Can Christian Writers Evangelize Artificial Intelligence?

I think it is safe to say that we can no longer go back to a world without artificial intelligence.

This technology is everywhere. We use it at work. We engage with it as we unwind and play. It’s behind our social media interactions.

The time may come when our children will be so reliant on AI that it would enjoy the status of being their teacher, counselor or friend.

And people would believe whatever AI says.

We may doubt those in authority, but we’d instantly trust artificial intelligence.

When that happens, what kind of world do we see our children living in?

Is it a world where instant access to information guarantees a good life for all? Is it a world where many of our concerns about the environment would finally be addressed by technology?

Most of all, is it a world where TRUTH can still be found?

It is Jesus Christ Himself who prophesied about that time when all the world will grow so dim one could hardly find the light of faith.

“But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:8 (NABRE)

If that time comes when people have become more reliant upon technology than upon institutions and those in authority, how can we tell if AI will not be biased in giving people the information they demand?

A person may finally feel the desperation of living a life without faith and one day, he or she may ask an AI like ChatGPT or Bard questions about faith.

How then would that AI respond?

Would AI even know where to search for truth? Where would it get the information it supplies to people?

Personally, I think an AI merely echoes the information it receives from various databases online and offline. It reads whatever we human beings put out there. And then it processes the data that it gets.

And this is the point that made me realize the value of evangelizing AI!

An artificial intelligence system must learn somehow. But how can it learn about faith and the basis of our faith if there are no materials to process about them?

In a way, I believe that we can “evangelize” even artificial intelligence.

We can share the Good News by writing blog posts like this, by publishing books, and by sharing our ideas through various social media platforms. We can utilize every possible means to ensure that our message can be perceived somehow. Because if we remain silent now, what do we do if no one listens to us tomorrow?

Christian writers have this tremendous opportunity to influence future generations by evangelizing the kind of technology that would dominate the world.

So even if you think no one is reading your writings now, and even if you believe you have posted your work to the void, don’t be disheartened.

God can use every gift for a greater good. And His timing is always perfect.

Let us do what we can today and entrust God for the fruits of our labors.

Proclaim the Good News everywhere! It will find its way to those who will seek it with their hearts.

“Yet just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me empty,
but shall do what pleases me,
achieving the end for which I sent it.”
-Isaiah 55:10-11 (NABRE)