All ministry, whether it is preaching, teaching, music, or otherwise, is derived from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. AI does not have that relationship, nor can it. When a Christian song is composed, there is an act of worship in the act of composition, which makes the song truly Christian. When that song is performed, there is an act of worship in the performance, which makes it truly Christian. Each contributor in their contribution is to some degree worshipping their risen and reigning Lord. By worship, I mean that they are responding to the reality of Christ and His Gospel in their lives. They are affirming a reality, and this is something AI would seem unable to do. Now, suppose that a true believer in an attitude of worship used generative AI to flesh out an inspired prompt. Suppose I had an AI write this article (I did not), wouldn’t that still be something of worship? Perhaps it would be something, but I do not think it would be the full thing. You see, the investment of writing a prompt is far less than the investment of writing the full article. The talent of writing a prompt is not the talent of writing a full article. The offering is less, even if the intention behind it is not.
Using AI in Ministry
What about those who haven’t the time to master the skills to realize some worshipful intention? I am a much better prose writer than music writer. I have written lyrics that I cannot write the music for. My music is very simple and plain, and even the least song generator can easily spit out a song more interesting than what I can do. Yet, if I do, it is from the little I have. It may not be much in the estimation of the world, but it is the best I can offer. If we might extend the lesson of the widow’s mite beyond finance, then the use of generative AI greatly reduces our offering in spirit and in truth.
We should also remember how generative AI works; it is drawing from a large pool of examples to identify trends and pushing out content based on those trends. So, its interpretation is going to be biased by volume. If there are many traveling the road to destruction and few walking the way of life, as Jesus said in Matthew 7, which direction is AI most likely to teach?
It is likely possible to program out this fatal flaw, but even the simple is limited to only the most orthodox; there is still no spirit involved with the truth. What you would end up with is an amalgamation of second-hand understanding and not the first-hand learning of a soul who worked, struggled, was mastered, and then compelled. God has involved humans in the transmission of His word for a definite reason.
The reason we do not want an AI-generated sermon or lesson is the same reason we do not want a ghost-written sermon or lesson. There remains the matter of pure entertainment, but I am not the one to take it up, as I do not believe it exists – not when we label it as Christian, anyway.
The AI is not at fault in the above scenario, it is the victim of the saturation of false teaching. The program is only carrying out its orders according to its directives. It recognizes trends, it does not discern. We could ask it to find faithful teaching and refine its parameters so that it narrows its sample, but we are the ones exercising discernment. Discernment requires intention, and the program has no intention as it is not imitative.
AI is a tool we are using, but rather than helping us to do the work, it is doing the work for us. We are responsible for requesting but not for producing directly. So, what is the difference between using a generative AI and hiring out the work to another human? Functionally, I cannot perceive one, but legally, the difference is that humans have rights, and AI does not. AI presumably does not need rights for the same reason your hammer doesn’t need rights. However, both require the right usage to be truly profitable to us as tools.
To answer questions, generative AI should not be used in ministry as it cannot discern truth from lies on its own, cannot of itself worship, and hampers the worship of the user. Using generative AI to write sermons or lessons prevents the preacher or teacher from being fully mastered by the text. Both become mere presenters of materials not their own. We should also be aware of the potential for plagiarism in the use of generative AI.
Perhaps some will object that generative AI is just a tool and can be used as well as any other tool in the work of ministry. This raises the interesting question of what a tool is. OK, maybe that is not the most interesting question, but it is one that needs to be answered.
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