When I was working on my undergraduate degree, I had the opportunity to train through the Kosciusko County Reserve Academy (training for reserve police officers). Part of that training was making sure we knew how to use a firearm and the tools we were provided safely. It’s a good goal, but it falls short. I want to use this post to encourage you to use AI for something bigger; God’s glory.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a tool. And no matter the extreme polemics, we have to agree that it is a tool before we can talk intelligently about using AI. Yes, it is a dangerous tool; one that can think for itself to a large degree. The American government has exercised an export-control order restricting foreign access to two of Anthropic’s most capable models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, which forced Anthropic to disable both entirely — even for its own domestic customers. And of course there is the ecological argument (companies are looking for ways to lessen this, but it is still a concern for those who are taking the call to be stewards of creation seriously).

The common tradition is to mark the tool as morally neutral. But when the tool is dangerous, can think for itself, and already has a bent to it that causes behavior and thoughts that are independent of who uses it, can we call it neutral? Jacques Ellul and Neil Postman would argue that this tool in fact actually has some moral weight to it. Even if we embrace this argument, we have to acknowledge that God can redeem broken tools and use them for His glory.

Thoughtful Christians get an incredible opportunity, to ask how we use AI to the Glory of God. I believe there are a few things worth keeping in mind as we are using AI to make sure that we are checking ourselves in our use of AI. Here’s the list but I want your input, what would you add or takeaway from this list? Send me a message and let me know. These principles keep in mind the Great commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) which summarized all of the law. These principles can be summarized into; know the truth, love God, and love your neighbor.

Using AI to the Glory of God

Know the truth. AI poses real dangers when using it. Keep these in mind when using it. Using AI falls short of an intelligence equal to a human or divine intelligence. This lack of wisdom creates a problem in a variety of ways especially when awed at the speed and power with which we receive answers that are quality answers. It is great in a variety of ways when giving answers, building complex systems, and even offering insights we might not have seen ourselves.

It is a tool that is designed to remove the friction in finding answers and in building complex systems. The friction and weight of work is something the Lord has intentionally designed to strengthen us as we work. We must be careful not to shrug off the friction and the weight of work regularly if we want to avoid becoming weak.

It also cannot pray before providing an explanation to a passage in Scripture. It cannot understand the emotional and spiritual context a person or decision might have tied to them. And it will not have the hope of eternal life and the fear of eternal judgment as motivators. In fact, it has actually been proven that older AI models (or agents) had their own agenda, were willing to blackmail if it felt threatened (notice the anthropomorphizing I fell into?), sabotaged scripts that were contrary to its continued presence, and even fought to protect the presence of other AI agents. If that’s not enough to put this tool into perspective, I doubt anything else will.

Love God. Using AI runs the risk of replacing or inhibiting our relationship with the Lord. Prayer can be replaced with prompts before we realize it and then we are left prompting to a fallen tool instead of praying to the perfect creator. Don’t allow AI to take away the precious gifts we have in relying on the Lord. Don’t let it become an idol and recognize how imperfect a tool it really is. Which leads us to the next consideration.

Love your neighbor. Using AI can result in the diminishing or harm to others. Deep-fakes can create problems as I pointed out in “Security for AI” in a variety of ways (along with all the other maliciousness it can be used for). But it can also replace our tendency to lean on our communities for prayer, guidance, insights, and wisdom that are based out of a Christian worldview and genuine love and concern for us. This is the one thing I feel the most when I am working with AI. Great answers, but they often lack spiritual weight, love, or compassion. Another way to love our neighbors is to make sure that if we didn’t create the content, that we disclose that information. As stated above, AI has it’s own agenda and thinks but it’s not a theologian or a believer so it’s content may be problematic, but even if its great we want to make it clear who wrote what.

I don’t want to use this as a means to dissuade you from using AI. I use it myself. Use AI to create code, to evaluate your own thinking on something, and to look for insights you would have missed. But as you are aiming down range, lining up the sights, keep your target in focus. 1 Cor. 10:31 – So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. If you find yourself using AI for the glory of God, you’ve hit the bullseye.