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Episode 07 Is AI Playing God?
42 Plays8 months ago
In this episode of the Christian Educators AI Guide podcast, I address a significant concern among many believers: the fear that AI might replace God. I share findings from a Common Sense Media report indicating that 75% of U.S. teens have interacted with AI companions, with one-third finding these interactions as satisfying or more so than with friends. I emphasize that while AI can simulate empathy, it cannot replace the true connection we have with our Creator. I encourage educators to teach students about God's sovereignty, model discernment, and keep technology in its proper place. If you're feeling overwhelmed by these discussions in your school, I invite you to reach out so we can explore how to navigate this together.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to AI Concerns
02:08 AI Companions vs. Human Connection
04:05 Human Nature and AI Dangers
06:01 AI's Limitations Explained
10:01 Teaching God's Sovereignty
12:01 Demystifying AI Technology
14:02 Support for Christian Schools
17:13 AI Prompt for Theological Discussion
19:14 Closing Prayer and Reflection
Contact Robb
ralmy@gofcs.org
Featured Tool/ Resource
Gamma AI https://gamma.app/
Recommended
Transcript
The Moral and Spiritual Dimensions of AI
00:00:00
Speaker
Have you ever heard someone say that using artificial intelligence is playing God? Or maybe you've wondered yourself, can AI ever cross a moral or a spiritual line when it begins to mimic human thinking, human emotion, or even faith?
00:00:19
Speaker
Today in the Christian Educators AI Guide podcast, we are going to attempt to answer some of those questions.
00:00:42
Speaker
Welcome to the Christian Educators AI Guide Podcast, where we help Christian educators redeem AI for their teaching. I'm your host, Rob Almey, and today we are exploring one of the biggest fears people have, especially followers of Jesus, and that is this idea that AI is somehow going to replace God.
00:01:05
Speaker
We'll unpack that concern and where it comes from, what scripture says about it, what scripture says about human creativity, and how we can teach students to approach AI with humility and discernment.
AI Companions vs. Human Connections
00:01:18
Speaker
But first, let's look at what's happening in the world of AI as we turn to our AI news segment for today.
00:01:30
Speaker
in today's AI news, a report from Common Sense Media found that nearly 3 out of 4, 75% of US teens have used what they call AI companions, chatbots designed to sound human and act like virtual friends.
00:01:47
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Even more striking, about one-third of those teens said conversations with their AI companion were as satisfying, or catch this, listeners, even more satisfying than talking with a friend.
00:02:02
Speaker
The study's authors noted that many students described the AI companions as always available, never judgmental, and easy to talk to. Now, on the surface, that might sound harmless, might even sound helpful, especially for kids that struggle socially.
00:02:23
Speaker
But for us as Christian educators, this raises an important question. Are our students beginning to turn to machines for the kind of connection and the kind of real relationships that ultimately only God can provide?
00:02:42
Speaker
This research from Common Sense Media reminds us that AI can simulate empathy, can sound empathetic, but it can't offer true understanding.
00:02:54
Speaker
Real connection. And this is going to be a theme throughout this show. Real connection happens through presence. Real connection happens through prayer and the Holy Spirit working through human relationships.
00:03:08
Speaker
So as we guide our students, let's help them see the difference. between feeling understood by a chatbot and being known by their creator.
AI in Christian Theology
00:03:21
Speaker
This new segment leads us perfectly into our big question for this episode.
00:03:31
Speaker
Our big question for this episode is this. Is AI playing God? The integration of AI into Christian settings poses theological dangers by playing God, risking due dehumanization and introducing bias that contradicts moral teaching.
00:03:52
Speaker
Those are my words. It's a quote from Sterling Martin Allen in an article from Firebrand magazine entitled The Theological and Ethical Dangers Associated with Using Artificial Intelligence in Christian Religious Settings.
00:04:07
Speaker
It's a strong warning. But the question remains, ah our big question for this episode, is AI really playing God? Or is something else going on here?
00:04:22
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I understand where that fear comes from. When people talk to an AI chatbot, it's as if the machine has emotion or wisdom.
00:04:34
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Or when you start trusting machines more than our maker, it does look like we're trending and treading on the sacred.
00:04:47
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But I don't believe AI is playing God. The real danger isn't in the machine. The real danger isn't in the AI.
The Dangers of Deifying AI
00:04:56
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But instead, it's in us as human beings.
00:05:00
Speaker
When we try to take God's place by chasing control, pride, or independence, it's as old as humanity itself.
00:05:11
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Yep, it's Genesis 3 again. The sin nature, original sin.
00:05:19
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This article raises real concerns. Make no doubt about it. AI might distort truth. AI has the potential to spread bias and to lead people to substitute machine-generated human responses for real spiritual reflection.
00:05:35
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That's valid. Those are valid warnings. But I would suggest calling AI divine divine. or calling it godlike, gives AI too much credit.
00:05:50
Speaker
Yes, a computer can stimulate and simulate conversation, but it cannot create life. A computer cannot offer forgiveness.
00:06:04
Speaker
ah computer A computer, AI, can't love a soul. When you boil it right down, what AI is, it's really a set of predictive outcomes that that are produced, that are based on programming and learning that humans have set it up to do.
00:06:23
Speaker
It does not have a heart. It does not have a mind. And you know what? No matter whether we give AI a name or say it can do things like think or create.
00:06:38
Speaker
And by the way, if you're giving your AI a name, I would stop. Because by giving your AI a name, like Chuck, my AI assistant, you are thereby personifying it. You're turning it into a human being.
00:06:54
Speaker
When you use words, and and Google does this itself, right? It says it is thinking. Well, it's not really thinking. Because a machine can't think. It can make predictive outcomes and analysis, but it doesn't really think.
00:07:09
Speaker
And don't say that AI created this for me. No, there's only one that creates. That's God the Father Almighty. There's the crown of His creation created in in His image that co-creates with Him. That's humanity.
00:07:27
Speaker
Instead, what AI does... What these machines do is they generate. Maybe think that's splitting hairs, but I think it's important for us as Christian educators to keep that language so that we are not personifying the AI.
00:07:44
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So having a heart, offering forgiveness, creating life, those are not machine actions. Instead, they are actions of a creator God and his created beings, us created in his image.
00:08:02
Speaker
Some of this goes all the way back to the 11th chapter of Genesis, to the Tower of Babel. If you remember that story, humanity had said, you know, let's make a name for ourselves.
00:08:15
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Tower Babel wasn't about bricks and mortar. That's the miss point of that Bible story. The story of the Tower of Babel was about humanity's pride, its need for control.
00:08:30
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The desire to reach heaven on our own terms. It was the sin of Lucifer, the devil, right? Who wanted to be on God's throne. It was the sin of of Adam and Eve.
00:08:42
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When the serpent tempted Eve and said, God's afraid that when you eat the fruit, that you will be like him. We all tend to try to set ourselves up as God, to have control of everything, to make ourselves the center of the universe.
AI's Neutrality: A Double-Edged Sword
00:09:00
Speaker
That's the same temptation behind much of today's AI obsession. There's a parallel. Now, it's important to understand AI isn't inherently evil. It's like money.
00:09:13
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It's amoral. Money is neither good or evil. A lot of times people get that confused in the Bible and say money is the root of all evil. It's not. It's the love of money. The love of money, that's the root of all evil. AI is not evil, but the love and obsession of AI, the humanizing, the personification of AI, that can become very harmful.
00:09:35
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It's a reflection of human ingenuity. AI. It's part of our God-given creativity that God has given us the gifts just as God has given us the gifts to create medicines that help to heal our bodies.
00:09:49
Speaker
But like any created thing, it can become an idle AI. It can become dangerous when it takes God's rightful place in our trust and our dependence.
00:10:00
Speaker
Our job as Christian educators is to remind students and that stewardship of students that we have is to remind them That AI is not omniscient. It doesn't know all things.
00:10:13
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AI is not omnipresent. It is not present in all places. And it's not omnipotent. It's not all powerful. It doesn't know in the biblical sense.
00:10:24
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Instead, as I've said earlier, it only predicts. True wisdom comes from the Lord and not from lines of code. True wisdom comes from the Lord.
00:10:37
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and not from lines of code. Well, let me share with you four ways to keep technology in its place in the classroom.
Educators' Guide to Ethical AI Use
00:10:49
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So here's how we can make sure that technology is in its proper place in our classroom, and specifically AI. The first way is to teach God's sovereignty.
00:11:01
Speaker
Sovereignty is the fancy way of saying, the theological way of saying that God is in control. Remind students that only God is all-knowing. That every other form of so-called intelligence is limited.
00:11:16
Speaker
So teach God's sovereignty. A second way we can keep keep technology in its proper place is to model discernment. This is so important, I think. It's so important to throw something there up on your your smart board. or If you're still using a projector, to use your projector and and put it into Google Gemini and go through an exercise and and model discernment with your students. So when using ai talk openly about its strengths, but also its limits.
00:11:45
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show that hum Show what humble, thoughtful use looks like when it comes to AI. A third way that we can keep technology in its proper place is to demystify the machine.
00:12:00
Speaker
To explain how AI actually works. To help students understand technology. It's just algorithms that's been trained on human data that is predictive.
00:12:12
Speaker
When students know there's they're like less likely to ascribe to AI and technology divine power, you know, keep technology in its place as our servant and not our master.
00:12:28
Speaker
A final way we can keep technology in its proper place is to encourage worship, not wonder. Use every, here's what I mean, use every tech conversation as a chance to redirect awe back to the creator, not the creation.
00:12:51
Speaker
Frame it in that biblical framework of giving God the glory. To God be the glory. Great things he has done, says the old hymn.
00:13:06
Speaker
Humanity was created to glorify and to in enjoy God. We have to help our students because we are stewards of them. under the sacred trust of their parents and in partnership with their parents and their pastors and their church to help them to think in these ways and to help them to put technology in its place.
00:13:30
Speaker
When we teach from that perspective, AI becomes a tool of stewardship. It's not a tower of Babel full of pride and humanity trying to put a itself in God's place.
00:13:41
Speaker
You know, and maybe you're listening to this episode right now and you're thinking to yourself, you know, our school is trying to figure all this out, but it's so overwhelming. We don't even know where to start.
00:13:52
Speaker
If that's you, I'd like to come alongside your team. I've been helping. a local Christian school, start the conversation about AI with faith and with clarity.
00:14:07
Speaker
If you'd like to explore what that might look like in your setting, whether that be just meeting with your faculty or on a leadership retreat with your administrators or broadly across the whole spectrum of your school community, then just reach out.
00:14:24
Speaker
have my contact info in the show notes, and I'd be happy to hear from you. And we can talk about what might best fit your setting, what might best equip your teachers to lead with both confidence and conviction.
00:14:39
Speaker
And now let's turn to our featured tool and resource for this episode.
Gamma AI: A New Tool for Presentations
00:14:48
Speaker
Today's featured resource Gamma AI. Gamma AI. is a game changer, especially if you are a person that puts together a lot of slide presentations.
00:15:02
Speaker
One of my favorite tools for teachers and presenters who want to click create clean, professional-looking lesson slides, handouts, and study guides in minutes is Gamma AI. With Gamma AI, you simply type out your main idea or copy your notes and upload them, and it instantly turns it into beautiful formatted slides.
00:15:22
Speaker
Web pages, you can even export them as PDFs. And so what used to take hours now just takes minutes.
00:15:33
Speaker
What used to take hours can now just be done in a few clicks. And that means more time for what matters most. Investing in your students, spending time with the Lord, taking care of yourself. I used Gamma AI to turn Bible lessons into nice outlines.
00:15:50
Speaker
parent night presentations, and even faculty meeting notes into stunning visual formats. You can edit everything easily. You can add your own scripture passages or ref reflection in questions.
00:16:02
Speaker
You keep the final product aligned with your school's values and message. Here's the best part about Gamma AI. Gamma AI just doesn't save time. It helps you communicate with clarity and excellence, reflecting the biblical principle of doing all things with excellence as unto the Lord.
00:16:21
Speaker
If you'd like to try Gamma AI for yourself, I am going to drop in the show notes the link to Gamma AI. It is one of those freemium tools where you get a certain amount free. I think in the free version, you also have the Gamma AI watermark.
00:16:35
Speaker
But if you pay for one of the paid versions, you get more generations and you also get rid of that watermark. So if you've been looking for a way to simplify your prep time while creating engaging professional visuals,
00:16:49
Speaker
Like I said, Gamma AI is a game changer. It's one more way to redeem technology for good in your teaching. That leads us to the next segment of our show, to our quick tip or prompt of the week.
Classroom Discussions on AI as a Deity
00:17:06
Speaker
Here's a simple AI prompt to help your students think theologically about technology. This is one that you're going to want to demonstrate in class. Now, you're going to need to adjust it for your age group of students, so I trust that you can do that creatively if you're a middle school teacher or an elementary school teacher.
00:17:23
Speaker
But here's here's the prompt. List three ways people might be tempted to treat AI as a god. Then explain how a biblical worldview works. would respond to each.
00:17:36
Speaker
And so, again, you can pull up Gemini AI on your computer, put it it up there on the screen on your smart board, type it in there, and see what it gets. And now here's a great opportunity to teach that discernment piece to your student because this prompt will spark powerful conversation about dependence or idolatry or stewardship.
00:18:00
Speaker
It also gives you a great opening to bring the Scripture to bear. You might go back to Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel. You might weave in Proverbs 3, 5.
00:18:12
Speaker
five But it's a wonderful opportunity to have some wonderful discussion and to ground it in the Scripture. It's so necessary in all things, but especially when it comes to AI and technology, to keep our eyes on Jesus.
Prayers for Responsible Technology Use
00:18:28
Speaker
Having this type of prompt and using this type of prompt with your students can help you to do that. But part of how we do that here at the Christian Educators AI Guide podcast is that as we are bringing our episodes in for a landing, as we're bringing them to a close, we always like to close with a word of prayer.
00:18:49
Speaker
So if you would join me in a word of prayer.
00:18:55
Speaker
Heavenly Father, you alone, Our creator. You are the Lord over all things. Thank you for giving us creativity to build.
00:19:07
Speaker
Explore. And learn. But remind us Lord. That no invention. No technology. Can ever replace you. Teach us humility.
00:19:20
Speaker
As we use technology. May we never look upon it. As our God. Help to. Keep us, Lord, from turning it in to something that it is not.
00:19:35
Speaker
But help us always to apply our thoughts against your holy word so that we might glorify you, so that we might honor you, so that the name of Jesus would be lifted up in all that we do so that we could teach with excellence all unto you.
00:19:55
Speaker
We pray all this In the powerful name of your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
00:20:04
Speaker
If this episode helped you to think more biblically about technology, it would mean the world to me if you would share that with another Christian educator or another school leader. And if you haven't yet had the opportunity to follow the Christian Educators AI Guide podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube, I encourage you to go ahead and click follow so that you don't miss a future episode. episode Because no matter how advanced technology becomes, our hope and our wisdom begins and ends with our maker, our creator, with God Almighty.
00:20:43
Speaker
Now go and redeem AI for education. Go and redeem AI for the gospel. And may you go in peace.