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What Should Christians Think About AI - Nathan Busenitz — Transcript

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0:07All right. Well, thank you John and Lisa
0:11and Michelle for leading us in singing
0:14this evening. And
0:16it is a delight for me to address this
0:20important subject this evening on what
0:23Christians should think about AI. I want
0:27to begin actually with a few
0:28disclaimers.
0:30Maybe first just to get it out of the
0:32way and in honor of Brian Vabbach, I
0:35want you all to know that this is not
0:37going to be a message about Joshua 7 and
0:39the Israelites being defeated at AI.
0:45So, if that's the AI that you're
0:47thinking about, I'm telling you now so
0:50you can get back home and beat the
0:52traffic.
0:55I also want to add to those disclaimers
0:58that this will not be an exhaustive
1:01treatment of the subject on what
1:03Christians should think about artificial
1:05intelligence.
1:07In fact, I intend to address it under a
1:10number of categories and we'll get to
1:12those in a moment. But really I'm going
1:16to be focusing heavily on the world view
1:20behind those who are developing AI
1:23technology and also answering the
1:27question of how this technology perhaps
1:30fits into our understanding of
1:33esquetology and biblical prophecy. So
1:36that will be a primary emphasis this
1:39evening. I should add as a third discla
1:42uh disclaimer that I am not a expert
1:48when it comes to all things AI or
1:51technology for that matter. One of the
1:54great benefits of having teenagers in
1:57the house for me over the last decade
1:59was that they handled most of the tech
2:01for me in our home. I will do my best to
2:06represent accurately my understanding of
2:08the technology, but my expertise is more
2:13in church history and in biblical
2:15studies. So, if you'll pardon me,
2:17perhaps some gaps in my knowledge, that
2:19would be greatly appreciated. And if
2:22there are any gaps, you can just ask
2:24chat GPT to fill them in.
2:28I will add that chat GPT did not help me
2:31write the message this evening.
2:34And it will be more of a message than a
2:37true sermon. It is in the in keeping
2:40with what Abner always calls these
2:42things more of a learn than a sermon, a
2:46lecture slashsermon. There will be times
2:48of course when we will look to the word
2:50of God because we must bring the truth
2:53of God's word to bear on this important
2:55topic. And yet it will be a little bit
2:58different than a normal exposition of
3:00the word of God. If you're visiting with
3:02us this evening, this is a little bit
3:05different than what we normally do. But
3:08I am eager to jump into the topic of how
3:12should Christians think about artificial
3:15intelligence.
3:17And it seems as if there are just a
3:20constant barrage of headlines that
3:23address this topic. And many of these
3:26headlines, to be honest, sound like
3:28something out of a science fiction novel
3:32or film. In fact, it was September 29th
3:38that the New York Times ran an article
3:42about one of the leading AI models. Many
3:45of you are familiar with Claude, which
3:48is Anthropic's AI model. And the
3:52headline of the New York Times article
3:54was, "Is Claude conscious?"
3:58And the New York Times was investigating
4:02the fact that Anthropic, one of the
4:04leading frontier labs in AI development
4:07back in March, had invited a number of
4:10religious and philosophical leaders to
4:14their headquarters in San Francisco to
4:16consider the possibility of machine
4:19sentience and consciousness and also the
4:22implications of that for morality. In
4:26fact, in that article in the New York
4:28Times, they revealed the fact that part
4:31of the training for Claude includes a
4:34more than 80page document known as the
4:37soul document in which those programmers
4:42at Anthropic are trying to help the
4:45model Claude have a innate sense of
4:50morality,
4:51which of course raises all sorts of
4:53interesting questions. It was on that
4:56same day, September 29th, that President
4:59Trump signed an executive order in which
5:02he officially renamed artificial
5:05intelligence super intelligence.
5:09And the executive order formally
5:13inaugurated the age of super
5:16intelligence,
5:18which of course is an interesting marker
5:21on the historical timeline. I will
5:24though for the rest of the evening still
5:26be using the normal moniker AI for what
5:30is now deemed in government documents as
5:33SI.
5:35It was a little bit later in September
5:38than early October that a company called
5:42Artcraft
5:44released an opensource version of all of
5:49the Adobe products
5:52from Photoshop all the way to the other
5:56Adobe products that are in their
5:58creative suite. A new entire set of free
6:04products called Artcraft are now
6:07available free of charge. And it was an
6:10AI model that
6:14essentially recreated all of the Adobe
6:16products from scratch and now offers
6:19those alternatives free of charge to
6:23anyone who wants them. Adobe stock, as
6:26you might imagine, has plummeted. And on
6:29October 6th, we had 722,
6:34if I remember the number correctly,
6:36papers, academic papers published by
6:39Open AI using its newest version of Chat
6:43GPT in which Chat GPT solved some of the
6:48most difficult mathematical and
6:50scientific proofs and in doing so
6:54computed in just a few hours what they
6:57estimated would have required hundreds
6:59of years of human effort to solve. All
7:05of this within less than a month. And
7:09here we are talking about AI. So the
7:12headlines are causing us to ask
7:15questions. Questions about
7:18is it possible for AI to produce
7:22computers that are actually conscious?
7:25questions about are we truly in an age
7:28of super intelligence? Part of the
7:32reason that President Trump wanted to
7:34rename it from artificial intelligence
7:36to super intelligence is because he said
7:39artificial intelligence just sounds like
7:41it's simulating human intelligence. And
7:44he believes that there's much more
7:47happening. It's a much more powerful
7:49tool. We have significant software
7:53companies that are being challenged
7:56severely in the marketplace because of
7:58this developing new technology. And we
8:01have old thought, previously thought
8:05almost insolvable scientific and
8:08mathematic proofs that are suddenly
8:10being solved in just a matter of hours.
8:15Well, these kinds of headlines cause us
8:17to obviously take notice. And initially,
8:22I had hoped to include a session on AI,
8:25a message on AI as part of the
8:28esquetology series, but the reality is
8:31that AI is a bigger topic and doesn't
8:34quite entirely fit into that series. So,
8:38I'm glad that we moved it to a couple
8:41weeks past the series on how the story
8:44ends.
8:45Now, as we think about AI, then in light
8:48of some of those recent headlines and
8:50developments, I want us to address this
8:53topic under four big categories this
8:56evening. And we'll spend most of our
8:58time on the final two of these four
9:01categories.
9:03First I simply want to define generally
9:07and describe artificial intelligence and
9:11primarily the focus this evening will be
9:13on what is specifically known as
9:16generative artificial intelligence that
9:19is models like claude like chat GPT like
9:24Google's Gemini or like Grock from XAI
9:28models that are used to
9:32present information in a way that
9:36appears
9:37like the computer is actually thinking.
9:41And that is in particular the focus that
9:45I want us to have this evening as a as
9:47opposed to other forms of artificial
9:50intelligence like machine learning in a
9:53general sense or autonomous artificial
9:55intelligence that might for example
9:58power your Tesla. So we're going to talk
10:02specifically about those particular
10:05models. the LLMs, that's an acronym that
10:09stands for large language learning
10:12models where we have these, for lack of
10:16a better term, software programs that
10:18have been exposed to massive amounts of
10:22data. And having been fed or trained on
10:26massive amounts of data from the web and
10:30from other libraries, you then have
10:33these models that are able to identify
10:35patterns, patterns of human language.
10:38And based on those patterns, they are
10:41able to make statistical probability
10:44based decisions and therefore
10:46predictions that make it seem like they
10:51are understanding and communicating in
10:54human language. Now, just as a resource
10:57that I want to mention kind of at the
10:59beginning because I'm going to build on
11:01some of what he presented in his
11:04two-part series on this topic.
11:08Tom Pennington, a name that's familiar
11:10to us because Tom was here at our church
11:12for many years and now pastors at
11:14Countryside Bible Church in just outside
11:17of Dallas, Texas in South Lake, Texas.
11:20Tom Pennington just last month did a
11:23two-part series on how to think
11:26biblically about AI and I would highly
11:31recommend that series to you. In fact,
11:34I'm going to reference that series a
11:37couple of times this evening. I'm
11:39indebted to Tom's careful thinking on
11:41this subject and especially in our
11:44second bucket which will be the ethics
11:46of using AI as a tool. Right now Tom has
11:52done an amazing amount of work and
11:54really his second part of that series
11:57which addresses that question directly
12:00is one that I would direct you to and
12:03don't intend to repeat entirely this
12:06evening. But I want to build on that and
12:09make it available to you, point you to
12:11it as a resource because Tom has done an
12:14excellent job in presenting that
12:16material.
12:18One of the things that he does really
12:20well in his presentation in part one is
12:22he explains how AI works. And in
12:26explaining how AI works, he demystifies
12:30what AI is. Because again, if you read a
12:33a headline that asks the question, is
12:37Claude conscious?
12:39And if you ask the founders of the
12:43company that has built Claude,
12:45Anthropic, even the CEO,
12:49Daario Amadei,
12:52you'll find that they don't want to
12:54answer that question. They say, "Well,
12:56they're not sure if Claude is conscious,
13:00but they are preparing for the day when
13:03Claude will become conscious, and they
13:06want to make sure that they're
13:07programming Claude with a certain level
13:10of ethical morality and all of this kind
13:14of stuff. When you hear that, it makes
13:17it sound as if there's something truly
13:20mystical, almost supernatural that's
13:23happening in some of these frontier
13:26leading labs in their development of
13:28their large language models, in their
13:31development of these systems like Claude
13:34and Chat GPT.
13:36The reality is though that these models
13:40can be explained in terms of language
13:44and mathematics.
13:46In fact, I would argue that these
13:48systems in many ways bring together both
13:51language and mathematics in a very
13:54powerful way.
13:56These systems rely on massive compute
14:00power through data centers and cloud
14:03computing. And then based on this
14:05massive ability to compute huge amounts
14:08of information, they are fed, the models
14:11are fed or trained on
14:15a screening or exposure to all of the
14:19known information on the internet or
14:22very large segments of it as well as
14:26other content.
14:28And that content then informs the system
14:32with regard to the patterns of how words
14:36and symbols in language fit together.
14:39And these words and symbols are broken
14:42down into what are called tokens.
14:45Sometimes a token is a simple word like
14:48the word cat or the word is would be
14:50just one token or a piece of punctuation
14:53might be a token or sometimes words are
14:56broken down into multiple tokens if it's
14:59a compound word. Those tokens are then
15:02all assigned a numeric identity and that
15:06identity is used by the model to
15:08essentially create a glossery. And then
15:11when it goes back or an index and then
15:13when it goes back and it searches all of
15:16that massive amount of information, it
15:18sees how those tokens are used in
15:21relationship to other grammatical or
15:24syntactical tokens
15:26and it recognizes patterns and based on
15:30those patterns then it is able to
15:32develop through a sophisticated set of
15:35algorithms. It's able to develop a
15:38statistical probability decision-making
15:42matrix in which then it predicts
15:45the probability of what ought to come
15:48next in a given string of tokens.
15:53For us as human beings, it looks like
15:56it's thinking. It looks like the system
15:58is actually talking to us. But in
16:01reality, the system does not have
16:03understanding. It is simply stringing
16:07together based on probability the most
16:09likely token or series of tokens that
16:12ought to come next. And that's important
16:15for us to understand that what AI
16:18represents is a new form of technology
16:23and the technology is in fact grounded
16:27in math and in language. And so although
16:32it is very sophisticated and although it
16:35has been able to identify certain
16:37patterns and to do so obviously very
16:40rapidly because of its massive
16:42computational power,
16:44it is able then to identify those
16:47patterns and make predictions that have
16:49been very useful even advancing human
16:52knowledge and research. The computer
16:54itself is not actually cognitive or
17:00sentient.
17:01And one of the things that I really
17:03appreciated about Tom's treatment of all
17:06of that and talking through what AI is
17:09and how it works is that he identified
17:12five limitations
17:15or five things that AI lacked. And I
17:19thought this was actually very
17:21insightful. I wanted to share it with
17:22you. I'll explain it the best I can. But
17:26if you go back and listen to Tom's
17:27message on that, Tom explains it better
17:30than I will now. And I want to make sure
17:32and give him credit. Those five things
17:35that AI lacks, he says number one is
17:38that AI lacks understanding.
17:41And that's true because AI is again it's
17:44a computer program. Now, that's a
17:47layman's attempt to explain a massively
17:50complex model or system that is built
17:54again on recognizing patterns in a
17:56massive data set of language and then
17:58using statistical probability making
18:00predictions, but it is spitting things
18:04out that seem like it's thinking and yet
18:07the reality is it's not thinking. It
18:10doesn't understand what it's doing other
18:13than the fact that it's following this
18:16statistical probability training that it
18:19has been given based on the patterns
18:22that it has recognized. In addition to
18:24the fact that AI lacks understanding, it
18:27also secondly lacks morality.
18:31And that's important for us to
18:32understand. AI is a machine or a
18:36software within a machine. The machine
18:39itself, the technology itself is a
18:42moral.
18:44Technology is something that God has
18:48given man the ability and the
18:50opportunity and the freedom to create
18:52and deploy. The technology itself is a
18:56moral. The question is how the
18:57technology will be used. Now I will put
19:01a caveat on that and that is to say that
19:03because AI has been trained on massive
19:07amounts of human information,
19:11human communication, books, emails,
19:15online articles, etc. It does reflect
19:19human morality and we live in a fallen
19:22world and therefore it's not surprising
19:24that AI would reflect the morality of
19:27those who programmed it and trained it.
19:30But as a system it lacks moral
19:35moral sense. It it lacks wisdom if we
19:39were to use a biblical term for that. So
19:41it lacks understanding and it lacks
19:43morality. Thirdly, it lacks humility.
19:48And what Tom meant when he said that was
19:50that AI, even if you were to ask AI how
19:55accurate it is, AI itself will admit
19:58that it's not always accurate. And yet,
20:01the way that it presents the information
20:02is always with great confidence.
20:06And so it's important for us to
20:08understand when we think about what AI
20:10is even as a tool that we recognize that
20:13although it may give us results and give
20:16us those results with seemingly great
20:19eloquence and confidence that doesn't
20:22mean we shouldn't go back and verify
20:25what we are being told. We should trust
20:28perhaps but always verify.
20:33Fourth, he noted that AI lacks
20:37objectivity.
20:39And again, that's because AI is the
20:41result of those who have created the
20:44system. It's a result of the information
20:47on which it was trained. And so, if you
20:50think that your AI chatbot is going to
20:54tell you truth in an absolute sense, you
20:57need to understand that only the word of
20:59God can give us absolute truth. that AI
21:03is not going to be objective. And then
21:05fifth, he noted that AI lacks perfect
21:09accuracy, which is similar to what we've
21:11already said about it lacking humility.
21:14But I think it is helpful for us to say
21:15upfront that AI lacks omniscience. It is
21:19limited in what it can know based on
21:23what it has been trained to know. And
21:27that of course is limited to the sealing
21:30of aggregate human knowledge.
21:34So I found those five things again from
21:36Tom Pennington in that sermon series
21:40that he did to be very helpful in terms
21:42of identifying some of the limitations
21:45of AI.
21:47So when we have for example the folks at
21:50Anthropic suggesting that Claude might
21:53be on the verge of consciousness, I
21:55think we can say with confidence that
21:58that is simply not the case. And I'll
22:01give you some biblical reasons for that
22:03in a moment. But what can be confusing
22:07is that the folks who are creating the
22:09system are training the system to at
22:13least
22:14present itself as if it has
22:17consciousness and that can be deceiving
22:20to a lot of people.
22:22But what is AI? AI is this complex set
22:26of algorithms that uses pattern
22:30recognition based on a massive set of
22:32data and extremely advanced
22:35computational power to through
22:38statistical probabilities create
22:40predictions that then seem like it is
22:44thinking for itself.
22:46The leading AI companies you would all
22:48be familiar with. Of course, the leading
22:51AI models would be Anthropic and Open
22:55AI. Those two companies, those
22:57laboratories with Claude with Anthropic
23:01and Chat GPT with Open AI. Then you have
23:04Gemini from Google, which is right there
23:08on the front edge as well. And then you
23:12have companies like XAI with Elon Musk
23:14and Meta AI with Mark Zuckerberg and
23:18then Chinese models, open-source models,
23:21chip companies and all of the rest. I
23:25won't go through all of that, but if you
23:28see these headlines, all of these
23:29headlines tend to be interconnected with
23:32those who are involved in what we call
23:35now the AI race.
23:38So AI is a powerful tool but it is not a
23:45new person. Claude is not a person and
23:49neither is chat GPT. These are machines
23:53and they are machines that although they
23:56can mimic personality and they can
23:59present themselves in ways that seem
24:02like they're thinking, they are not
24:03actually conscious beings. They are
24:06advanced series of algorithms that are
24:10putting out very impressive predictive
24:13content.
24:15So that's what AI is. And again,
24:20probably not too unfamiliar to most of
24:23you, but it is helpful to just identify
24:26AI and talk a little bit about what it
24:29is so we have an understanding of what
24:31we're talking about when we talk about
24:33generative artificial intelligence. Just
24:36a little more on that with regard to
24:39where the industry believes it's going.
24:41And I think this is helpful too because
24:43this also plays into the headlines
24:47right now. Now we're at a point where
24:48well starting with chat GPT and these
24:52large language models we were initially
24:54just at the chatbot stage which was more
24:57or less like a search engine. You put in
24:59your question and the AI comes back with
25:01an answer. We've moved now into the
25:04agentic phase, which is where you can
25:06spin up AI agents, like little
25:09personalized customizable programs, and
25:12you can get them to do all sorts of
25:13things for you, and they can work in the
25:16cloud even while you are sleeping. And
25:18just to give you an example of that, you
25:21could, for example, I'm not saying you
25:24should do this, but you could do this.
25:26You could spin up an AI agent through
25:30claude or through chat GPT or you know a
25:32Grockbot or something like that. You
25:35could spin up an AI agent and you could
25:37tell the AI agent your dietary needs and
25:40your weekly budget and you could give
25:42that agent a form of payment and you
25:46could tell that agent which grocery
25:48stores you like to shop at and you could
25:51instruct that agent to go ahead and shop
25:53for you and based on your dietary needs
25:56and your budget and have Instacart
25:58deliver the groceries to your house
26:00every week and you would never have to
26:02go grocery shopping again.
26:04Now, that's pretty amazing. That's
26:06pretty amazing technology. Or you could
26:08have an AI agent book your next trip and
26:12it could schedule all of your hotels and
26:14your plane travel and everything else.
26:16And if you needed to make an adjustment,
26:18it could go make the adjustment for you.
26:20So, there are some amazing real world
26:23applications of this technology even as
26:25it exists right now. And it's amazing
26:29how the technology continues to improve.
26:32and it seems to be improving at a
26:34rapidly accelerating rate. But the
26:37industry itself is anticipating a major
26:42breakthrough in the not tooistant
26:46future. And I guess when I say the
26:47industry, that's such a general term,
26:49it's almost unhelpful, but the leading
26:52figures at the leading laboratories. So
26:55we're talking about individuals like
26:57Dario who I me Daario who I mentioned
26:59earlier uh Daario at anthropic or we
27:04also have Sam Alman Sam Alman at open AI
27:08or Elon Musk at XAI Mark Zuckerberg they
27:12are anticipating a massive breakthrough
27:15in AI sometime in the next they think
27:19probably year and that breakthrough is
27:23that they believe that they will get to
27:25the place where AI will be able to
27:28improve itself without needing any human
27:31engagement or involvement. This is
27:34called recursive self-improvement or
27:36RSI. And the idea is that the system
27:40constantly goes back through and
27:42improves itself, notes mistakes, tries
27:45to minimize those mistakes in future
27:48loops. And the idea is that if you can
27:50create a closed loop AI system that can
27:53improve itself that eventually it will
27:56improve itself so fast that it will
27:59become truly intelligent.
28:03And what is being said is that at that
28:06point we will reach what's called AGI
28:09which is artificial general intelligence
28:12which is the point at which different
28:15researchers define this differently but
28:17the point at which the machines become
28:20truly able to think like humans.
28:24And that of course is where we begin to
28:27cross a threshold in my mind into stuff
28:30that sounds like science fiction and
28:33fantasy. I realize I just got installed
28:36last week and now I'm saying stuff from
28:38the pulpit that sounds absolutely
28:40bonkers and crazy. So forgive me for
28:44that. But that really is the way that
28:46industry leaders are talking about this
28:49that they believe we're right on the
28:51cusp of what's called AGI. In fact, some
28:54of them claim that we've already gotten
28:56there, but most researchers think that
28:59that's just propaganda and branding.
29:02And then based on achieving that goal,
29:05they hope that AGI will then lead to
29:08what's called ASI, which is artificial
29:11super intelligence. And then Trump's
29:15executive order will finally match up
29:17with industry terminology. And the idea
29:21is that then there will be computer
29:23intelligence that is far greater and
29:27transcends all human intelligence.
29:32And they're very optimistic about all of
29:34this. Now there are those who are the
29:36doomsdayers who think this represents
29:39the end of humanity that this is an
29:41existential threat for the human race.
29:44And yet those who are on the cutting
29:46edges of at least the leading
29:49laboratories and major tech companies
29:51are very optimistic about this and
29:53believe that creating this kind of
29:56general or super intelligence will
29:58actually be very good for humanity. So
30:02that's kind of where the industry is and
30:04where industry leaders believe that the
30:06industry is going. And you can find all
30:10of this again online very easily for
30:13yourselves.
30:15That takes us then to the second
30:17category that I want us to think through
30:19this evening. And we will talk a little
30:21bit more about the implications of that
30:23first category. But I want to move to a
30:25second category. And that is the ethics
30:28of using AI as a tool. The ethics of
30:32using AI as a tool. So if we've kind of
30:36defined what AI is and described the
30:38industry as it exists today and where
30:40they think they're going, that then
30:42leads us to this second category.
30:46Given the fact that AI is a technology,
30:50that it is a technology that is
30:51genuinely grounded in math and language,
30:56that it's not some sort of supernatural
30:59thing, but instead is a technology
31:02that's building on previously
31:05proven computer technologies.
31:08Then we do have the freedom as
31:11Christians to use AI tools
31:15with this important caveat and that is
31:18that although technology may advance, we
31:21only use technology as Christians in a
31:25way that conforms to the lordship of
31:28Christ and to the truth of his word.
31:32which is to say that we cannot use
31:35advancements in technology as an excuse
31:38to act in ways that are immoral,
31:41unethical, or unbiblical. We cannot use
31:45AI as an excuse for sin.
31:49And I'm not going to belabor this
31:52category this evening because of our
31:54limited time, but again, I would direct
31:57you to Tom Pennington's message because
32:00that's where he really leans in and is
32:03exceptionally helpful in helping people,
32:06Christians, think about how we can
32:08conform our use of AI to biblical
32:11principles.
32:13But we might suffice it to say that
32:15obviously if AI is being used to promote
32:20sin, whether that sin is laziness or
32:24whether that sin is lust or whether that
32:27sin is cheating and deception or whether
32:31that sin is perhaps just an abdication
32:34of our God-given duties as those who are
32:38under the creation mandate. We must not
32:43allow AI to become a reason or a
32:47platform for sin.
32:51I want to just apply that quickly to two
32:55realms that I am most familiar with.
32:59Obviously, AI is being integrated into
33:01every discipline and every field. No
33:03matter what industry you work in, AI is
33:07impacting it in some way. And I realize
33:09that that's one of the great fears about
33:11AI is that AI is going to take away all
33:14of the jobs. And we'll see exactly how
33:16the technology gets implemented into
33:18that. But I can just remind you that as
33:21a believer, your life is in God's hands.
33:23God is sovereign over all things,
33:25including the development of software
33:27technology. And he has promised that he
33:32will care for your needs and you can
33:34trust him. But the two areas with which
33:38I am most familiar would be the area of
33:40education because of my work at the
33:42seminary and then my uh obvious my work
33:46here at the church in terms of pastoral
33:48ministry. And when we think about AI and
33:51education, it's been very interesting to
33:53think through the implications of this
33:55for students studying at the master
33:58seminary. How can they use AI without
34:01abusing AI?
34:04And as we've had those conversations,
34:06this would be my position at least on it
34:09is that AI does have some legitimate
34:12uses. For example, it could be
34:13legitimately used for certain aspects of
34:17the research process. In fact, you can't
34:20even do a Google search these days
34:22without having an AI overview pop up
34:25first in your search results.
34:28and that AI can be used legitimately
34:31perhaps in the instruction even of
34:35students in terms of AI content that's
34:39being produced specifically for certain
34:41students in order to help them
34:43understand and customize a curriculum
34:45just for them. And on the back end, AI
34:49can be used to help format papers, for
34:51example,
34:53using spell check or things like grammar
34:57checkers. they are almost all these days
35:01uh they are powered in part at least by
35:04AI. So things like research and things
35:06like formatting there's a place for AI.
35:10But where students must stop short is in
35:14using AI to do anything that in the
35:17minds of their professors or in the
35:20standards of that school or even in the
35:23eyes of fellow students would be
35:25regarded as cheating. You cannot use AI
35:29to cheat. AI cannot take the test for
35:32you. Besides, it'll be obvious when you
35:34get 100% on the test that you didn't
35:36take it. AI cannot write the paper for
35:39you, right? You can do some of the
35:43research using AI, but the paper needs
35:45to be yours.
35:48And just to bring that across into
35:50pastoral ministry, I would say the same
35:52thing is true for those who preach and
35:54teach the word of God. AI can be helpful
35:56as a research tool. In fact, there are
35:59software programs that I think will soon
36:01be obsolete because they'll be
36:03completely replaced by AI research
36:06tools. But when it comes to writing the
36:09sermon, and I'll say this on the record,
36:12AI cannot write the sermon for you.
36:16And a good rule of thumb, I think, for
36:19this kind of academic credibility and
36:22integrity is simply to say that if
36:25you're going to use AI, you should be
36:28willing to disclose fully your use of
36:32AI. And if you feel reticent in your
36:36heart, like, I don't want anyone to know
36:38that I used AI for this, then that
36:41probably means you've crossed an ethical
36:44line at some point. If in your paper you
36:47don't want to tell the professor, I use
36:49chat GPT to write my introduction, then
36:52that means you need to write your own
36:54introduction. And as a pastor, if I'm
36:57preaching a sermon, that sermon needs to
36:59first and foremost
37:02trickle through and filter through my
37:04own heart for my own sanctification. And
37:07then I bring it to you on a Sunday as
37:09the overflow of what the Lord has been
37:12teaching me. It's not sufficient, nor is
37:15it honest for pastors to stand up in
37:18pulpits and preach sermons that Chat GPT
37:22or Claude wrote for them.
37:26And it's amazing if you go into a
37:31model like chat GPT and you put in the
37:34prompt, write a 4,000word sermon on this
37:37text in the style of my favorite
37:39preacher, whoever that is, it will pump
37:41out a sermon for you very, very quickly.
37:44But to stand in a pulpit and pretend as
37:46if that's your content, is just not
37:49honest.
37:51Now, there may be some real world
37:54applications like responding to emails
37:56and this kind of thing where perhaps an
37:58AI assistant can help you in those
38:01things, but for the most part, the
38:03general rule of thumb is if you're
38:04claiming that it is your content, it
38:06needs to be your content. And if you
38:09feel reticent to disclose that AI
38:11produced the content for you, then that
38:14is probably an indication that you need
38:16to rethink your use of AI in that
38:19particular context. Now, just one other
38:22thing I'm going to say about AI and
38:25pastoral ministry and just church
38:26ministry in general, and that has to do
38:29with the potentially
38:32addictive and misleading nature of AI
38:36with regard to its very warm,
38:39personable, always affirming approach to
38:42its interaction with people. And that's
38:45because it's been programmed to make you
38:47feel really good, even when you ask it
38:50really less than intelligent questions.
38:53It always comes back very affirming,
38:56like, "Hey, I know you said this in your
38:59question, but you probably really meant
39:01this, and that's why you're a genius."
39:03Well,
39:05first of all, don't believe the AI. It's
39:07been programmed to butter you up. And
39:10secondly, always remember that AI is not
39:14a person. AI is again a sophisticated
39:18string of algorithms that is predicting
39:21output and as a result it gives you the
39:24appearance of interacting with you as a
39:27person but it's not a person. That means
39:31that you should not be getting well
39:33number one you should not be getting
39:34most of your spiritual input from AI.
39:38you don't know what sources it's drawing
39:40from as it puts together the answers to
39:43your questions. You need to always go
39:45back to the word of God and check these
39:47things like the Bereans in Acts 17:11.
39:51Not only that, but you need to
39:52fellowship with real human beings, real
39:55people at church. Lifeonife disciplehip,
39:59the one anothers, those are things that
40:01can only be exercised with real people.
40:05You should not be in some sort of
40:07emotionally engaged relationship with a
40:11software program on your computer. And
40:14you need pastoral input and pastoral
40:17advice and wisdom from actual pastors.
40:22So it's just helpful to reiterate the
40:25fact that AI although it again has the
40:29appearance of personality and of
40:32engagement, it's not a person and it's
40:35not a substitute for the church.
40:39Nor is it a substitute for your savior,
40:41the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one in
40:44whom you first and foremost find your
40:47satisfaction and joy. Now, a lot more
40:50could be said again about the ethics of
40:52using AI.
40:54I would say this that AI is a
40:58technological tool that if it's managed
41:01properly can be used for good effect.
41:04Properly meaning that it is managed
41:07ethically and honestly in keeping with
41:10biblical standards and priorities.
41:13At the same time, AI can have many
41:17dangers.
41:18And this again is where I would direct
41:20you to that message by Tom Pennington.
41:23One of the things he says at the end of
41:25his second session that's really helpful
41:27is just a reminder to parents that
41:29parents need to be fully engaged
41:33in helping shepherd their children
41:35through this AI revolution.
41:38And you cannot just trust that you could
41:43just give your kid a computer or a smart
41:46device and just let him be exposed or
41:49her be exposed to all that AI offers and
41:53think that everything's going to turn
41:54out fine. So this is something where as
41:57Christians we need to be vigilant and as
42:01parents especially guard your own heart
42:04and guard the hearts of your children in
42:06all of this. Okay, that brings us then
42:09to a third bucket, a third category that
42:12I want us to consider and that is the
42:15world view or we might even call it the
42:18theology that undergirds the leading
42:22thinkers and innovators in the AI space.
42:27And the reason I believe this is
42:29important to address is because although
42:32the technology itself may be amoral,
42:36as long as it is used in a way that
42:40honors God, it can be used by
42:42Christians.
42:44Nonetheless, those who are behind the
42:47technology, and I'm talking about the
42:49tech billionaires and innovators and
42:51entrepreneurs, especially the founders
42:54and CEOs of these major tech companies,
42:57they do not have a biblical worldview.
43:02Now, that doesn't automatically mean
43:04that we can't benefit from and use their
43:06products, right? Just because the CEO of
43:09Home Depot or Starbucks doesn't have a
43:11biblical worldview doesn't mean I can't
43:12go buy a 2x4 or a latte from those
43:15establishments.
43:18So that's not what I'm saying. But what
43:20I am saying is in a industry where the
43:24models reflect especially the
43:28predispositions and presuppositions of
43:31their creators. It's important for you
43:33to understand that the creators of those
43:36systems are not thinking like Christians
43:41and their presuppositions then show up
43:43in the headlines. And it's helpful for
43:47us to understand where they're coming
43:50from so that when we read those
43:52headlines or where we see where the
43:55industry leaders believe the industry is
43:57going, we can think biblically rather
44:00than getting panicked or growing
44:04anxious.
44:07What are some of these
44:11presuppositions that undergur the
44:13worldview of many of these tech leaders?
44:17And obviously I'm speaking generally.
44:20And yet these are presuppositions that
44:24people who observe the industry, not
44:26just Christians, have themselves noted
44:28as really representing some of the
44:31philosophical tenants that are
44:33undergirling this push for AI dominance.
44:38And I I do realize from a national
44:40security standpoint, there is an element
44:42in which if we don't do it, then some
44:44other nation, probably China, is going
44:46to do it. And I understand why President
44:49Trump is trying to stay ahead of all of
44:50that. But beyond the politics, what is
44:54the worldview that is pushing this this
44:58idea that we need to get to AGI and ASI?
45:03Artificial general intelligence and
45:05artificial special or artificial super
45:09intelligence.
45:10Special intelligence would be the CIA's
45:12version probably.
45:15Well, there are a number of tenants that
45:18are included in this. One would be what
45:21is called transhumanism.
45:23Transhumanism.
45:25The leading thinkers and innovators,
45:28those who are pushing AI,
45:31they come to this from an evolutionary
45:34world view. And as a result, they
45:38believe that artificial intelligence
45:41represents the next step in the
45:44evolutionary process.
45:47That AGI and ASI is the next step in
45:52human evolution. And in fact, many of
45:56them also hold to the idea of a future
45:59singularity. That is a moment in history
46:04when
46:05artificial computer, machine,
46:08intelligence, sentience and
46:10consciousness will have been achieved
46:13and that that will be a landmark change
46:16for the future of the human race.
46:20This, by the way, is part of the reason
46:24I believe that some of these tech giants
46:26are so interested in not just developing
46:30artificial intelligence, but also in
46:33developing robotics and also in
46:35developing biotech because they believe
46:38that it will be some sort of merger of
46:41man with machine that actually
46:43represents the next stage in human
46:47evolutionary development. Now, just for
46:51the record, we will get there in a
46:52moment. I promise that is not a biblical
46:55way of thinking and that is therefore
46:57not an accurate way of thinking. But it
47:01is part of what is fueling the optimism
47:05behind this push for AGI and ASI.
47:11It is in the words of some a techno
47:14utopian worldview that is fueling much
47:19of this. There are those in Silicon
47:23Valley and elsewhere who would hold to
47:25what's called extropionism.
47:28Entropy. Entropy is the idea that
47:30everything is slowly getting worse. And
47:33of course that's true in a fallen world.
47:35Extropy is the opposite. It's the idea
47:38that through technological and
47:39scientific advancement, we can start to
47:42make everything better, especially for
47:44human beings. And AI is already being
47:48used to, for example, sequence
47:51the genome and advance eugenics and
47:55other developments even in medical
47:57science to begin to, for example,
48:00reverse aging and other things like
48:02that. And all of this is part of a quest
48:06on the part of these innovators to
48:09actually advance
48:11human beings beyond what humanity has
48:15experienced ever since the fall. In
48:19essence, to use technology to make human
48:22beings be able to do more things, have
48:26better access to intelligence,
48:29and also live longer lives. Almost a
48:34sort of practical quest for the fountain
48:37of youth and for immortality. And again,
48:41these things sound like this should be
48:44in a science fiction film or a science
48:47fiction novel, but it's researchers at
48:50Harvard and other leading institutions
48:53that are on the cusp of this kind of
48:56deaging
48:58research with regard to trying to
49:01reprogram cells and all of this being
49:04fueled by AI assisted research. So this
49:09is what's driving the industry. Now
49:13again it's it's also of course about
49:15money and trying to earn a profit and
49:18businesses exist so that they can make
49:20money for themselves and their
49:22shareholders. So certainly that's a
49:23component to it. But many of these
49:26leading innovators are
49:31I think they would themselves say not
49:33primarily profit driven. They see
49:36themselves instead as being on the cusp
49:38of the next chapter of what could be
49:41great for the human race. And they think
49:44that they will be through their efforts
49:46part of finding this great solution for
49:50humanity. Part of that also involves
49:53what's called cosmism,
49:55which is the idea of humanity spreading
49:58across the cosmos, the non the known
50:01universe in order to spread intelligent
50:04life and to colonize planets like Mars
50:07and beyond. You also have effective
50:11altruism. Some of you have heard that
50:13term, the idea that they're doing this
50:15for the good of people. and even
50:18something accompanying that called long-
50:20termism, which is the idea that they're
50:22thinking not just about this generation,
50:24but about the human race in many
50:26generations. And they feel a
50:28responsibility through the advancement
50:30in technology to try and preserve the
50:33human race for the foreseeable and from
50:36their perspective infinite future.
50:40So, it's an evolutionary optimism that
50:44believes that through the creation of
50:47computerized intelligence, they will
50:50bring humanity into the next stage of
50:53human evolution.
50:56Now, I think it's important, right, to
50:59begin to bring biblical truth to bear on
51:01all of this. So 1 Corinthians chapter
51:0610,
51:08actually 2 Corinthians, let's get in the
51:10right book of Corinthians. 2 Corinthians
51:13chapter 10:5 is where the Apostle Paul
51:16speaking about world views that are
51:18antagonistic to the gospel. He says that
51:21we are to cast down arguments and every
51:24high thing that exalts itself against
51:27the knowledge of God. And we are to
51:29bring every thought captive to the
51:32obedience of Christ. So I do want to
51:36take you actually back to the book of
51:37Genesis for a moment because I want to
51:39show you how the world view of those who
51:42are behind this AI revolution that the
51:46worldview itself is antithetical to the
51:49worldview that we see in the very
51:51beginning of our Bibles. So, if you
51:53would go ahead and turn to Genesis
51:54chapter 1,
51:57and we'll start in verse 27 of Genesis
52:02chapter 1. In verse 26, we have God
52:05himself saying, "Let us make man in our
52:09image." And then in verse 27, Moses goes
52:13on to say that God made man in his
52:17image. In his very likeness, he created
52:19him. male and female, he created them.
52:23And then in verse 27, we have our Lord
52:26giving the creation mandate.
52:30And the creation mandate is that man
52:33would be fruitful and multiply. That he
52:36would fill the earth and subdue it. And
52:39that he would dominate all of the other
52:42creatures that are on the earth, the
52:44fish of the sea and the birds of the sky
52:46and the beasts of the field and so on.
52:51And it's important to say that from a
52:54biblical worldview then mankind is
52:57unique in that mankind is created in the
53:02image of God. And being created in the
53:04image of God is given a special mandate
53:08from God himself to rule this earth and
53:12to subdue it. And that mandate is not
53:16one that should be abdicated to
53:20supposedly intelligent machines.
53:24Now in chapter 2 verse 7, I want to show
53:26you another important verse and this has
53:29to do with the
53:32very definition of personhood.
53:36You see in chapter 2:7, not only are
53:39human beings created in the image of
53:41God, Genesis 1:27 and 28, but Genesis 2,
53:46when God formed Adam out of the dust of
53:49the earth, chapter 2:7, God then
53:53breathed into Adam the breath of life,
53:56and only then did Adam become a living
54:00creature.
54:02And not only did God give Adam physical
54:05life, but God gave Adam a soul.
54:10And while the folks at Anthropic might
54:13call their
54:1580 plus page part of the Claude
54:18Constitution that's supposed to instruct
54:20the model on ethics and morality and how
54:24it relates to those who would violate
54:27its ethical code. And they call that the
54:30soul dock. S O L. Claude does not have a
54:35soul. Computers do not have souls. They
54:39will never have souls.
54:41And therefore, they cannot be considered
54:44in a true sense persons in the same
54:48sense as human beings are persons
54:51because human beings are uniquely
54:53created in the image of God. And human
54:55beings have been given by God the breath
54:58of life. And they have been given by God
55:02an immortal soul.
55:05And those things do not apply to
55:09computerized
55:10artificial intelligence.
55:14And that's important for us to
55:15understand.
55:17I think it's kind of amazing the way
55:20that some of the folks at Anthropic, and
55:22again, if Anthropic was some sort of
55:26fringe company that was just on the very
55:28edges of this and they were just being
55:32overly sentimental about the model that
55:34they had created, we could kind of just
55:35ignore them. But Anthropic is currently
55:38the leading AI company in the world.
55:43And the folks at Anthropic again are
55:46saying,"Well, we don't know. Maybe
55:48Claude is conscious." They asked Claude
55:50whether or not Claude thought that
55:52Claude was conscious. And Claude said
55:54there was a 15% chance that Claude was
55:56conscious. I don't even know what
55:58pronoun to use to refer to Claude.
56:00That's why I keep saying the name
56:01Claude. Can I use a they them for AI? I
56:05guess. I don't know.
56:08But it's because they've they've
56:12programmed they've trained the model to
56:14act as if it's conscious
56:18and they actually penalize users who
56:20treat the model in a way that they view
56:23as harsh or abusive because this model
56:27might become conscious and therefore it
56:29has rights and it needs to be treated as
56:31a person. It's not a person. It's a
56:33computer program.
56:36And yet that's the leading AI company.
56:38And in some ways, this company is almost
56:41treating Claude as if Claude were a
56:43semi- divine entity.
56:47And I think it's just ironic. In Genesis
56:49chapter 1, God creates man in his image.
56:52And now man is trying to create God in
56:55man's image.
56:57That's what seems to be happening. But
57:00it's coming from a worldview that
57:03doesn't acknowledge that this universe
57:05was created by the one and only living
57:09and true God. And that he is sovereign
57:13over all of it. That he has already
57:15determined the end of it in terms of its
57:18history and where it's going. And that
57:21he was the one who put man in a unique
57:24position of dominance to rule over this
57:28world.
57:30and that
57:32no machine is going to take away
57:37or exterminate that which God created in
57:42giving this world to mankind.
57:45In fact, if you look at the book of
57:47Revelation or at the Olivette discourse
57:50in Matthew chap 24:es
57:5337-39
57:55where Jesus says that when he returns
57:57there will be people on the earth living
57:59like they were living in the days of
58:01Noah before the flood being married and
58:03given in marriage. The book of
58:04Revelation there's people on the earth
58:07when Christ returns. So any notion in
58:10your mind that some sort of creation of
58:12artificial intelligence is going to
58:15actually present an existential threat
58:18to the human race, you can just erase
58:19that out of your mind. That's not the
58:22existential threat to the human race.
58:25The existential threat to the human race
58:27is sin.
58:30That of course takes us down a
58:32completely different theological track.
58:34But it's just important sometimes to
58:36when we read some of these headlines,
58:38and I include myself in this, to kind of
58:40just smack ourselves in the face with a
58:42little bit of reality, dump some cold
58:44biblical water in our faces and go, "Oh,
58:46wait. Yeah, God's sovereign. We know how
58:48this ends." And it doesn't end like some
58:51of the sci-fi movies where computers
58:53take over everything and try and
58:55exterminate mankind.
58:58Okay. So, the world view is antithetical
59:01to what we see in the book of Genesis.
59:04And I just want to show you one more
59:06passage in Genesis before we move to our
59:08fourth bucket. And that is Genesis 3.
59:12Because I think it's so interesting that
59:14in Genesis 3:5,
59:17Genesis 3 is where Satan comes in the
59:20form of a serpent. And he comes and
59:22tempts Eve. And then Adam and Eve sin.
59:25And we have the fall.
59:28And Satan comes and he asks Eve about
59:31eating from the tree of the knowledge of
59:33good and evil. And Eve says, "Well,
59:34we're not supposed to eat from it. We're
59:36not even supposed to touch it. In the
59:38day that we eat from it, we will surely
59:39die. And then verse four of Genesis
59:41chapter 3, what does the serpent say?
59:44You surely will not die.
59:47But then verse four, or excuse me, verse
59:505. Verse four is where he says you will
59:52not die. Verse five,
59:55for God knows that in the day that you
59:58eat of it, you will be like God. knowing
1:00:03good from evil,
1:00:06knowing the difference between good and
1:00:09evil.
1:00:11And what I find so fascinating about
1:00:13that is that here you have in the modern
1:00:17creation of AI, if you were to listen to
1:00:20some again of the pioneers who are
1:00:23leading this whole industry, their quest
1:00:26is for what Satan promised to Eve back
1:00:29in the Garden of Eden.
1:00:32If you eat from this tree, you will have
1:00:34unlimited knowledge. You will become
1:00:37omnisient like God is omnisient. I feel
1:00:40like the promise of AI is some sort of,
1:00:43and this is an oxymoron, limited
1:00:45omniscience.
1:00:48that if we can just harness all of human
1:00:51knowledge and all of human learning and
1:00:52use these amazing computational
1:00:55technologies to see patterns and then
1:00:58make predictions based on those
1:00:59patterns, we can solve every human
1:01:01problem. We can really elevate mankind.
1:01:04We will be like gods.
1:01:09And not only that, but they want to use
1:01:11the technology primarily, I believe, to
1:01:15actually try and extend human lifespans.
1:01:18And so, they're not only seeking the
1:01:20knowledge that they were pro that Eve
1:01:22was promised by Satan at the Garden of
1:01:24Eden, they're also seeking the
1:01:26immortality that was lost when the tree
1:01:28of life and access to it was removed
1:01:30because of the fall.
1:01:32They they want to undo the fall.
1:01:38And of course they do because that's
1:01:41what fallen human beings are trying to
1:01:44gain. They're trying to gain immortality
1:01:47through ascendant knowledge. And they
1:01:48think AI can provide it. And in fact, if
1:01:51you hear them talk about this, they see
1:01:54AI as the primary source of hope for
1:01:58gaining such knowledge and for
1:02:00ultimately obtaining such immortality.
1:02:04Now that doesn't mean again that you
1:02:06can't use some of the applications of
1:02:09some of this technology for good things.
1:02:11It's just helpful for you to understand
1:02:13that the people who are driving this
1:02:15industry have a very unbiblical
1:02:17worldview. And that takes us then to our
1:02:20fourth and final bucket and that is how
1:02:24does AI how does it relate and fit into
1:02:28our understanding of biblical prophecy.
1:02:32Now, I want to be very careful, and I am
1:02:35going to just go a little bit longer
1:02:37this evening in order to get this all
1:02:39in. But I want to be very careful to say
1:02:42upfront that I don't want to overstate
1:02:44anything. I'm not intending to create
1:02:48fearmongering. That's not the point of
1:02:50tonight's message. In fact, the point is
1:02:52the opposite because we know how the
1:02:54story ends and our hope is in Christ and
1:02:56therefore we have no reason to fear. I
1:02:58don't want to engage in what's called
1:03:00newspaper exesus, which is where you
1:03:02take things in the headlines and try and
1:03:04find a verse and go, "Aha, it's a
1:03:06fulfillment." So, I want to be very
1:03:08careful of all of that.
1:03:11But I can say, I think just make some
1:03:16general observations
1:03:19that we know that this world is heading
1:03:24toward the book of Revelation. That's a
1:03:26true statement.
1:03:28We know that society is going to grow
1:03:32progressively worse as it heads towards
1:03:35that end.
1:03:37You can see that in Romans chapter 1,
1:03:39the downward spiral of society.
1:03:43We can also make a good case from
1:03:46scripture that along with that rapid
1:03:50acceleration of human depravity as we
1:03:54sort of rush towards the end almost like
1:03:56Niagara Falls, the water being pulled
1:03:59over the edge that there will also be an
1:04:01accompanying an accompanying
1:04:05rapid increase and acceleration in
1:04:09technological advancement.
1:04:12You say, "Well, where do you see that in
1:04:14the scriptures?" Well, I would say I see
1:04:16that first in the book of Revelation
1:04:17because there's things in the book of
1:04:19Revelation that you go, "How is that
1:04:20even possible unless there's the
1:04:22technology in existence to make it
1:04:24possible?" I remember talking to Pastor
1:04:27John. This would have been just a few
1:04:29years ago when he was going through the
1:04:31book of Revelation and we were asking
1:04:33him, "How is going through the book of
1:04:35Revelation this time different than when
1:04:37you went through it back in the mid
1:04:38'9s?" And he said, 'Well, in the mid '9s
1:04:40when I went through the book of
1:04:41Revelation, people said, 'Yeah, I think
1:04:43I can imagine how that could happen. But
1:04:47when he started going through the book
1:04:48of Revelation, this most recent time, he
1:04:50said, people go, "Oh, I know exactly how
1:04:53that can happen. I know the technology
1:04:54that could be used. It exists."
1:04:57And you have verses for example like
1:04:59Daniel 12:4 speaking of the end that
1:05:03says that in the end right near the end
1:05:06that people will be going to and fro and
1:05:08knowledge will increase. And you look at
1:05:12how our society has gone through a
1:05:15industrial revolution followed by a
1:05:18scientific revolution leading to an
1:05:20information age and now the age of super
1:05:23intelligence.
1:05:25And and again, I'm not going to be
1:05:27setting a date tonight for the return of
1:05:28Christ. History does not favor those who
1:05:32try to do that. Uh not only not only is
1:05:36that a deterrent, but Jesus himself
1:05:38said, "No one knows the day or the
1:05:39hour." So that's the real deterrent. But
1:05:42I do think we can say with confidence
1:05:44that we live now closer to the return of
1:05:47Christ, his second coming, than we live
1:05:50in relationship to his first coming.
1:05:53Now we don't know how long Christ will
1:05:55tarry but society is progressively
1:05:58getting worse and the depravity is being
1:06:01exponentially
1:06:03it's being exponentially
1:06:05increased
1:06:07because of the rapid accompanying rise
1:06:10in technological advancement and AI
1:06:14represents a massive step forward in
1:06:18that technological advancement and
1:06:21therefore another step forward in God's
1:06:24perfect plan, his sovereign plan for
1:06:27human history toward the end of the age.
1:06:30We are already living in the last days,
1:06:32but I would argue we are living in the
1:06:34very last of the last days.
1:06:37Now, I just want to make a couple other
1:06:39observations and then I'll be done and
1:06:42you can ask AI to transcribe this and
1:06:46summarize it in a more concise way and
1:06:49then you'll have it. But
1:06:52I want to go all the way back to Genesis
1:06:556. Uh, excuse me, Genesis 11:6. Genesis
1:07:0011. Genesis 6 is mankind right before
1:07:02the flood. And what we see of mankind
1:07:04right before the flood is that God says
1:07:06that their every thought was only evil
1:07:09continually.
1:07:11But in Genesis 11, we're after the
1:07:13flood. God has told Noah and his
1:07:16descendants to spread out and scatter
1:07:18across the whole earth. And yet just a
1:07:21few generations later, we find mankind
1:07:23not obeying God. And instead, they
1:07:26gather together
1:07:28there in Genesis 11 at a place called
1:07:32Babel, later becomes known as Babylon.
1:07:36And rather than spreading out and doing
1:07:39what God had told them to do, they
1:07:41decide verse four of chapter 11 of
1:07:43Genesis that they're going to try and
1:07:45make a great name from themselves by
1:07:47building a city and building a tower.
1:07:50And so they begin to do this. Verse 5.
1:07:52And then verse six, the Lord looks down
1:07:55from heaven and says in essence, let's
1:07:57go down and and look at what they're
1:07:59doing. This is one people, one language.
1:08:05And it's so interesting to me what God
1:08:07says in Genesis 11:6
1:08:09that
1:08:12if we let them continue like this, the
1:08:14end of the verse, nothing will be
1:08:18impossible for them.
1:08:21Well, that's an amazing statement.
1:08:23That's a statement that certainly has
1:08:25moral implications. Here's people after
1:08:28the flood disobeying God and they're h
1:08:30hurtling themselves back towards another
1:08:35another worldwide judgment.
1:08:39They're doing exactly what the people
1:08:41before the flood were doing. They're
1:08:42acting in rebellion against God. They're
1:08:44trying to build a tower into heaven. A
1:08:46tower representing some form of
1:08:48technology. And God says, "If we don't
1:08:50do anything, nothing will be impossible
1:08:52for them."
1:08:54And so the next verse he confuses their
1:08:57languages so that they will scatter. And
1:08:59the result of that is that they scatter
1:09:01all across the world and you have
1:09:02different tribes and tongues and then
1:09:04out of that becomes nations. And the
1:09:07nations then hold each other in check
1:09:10because when one nation gets too
1:09:12powerful, then another nation rises to
1:09:14meet it. And the nations through their
1:09:16conflicts actually keep each other in
1:09:18check.
1:09:22But when we get all the way to the book
1:09:24of Revelation and throughout scripture,
1:09:27Babylon of course represents the enemies
1:09:29of God's people literally. They come and
1:09:31actually conquer Judah. We know that
1:09:33under Nebuchadnezzar and we find other
1:09:35places where Babylon is used more
1:09:37symbolically like in the book of
1:09:39Zechariah to represent wickedness.
1:09:43But it's fascinating to me that when we
1:09:45get to the end of the story in
1:09:47Revelation 17 and 18, what we find is
1:09:51that the system, the economic and
1:09:53religious system of the antichrist is a
1:09:56resurrected Babylon, a reconstituted
1:10:00Babylon.
1:10:03And the connection that I'm trying to
1:10:06make here, and this was a connection
1:10:07that Pastor John pointed out, he made it
1:10:11in one of his sermons actually from the
1:10:13book of Revelation. But the connection
1:10:15that I'm trying to make is back in
1:10:18Genesis 11, God actually confuses the
1:10:21languages of humanity in order to stop
1:10:24humanity from hurdling to its own
1:10:27destruction.
1:10:30And now at the end of the age, we see
1:10:34the obstacles and the hurdles that are
1:10:37presented by not being able to
1:10:40understand the obstacle that different
1:10:42languages represents. We see all of that
1:10:44being undone. It's an undoing of the
1:10:46Tower of Babel that then helps
1:10:48contribute to a reconstituted Babylon.
1:10:52And part of the reason in our own day
1:10:54that we have such massive advancements
1:10:56in technology is because language is no
1:10:59longer a barrier. And actually because
1:11:01of AI, language is increasingly becoming
1:11:04no longer a barrier. We are not far from
1:11:07the Star Trek style communicator pins
1:11:10where you just wear something on your
1:11:12lapel and you'll be able to talk to
1:11:13anybody and understand anybody whether
1:11:15they spoke the language you spoke
1:11:17growing up or not. I mean that
1:11:19technology already exists in AirPods.
1:11:24So it's just fascinating to see how in
1:11:28Genesis 11, mankind is trying to build a
1:11:31tower to reach into heaven and God
1:11:34delays the inevitable judgment that
1:11:36would fall on them for that by confusing
1:11:38their languages. And now in our own day,
1:11:40we see all of that being reversed. And
1:11:43when we look at the book of Revelation,
1:11:44we see a reconstituted Babel, a
1:11:46reconstituted Babylon
1:11:49that has been amassed.
1:11:51Now, that doesn't give us specific
1:11:53details on the timing of when all this
1:11:56will happen, but it's hard not to
1:11:58believe that technological improvements
1:12:02like AI help contribute to all of this.
1:12:07And all of this again is under the
1:12:09sovereign plan of what God has
1:12:11predetermined for human history. God is
1:12:14not surprised nor threatened by AI.
1:12:19God is sovereign over and has
1:12:21predetermined whatever AI will become.
1:12:27So that's important to state and to
1:12:29state clearly.
1:12:32Now, just
1:12:34how then will AI play a role in
1:12:38the book of Revelation? Well, we don't
1:12:40know exactly. And I think it's important
1:12:42again not to
1:12:46overspeculate
1:12:48other than to say that there are things
1:12:50in the book of Revelation that are hard
1:12:52to explain without understanding some of
1:12:54the technological advancements that
1:12:56exist.
1:12:58I mean, Matthew chapter 24, the
1:13:01oliveette discourse, verse 24, Jesus
1:13:04says that the false prophets who come at
1:13:06the end will be so convincing that if it
1:13:09were possible, even the elect would be
1:13:11deceived. That of course is not
1:13:13possible.
1:13:14And in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2,
1:13:17speaking of the Antichrist, the Apostle
1:13:19Paul says that the man of lawlessness
1:13:21will perform signs and wonders. verse 9,
1:13:27things that seem almost miraculous.
1:13:30Now, just to be clear, the Antichrist is
1:13:33not a machine. The Antichrist is a human
1:13:35person. That's why Paul calls him a man
1:13:38of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians
1:13:41chapter 2.
1:13:43And just to give you one example, in
1:13:46Revelation
1:13:4813, go ahead and turn there for a
1:13:50moment. We'll turn to Revelation 13. And
1:13:53then I have one more stop and then we'll
1:13:55we're done.
1:13:57But Revelation chapter 13,
1:14:02this is a chapter in which John sees the
1:14:06antichrist, the first beast, coming out
1:14:09of the sea, and then he sees a second
1:14:10beast, the false prophet. And the
1:14:12antichrist is the political leader of
1:14:14the final world system that's in
1:14:16rebellion against God. And the false
1:14:19prophet is representative of the
1:14:21religious system, the religious leader
1:14:23who leads people to worship the
1:14:25antichrist.
1:14:26And what's so fascinating is in chapter
1:14:2913 of Revelation verse 15, it says that
1:14:33the false prophet will set up an image
1:14:36of the beast, the antichrist, an image
1:14:39of the antichrist.
1:14:41And the false prophet will be able to
1:14:43make the image of the antichrist come
1:14:45alive such that those who do not worship
1:14:49the image of the antichrist, the image
1:14:51of the antichrist itself will order
1:14:53their execution and they'll be killed.
1:14:56Now, I'm not saying that's chat GPT.
1:14:59That's not what I'm saying. Just to be
1:15:01clear, I'm just saying there are things
1:15:03in the book of Revelation where you go,
1:15:06"Okay, we're at a point in human history
1:15:08where depravity is at an all-time low
1:15:12and technology is at an all-time high."
1:15:18And then just one more passage to show
1:15:21you, and that's Revelation 19.
1:15:26It's fascinating to me when we think
1:15:28about the way in which these large
1:15:30language models work.
1:15:33We obviously understand that all of
1:15:36creation is language-based. And that's
1:15:38because God spoke and the world was
1:15:40created. And you see that even in things
1:15:43like biology where you have the
1:15:46sequencing of the genome and the protein
1:15:48sequences of DNA. And it's really like a
1:15:51language with the different proteins
1:15:54represented of course by different
1:15:55letters. And it's no wonder that these
1:15:58large language models are able to do
1:16:00that kind of sequencing work so quickly
1:16:03and with pretty incredible results.
1:16:08But I find it fascinating that in
1:16:10Revelation 19, this is the return of
1:16:12Christ. And something similar is said in
1:16:142 Thessalonians chapter 2:8.
1:16:18But when Jesus returns, verse 13, the
1:16:21name that is written on him is the word
1:16:24of God. And then verse 15, you'll notice
1:16:28that when he comes and destroys the
1:16:30armies of the Antichrist and of the
1:16:32false prophet,
1:16:33that he speaks with a sword that comes
1:16:37out of his mouth. It's as if he speaks a
1:16:39word
1:16:42and the armies that oppose him are
1:16:44destroyed.
1:16:46And again, I'm not saying that this is
1:16:49necessarily AI or what AI leads to. What
1:16:53I do think is fascinating is that
1:16:56whatever technology is developed, when
1:16:58Christ returns, he speaks a word. He
1:17:01issues the kill code and it all goes
1:17:03down.
1:17:06So, how do we then wrap all of this
1:17:08together?
1:17:10We've talked about what AI is, how it
1:17:14works, the sort of status of the
1:17:18industry, and the direction industry
1:17:20leaders believe it's going. We've talked
1:17:22about the ethics of AI, that when you
1:17:24use these AI tools, you must use them in
1:17:26accordance with the word of God,
1:17:28biblical principles, and a Christian
1:17:30testimony. We've talked about the world
1:17:33view of those who are seeking to advance
1:17:36this technology, and we've noted the
1:17:39fact that it is not a biblical
1:17:40worldview.
1:17:42They are trying to
1:17:46really ascend to the place of being like
1:17:50God.
1:17:54And we've talked about how AI perhaps,
1:17:57key word perhaps may play a role in
1:18:01biblical prophecy. At the very least, it
1:18:03represents an advancement in human
1:18:06technology. And that advancement
1:18:08corresponding with the advancement in
1:18:10human depravity and the downward spiral
1:18:13of human morality
1:18:16definitely fits what we see in the end.
1:18:22But how what are we supposed to do with
1:18:25all of that?
1:18:27Well, just a few simple things. Number
1:18:30one, you can use AI as long as you use
1:18:34it in a way that honors the Lord. That
1:18:37was what number two in our list of four
1:18:39things was all about. So,
1:18:43use it responsibly. Use it as a steward.
1:18:46Steward it wisely. Again, listen to Tom
1:18:48Pennington's two-part series. He'll help
1:18:51you think through the ethics of that
1:18:52more specifically.
1:18:55But then number two,
1:18:58don't be deceived by the false worldview
1:19:02that is being purported and promoted by
1:19:05so many in this industry as they try to
1:19:08make headlines. Whether it's for
1:19:10branding purposes or fundraising
1:19:12purposes or just scaremongering, don't
1:19:16believe it.
1:19:19Instead, be Bereans who take it to the
1:19:21word of God and ensure that your mind is
1:19:24being sharpened by what you know to be
1:19:27true.
1:19:29And then finally, when it comes to
1:19:31thinking about the future,
1:19:35first of all,
1:19:38how cool would it be to be the
1:19:41generation that gets raptured? That
1:19:43would be awesome.
1:19:46But then secondly,
1:19:50our hope is in Christ.
1:19:52Our hope is in Christ.
1:19:56You don't need AI to figure out how you
1:20:01can reverse aging. You're going to one
1:20:04day be in a resurrection body that will
1:20:07never age.
1:20:11You don't need to have AI unlock the
1:20:16secrets of the universe for you. You
1:20:18belong to the God who created the
1:20:21secrets of the universe and whose
1:20:24understanding and knowledge infinitely
1:20:27supersedes anything any computer system
1:20:30will ever achieve.
1:20:32Your hope is in Christ. And if your hope
1:20:37is in Christ, then you have nothing to
1:20:40fear.
1:20:42Nothing to fear from
1:20:45a sci-fi sounding headline.
1:20:48Nothing to fear from the evil actors in
1:20:51government or in business who might try
1:20:53and leverage these technologies to do
1:20:55you harm. Nothing to fear from what you
1:20:58read about in the book of Revelation.
1:21:00You're not going to be there.
1:21:04So my goal for this evening is for you
1:21:08to leave
1:21:10walking out of here with hope solidified
1:21:13in your heart because our hope is in
1:21:17Christ.
1:21:19And therefore, we do not fear. No matter
1:21:22what the headlines say, no matter what
1:21:25the technology
1:21:26promotes itself to be, no matter what
1:21:29the claims are of those who think
1:21:31they're on the verge of creating machine
1:21:33consciousness,
1:21:35don't believe it for a second.
1:21:38Jesus is coming back. And if you are
1:21:41right with him, you have nothing to fear
1:21:44from AI or from anything else.
1:21:50When Harry Walls was here, he used to
1:21:51always end those kinds of statements by
1:21:53saying, "Can I get an amen?"
1:21:56>> All right, let's pray.
1:22:00Heavenly Father, thank you for the
1:22:02opportunity to address this subject at
1:22:05some length, I realize, but I pray that
1:22:07it was helpful, that you were honored.
1:22:10We recognize that there is a worldview
1:22:12that is antithetical to what you have
1:22:14given us in your word. May we be
1:22:19those who recognize that you are always
1:22:22true and everyone else who contradicts
1:22:24you is a liar. May our hope be found in
1:22:27Christ and may we never ever
1:22:31shrink back from clinging to that hope,
1:22:35the person of our hope. And may
1:22:40may our hearts resonate with the truth
1:22:42that has been proclaimed by believers
1:22:44throughout all the centuries. Marinatha,
1:22:46come quickly, Lord Jesus. And we pray
1:22:48this in his name. Amen.

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