A.I. Technology for My Spirituality? Yes and No.
What role can new technology like A.I. can play in our spiritual lives? Or should it?
My phone dinged in the middle of a garage sale, while I tried to convince my eight-year-old not to buy the stained squishmallow another kid was selling for a dollar. I looked down at my screen. My husband sent me a link to an app where I could “chat with” Jesus, Mary, or any of the disciples.
This should be interesting.
How might A.I. Jesus counsel me?
I downloaded the app and went back and forth with digital Jesus and Mary, asking the bot different questions and even asking “Mary” to pray for me (and she said she is praying for me). But does chat box spirituality really work?
I think there are three questions we need to consider as we implement A.I. technology into our spiritual lives:
Is A.I. technology spiritual?
Can A.I. technology guard me from false teaching?
What should the role of A.I. technology be in our faith life?
Is A.I. Technology Spiritual?
First, we need to consider how A.I. technology functions. Now, I am not an expert, but from what I read and understand from a newbie perspective, A.I. technology is trained on a data set. In very basic terms, it is like a massive digital library and logical problem solver. Think algebra. If A=C, and C=5, then A=5. But on a much more complicated and super-human level.
But what A.I. is not—is human.
Thus, A.I. cannot actually pray because it has no soul in which to connect with the Father in prayer (sorry, A.I. Mary, but you didn’t pray for me). In Revelation, it is the prayers of the saints/human believers (not the prayers of a computer) that are before the throne of God (Rev 8:3–4).
In my opinion, I would define the use of technology as “spiritual” when there is a human ministering through the use of technology. And that does not just mean that a human initially inputted the information used by A.I., but that a human is the one responding and ministering to a person through the use of technology (like live chats, email, social media, on and on). Only a human has a spirit that can be led by the Spirit of God to minister to another human, thus only a human can do by-definition-of-the-term, spiritual work.
Now, A.I. technology can be useful, but spiritual and useful are two different ideas.
Can A.I. technology guard me from false teaching?
Another aspect to consider when turning to A.I. for guidance on spiritual matters is whether or not A.I. can discern correct teaching from incorrect teaching on biblical truth.
Let’s me be straight-up here. This is probably my deepest concern for using A.I. technology for matters of the soul. A.I. processes information, but it does not discern information.
In other words, A.I. has 100% capability to be like Satan in the garden (Genesis 3) or like Satan in the wilderness with Jesus (Luke 4). A.I. can take Bible verses and process them to sound like what you want to hear, but be misusing Scripture like the worst false-teacher out there.
A.I. cannot guard us from false teaching. It is important, therefore, that we study the Bible for ourselves so we discern if what we hear from preachers—or digital computations—is the truth of the whole counsel of God’s Word (Acts 17:11, 1 Timothy 4:16, Proverbs 4:23).
If you would like a place to start in reading the Bible, check out Well Soul Life’s Devotional Time guide or S.I.M.P.L.E. Bible Study guide
The Role of A.I. Technology in Our Faith Life
A.I. technology is amazingly useful. I use Magai..co on almost a daily basis to help me generate initial research ideas. editing, thinking through project flows—all kinds of helpful ways. I use A.I. enabled tools on Logos Bible Software and other products as well for Bible study.
A.I. technology is a helpful and massive tool box. But it is still just a tool box.
I think we need to see A.I. technology as a warehouse of tools with infinite application possibilities—but and not as a replacement for what only humans can do: pray, commune with God, listen to the Spirit, encounter God through His Word, discern truth from half-truths, and connect on a human level with another soul.
I will continue to explore applications for my life of faith and writing using A.I. technology, but it will ever replace the soul-work of being human, the spiritual work of communing with God through His Word and prayer, and the relational work of loving our neighbor as ourself.
YOUR TURN
What are your thoughts on A.I. technology and the spiritual life? Please share in the comments!
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SERIES: Women in the Old Testament Story
Who are some of the women in the Old Testament story? How do their lives contribute to the story of God? What can we learn from them for our life of faith today?
Jezebel
After King Solomon's reign, His son became king and chose to rule harshly, so the kingdom rebelled and was split in two parts. The northern kingdom, Israel, and the southern kingdom, Judah (where Jerusalem was). The northern kingdom had only evil kings—those that did not follow the Lord and the Law with purity.
One of these kings, Ahab, was particularly evil—largely due to the influence of his wife, Jezebel. She was a Sidonian who led him to worship Baal, a god associated with terrible practices like child sacrifice. (This is the kind of thing why God told the Israelite kings not to marry outside of Israel, 1 King 11:2).
Now, Jezebel was determined to eliminate the Lord's prophets. But Obadiah (one of the king’s officials) secretly saved a hundred of them by hiding them in caves and providing with them food and water.
We then learn about a famine in the land (a signal of God's judgment). And Elijah the prophet put Baal to test on Mount Carmel and wins (1 Kings 18). So, the false Baal prophets are killed.
In response, Jezebel sent a threatening message to Elijah, vowing to kill him within a day. But Jezebel couldn't kill Elijah, although she did something else evil. She tricked people into lying about a man named Naboth, so he was wrongly punished and killed in order for Ahab to take his land. When Ahab went to officially take Naboth’s vineyard after his murder, he met Elijah.
This is where we meditate on scripture today.
Before you read, take a deep breath and quiet your mind to read God’s word.
1 Kings 21:20-25
20 Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!”
“I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. 21 He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. 22 I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’
23 “And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
24 “Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country.”
25 (There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.
What did you notice from these scriptures? Dwell on this for a moment.
Devotion
God indeed did as he promised. Ahab's family line was wiped out, Jezebel died, and her flesh was eaten by wild dogs.
And although this story may seem unconnected to our modern lives, there are some key observations for our lives of faith today.
Ahab was a fool to marry a woman opposed to the Lord. He aligned his heart with someone that would not help him align his life with God.
Jezebel had the unique talent of powerful influence and leadership, even though she used that leadership and power for evil.
Reflect:
Who do I allow to influence my thought life and my desires?
Do the friendships, media influencers, shows I watch, books I read, etc.— help me align my heart to the Lord? Or do they nudge my heart to desire things that are not aligned with a life that honors God? Take warning from Ahab's life. Link yourself with others who will help you link yourself with God.
Who am I influencing and in what way? How can I influence them in a way that honors God?
We both influence others, whether or not we are intentional about it. I influence my children from the moment they wake up by how I prioritize our family life, speak to them, train them in life skills and spiritual habits, etc. I influence my husband as we move through our day in the thoughts I share and the attitude I have. I influence you—reading this email.
Watch carefully who we allow to influence us, and how we influence others.
Pray as you are led or you can pray this prayer below:
Lord, thank you for all the stories in your word, even the ones that are opposite to who you call us to be. Help us to remember the story of Ahab and Jezebel when we think about the kind of influencers for your kingdom that we want to be. And please help us see the kind of people that we should link our lives with, that will help us link our lives closer to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Listen to this week’s devotional podcast.
