagers are turning to Ai for companionship and for life advice. Both trends are very concerning.

“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20).

Our children need wise companions, and Ai meets neither criterion because it does not begin with the fear of the Lord,

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” (Ps. 111:10).

5. True Safety and Anonymity: Data collection is another thing we need to teach our children. Some Ai models collect and store information, so when teens treat it like a personal journal, or share private information as though it is a personal friend, they need to consider how their information could be stored or analyzed in ways they may not fully understand.

6. True Independence:

Let me close by giving a word of caution provided by ChatGPT itself:

“As AI becomes integrated into education, banking, healthcare, communication, and commerce, families may become increasingly dependent upon systems operated by corporations or governments whose values may not align with Biblical Christianity. This is not a reason to reject AI, but it is a reason to teach discernment and avoid surrendering all critical thinking and decision-making to technological systems.”

There are many more ethical considerations regarding Ai, and it will be an ongoing conversation for many years. In the end, the one thing I think we all need to realize, like it or not, is it will inevitably change the world in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. There is no slowing or stopping this train.

Just like electricity, it will change the world.

You can sit on your front porch and declare that electricity will never come inside your home (as some did, and as the Amish still do), but all that does is change your own personal or family dynamic. It doesn’t keep the rest of the world from wiring up. So, all the ideas about protesting it and such won’t amount to anything in the long run.

Our children WILL grow up in a world dominated by Ai (especially in the business sector), so it is in our best interest not to entirely hide it from them but instead teach them how to think about it and how to use it ethically.

People with environmental concerns may be effective in keeping a data center from being built in their neighborhood, but it will be built somewhere on this planet. Ai is going to unalterably change almost every facet of life moving forward.

As Christians, we will need to keep going back to Scripture to see how we as individuals and families need to position ourselves (and try not to attempt to be the Holy Spirit for everyone else who doesn’t see it the way we do).