The first of two articles from our recently published collection of biblical reflections on science, technology and creation: The Works of the Lord, edited by Ruth M. Bancewicz. This blog first appeared on the BRF website and is reproduced here with their permission.
More than human?
Ruth M. Bancewicz, Church Engagement Director, The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
Even if you are the greatest technophobe, it is worth recognising that everyone, everywhere is affected by artificial intelligence (AI). Whether it’s while you are shopping or on a phone helpline, paying for parking or receiving healthcare, AI is already having an impact on your life and will increasingly do so in the coming years. Some of these technologies are extremely helpful. I am grateful that a chatbot can save me waiting half an hour to ask a simple question about my phone bill. On the other hand, I am concerned about the use of facial recognition software to track people’s whereabouts in some countries.
As with most new technologies, the Bible has nothing to say about AI specifically, but much to say in general about how we use it. I hope the reflections below and in next week’s post will help you to think about how AI affects our lives and how we can use or respond to it. We will also ask, how are other people affected and how can we speak up for them? How are the next generations using AI and how can we support them? We will explore broad biblical principles, such as being made in the image of God, idolatry, rest, the fall and what it means to be embodied. We will look at specific issues or aspects of human existence such as creativity, exercising power, kindness and counselling.
Some contributors are more cautious than others about the potential of AI to contribute to society in particular ways. No doubt Christian thinking on this subject will develop rapidly, and reflections like these will be very different in five or ten years’ time. For now, I hope that they enlighten, challenge and inspire you.
The Bible has nothing to say about AI specifically, but much to say in general about how we use it.
Photo: AI-generated image by Ruth M. Bancewicz, created using NightCafe Studio 2024
The image of god
Tim Bull, Canon at St Albans Cathedral, Software Engineer
So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’
Genesis 1:27–28 (NRSV)
The Bible tells us that God and people are somehow alike. We are created in God’s image. This does not mean that God has a body like ours – as if God has fingers, hair and a liver. Instead, we share in God’s character.
One way we share God’s character is through our use of language. Hebrews 1:1 reminds us that God has spoken ‘in many and various ways’. When we use language, we reveal God’s image. We also demonstrate God’s likeness in forming relationships. God longs to relate to his people, and we are most fully alive when we relate to one another.
Recent advances in AI have enabled machines to do many of these things. AI can communicate using language. We may even feel as if we have a relationship with a chatbot. So, is AI also in God’s image? Not when it comes to language. A toddler may say ‘sorry’, but not feel remorse or even sound apologetic. It is the same with AI. Although the words may look right, there is no genuine feeling – or even meaning. Relationships are most authentic when we see things from the other person’s point of view. This was the point of the incarnation of Jesus. In Christ, God knows the world from the human perspective. A machine will never know what it is to be human. It can never have a real relationship with us.
AI can never show God’s image and likeness. Only humans can do that. We are wonderfully and uniquely made.
Photo: Osteoblasts © Kevin Mackenzie, University of Aberdeen. Source: Wellcome Collection licensed under CC BY 4.0 / cropped.
Idolatry
The Revd Professor Ian Morrison, Consultant Neurologist and Church of Scotland Minister
The carpenter… plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it… Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it, and is satisfied… The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it, and worships it.
Isaiah 44:13–14, 16–17 (NRSV)
I am certain artificial intelligence will be as revolutionary as the microscope. As a neuroscientist and consultant neurologist, I see the potential for AI to analyse vast amounts of data in a way that was impossible ten years ago, or to improve the diagnostic accuracy of scans by limiting human error. However, we must not be dazzled by its potential and must always retain a sense of perspective. Yes, it can process data at vast speeds, but AI will never have the empathy, understanding and humanity of a scientist or clinician.
Idols from scripture may seem very remote from our own experience, but it is worth remembering that idols were objects that were created by a people seeking an alternative to God’s gifts and blessings. They became blinded by the craftsman’s skill, placing their trust in these objects rather than God.
AI is a tool that we can (and should) use positively, but when we see AI as a ‘better’ alternative to the skills and empathy of humanity, whether it is in healthcare or science, we are at risk of placing our faith in this man-made tool and celebrating it above God’s creation. If we do this, we too become guilty of the idolatry described in scripture, using microchips and computer code rather than wood like the carpenter in Isaiah.
We can be thankful for AI and the change it will bring to our lives, but we must also remember that it will never surpass the beauty and wonder of God’s creation. If we suggest otherwise, we risk creating a new idol for our modern world and forgetting the warning of Isaiah, which still resonates strongly today.
We can be thankful for AI and the change it will bring to our lives, but we must also remember that it will never surpass the beauty and wonder of God’s creation.
Photo: a Marbled White butterfly © Ruth M. Bancewicz
Fallen
Patricia Shaw, Founder of Beyond Reach Consulting, Lawyer, AI and Data Ethics Consultant
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:6–8 (NIV)
AI systems are tools, and like any other tools humankind has crafted, they can work for or against us. AI tools created by organisations and governments will not be perfect, as we ourselves are imperfect fallen beings.
AI tools are powerful: the organisations behind them have the potential to know a lot about us, to be ubiquitous, as AIs are increasingly ‘present’ in multiple kinds of devices, and to make decisions about us or on our behalf. AI systems have been empowered by humans (and their data) to recommend, predict, select and decide. As access to these tools is not equitably distributed, they have the potential to divide humanity into ‘the haves’ and ‘the have nots’ digitally, socially, even politically, and physically. This means AI can discriminate based on existing human biases and further entrench existing systemic societal inequalities.
God’s position has not changed. God is still omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. So when God says, ‘Do not fear, for I am with you’ (Isaiah 41:10), ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Romans 12:2) and ‘Seek justice. Defend the oppressed’ (Isaiah 1:17), he means it!