A.I.: It Thinks, Therefore It Steals
Should pastors and Christians use A.I. for creative endeavors?
You might be wondering, “What happened to the devotional this week?” Two answers to that, one more complex than the other. The simpler response is quite simply: Time. I ran out of it. My ‘day job’ caught up to me this week and I just didn’t have the time to get to it this week.
The more complex answer? A pain in my heart. Not a medical or physiological kind of pain, but something more sorrowful. The pain came from two different things that popped up on my feeds in the last few weeks and both have to do with professing Christians (more specifically, pastors) unapologetically embracing A.I. (for those living under a stone age rock in the last few years, that stands for ‘Artificial Intelligence’).
The first of these items that came across my screen was a post in a Christian sci-fi/fantasy writer’s group I belong to on Facebook. The posts was from someone claiming to have performed a “grand experiment” in true meta fiction by taking a previously published short story by another author (a story decidedly anti-AI) and running it through an AI grinder to have it spit out a new, revised version of the story that was pro-AI. This person, who I guess identifies as a Christian since he belongs to a Christian group, then turned around and published this regurgitated short story as his own. And he was oh so proud of his accomplishment. He was virtually patting himself on the back for this grand “experiment” (his words) in meta fiction. And while I’m happy to say the majority of responses from fellow Christian members of this group were negative with labels of plagiarism and theft bandied about, I was heart stricken at the number of other Christians who saw no harm in what he had done.
The second thing that popped on my feeds this week was a blog post about pastors utilizing the amazing tool of AI to help study and understand Scripture better and faster. This tool not only is designed to help pastors study, but also produce sermon outlines complete with nifty AI created analogies while simultaneously creating mindblowing graphics for those fancy screens in the front of the church that helps the congregation take notes.
So, yeah. Heartbroken.
Look. Let me make something clear. I’m not a tech guru. I don’t know all the intricate details of how AI works in the creative realm of things (AI for medical applications, etc is another subject entirely and I’m smart enough to leave that alone for now). What I do know about AI is that tech companies scoop up as much art (literary, visual, and auditory) as it can get online and use these things to teach their baby AI to do what they’re designed to do. I know these tech companies steal these items without paying the artists or giving them credit. And while proponents of AI (even among the creative community) are quick to point out that the art itself isn’t being replicated, only emulated in the same way that one artist learns to create art by emulating the masters, they’re missing the point entirely. As an author, I’ll admit, I started out emulating the style of Jim Butcher for my very first book, PRIMAL THIRST. The difference is that by the end of writing and editing and tweaking that same book, I had found my own voice and my own style and it was not an amalgamation of a Butcher and a multitude of other authors in the final product.
I’m also not a philosopher or a futurist or an ethicist. And while all Christians are called to be theologians, I’m not writing this as a theologian either. I’m writing this post simply as a Christian with a broken heart for so many other followers of Christ. You wouldn’t even remotely consider taking money out of another person’s wallet. To steal food off someone’s table is anathema to you. To rip off someone’s term paper or blatantly steal another pastor’s sermon would be a major no-no for you. So, why is it so easy to allay the theft ramifications of using AI simply for the sake of convenience?
Exodus 20:15 is something every pre-school Sunday School kid learns. It’s the eighth commandment. “Thou shalt not steal.” AI and creators of AI steal. Plain and simple. And to utilize AI software to make things easier for yourself is stealing. But not just stealing from someone else. You’re actually stealing from yourself as well. You’re stealing from from the privilege of using the gifts, skills, and talents God gave you to serve Him in the way He specifically intended for you from before the foundation of the world.
Pastors, if you need an AI app to help you study the Scriptures and glean a better understanding of them, there’s something seriously wrong with that. I hate to be so blunt, but I wonder if there’s something wrong with your very walk with Christ. I ran out of time to work on my devotionals this week because it requires a great deal of study and a great deal of thought and a great deal of creativity to put them altogether in a fun, forensically-themed way. I could have tossed all of it into a big AI blender and let it spit out the devotions for me. But that misses the point of our service to Christ. God doesn’t need us to preach. Jesus told the Sanhedrin that if the people stopped shouting “Hosannas” then even the rocks would cry out in worship of Him. God opened the mouth of a donkey and let it speak to chastise Balaam. God doesn’t need our mouths. He doesn’t need our brains or our creativity. He chooses to let US be part of His ministry. He allows us to be part of advancing the Kingdom here on earth. He doesn’t need us to be flashy (sometimes, I think He’d prefer it better if we went with far less flash, to be honest). He doesn’t need us to be polished. He doesn’t need us to be nifty with the, you know, words and stuff. He just wants us to be there. To show up. To put in the effort. To put in the time with Him.
Let me repeat that last bit…WITH HIM. That’s what He wants. Like a father letting his son ride in his lap as they mow the lawn. Quality time with the Father. He’ll take care of your congregation. He’ll take care of your flock. He just wants us to spend time with Him and I believe AI has the potential of stripping that time away from us.
So, pastors, do yourself a favor. Take the pressure off yourself. Give up the AI tools that might make things easier and faster and more efficient and just show up. Just spend time in Him. Allow Him to speak through us because I don’t think He’s going to speak through some computer simulated intelligence (although there’s no doubt He could if He needed to).
Christian brothers and sisters, AI isn’t just a tool to make life easier and give you magical writing or artistic skills. It’s a classic cartoon bag with ‘$$$’ on it disguised in a striped suit, mask, and wide brimmed hat like the Hamburglar…it’s theft. Plain and simple. So next time you’re tempted to take the easy road to art and riches, do yourself a favor and remember Exodus 20:15. It really is that simple.
Even now, among the Christians who read this post, I know I’m going to get flack. I know there will be defenders of AI. I know there will be those who won’t to argue. Let me say this: I’m not going to try to convince you one way or another. These are my thoughts. These are my convictions. Let this be a conversation between you and God and see where He leads you.
In the meantime, we’ll continue through 1 John next week, so stay tuned!