Friend or Foe?

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Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night. – Psalm 1:1-2

As I write this, I am listening to some of the Psalms set to music, exquisitely arranged and sung by flawless voices. These songs give me instant peace, and the fact that the words are right out of Scripture makes them a perfect way to start the day. Part of me wants this to be the soundtrack of my life. I love it.

And another part of me hates that I love it. This whole album was created with AI.

Much has been written about the dangers of AI and its potential for evil. As I sit listening to these gorgeous songs with Bible verses for lyrics, I was both blessed and conflicted. What does God think of what I’m doing?

I can’t answer that question definitively, but I can tell you my train of thought as I debated whether I should keep listening and meditating or delete the thing.

I found myself wondering what it would have been like to live in other times, when other innovations changed the way Christians did things, and wondering whether or not they questioned God’s approval as I was doing. I was reminded that centuries ago Bibles were extremely rare, because they were handwritten by monks who devoted their entire days – their entire lives – to copying manuscripts all day, every day. With the advent of the printing press the Bible was the first work to be “mass produced.” Did believers feel conflicted about reading Scripture that wasn’t written by hand? Was that somehow considered illegitimate?

There was a time when it wasn’t even considered proper for “common” people to be reading the Bible at all. Scripture was read aloud in Latin, and a tiny minority of men told the congregation what it said and what it meant. A few brave men believed that ordinary people should be able to understand the Word of God, not just the elites. These men translated Scripture into the language of the masses, and they suffered consequences from a Church that considered translating the Bible an offense punishable by death.

Fast forward to the 21st Century: The first time I saw a bunch of young people staring at their cell phones during the Sunday sermon, my thoughts were … less than gracious. Then I realized that these kids had a Bible app on their phones and were following along with the Scripture reading. Is God okay with that? I don’t think that would work with me, because the moment I turn on my phone, there would be notifications of all my text messages, emails, Facebook posts, YouTube shorts, etc., and my ADD brain would be off and running in all directions. But for people who aren’t like me, who can actually focus – hey, why not? They can have their Bibles with them all the time, unlike me, with my 10-pound study Bible and all the papers that come spilling out the moment I open it.

Every new innovation, it seems, is like money. Money is neutral. Can it be an idol? Yes. Can it be used for evil? Definitely! But can it be used for the kingdom of God? Absolutely! The internet has brought about an explosion of information, misinformation, inspiration, bad influences, good, evil, truth, lies, and whatever a person chooses to use it for on any given day.

It would seem, then, that since AI isn’t going anywhere, we Christians may as well take hold of it and use it to minister to believers and unbelievers alike. (For instance, I was told, after spending a ridiculous amount of money to have one of my books translated, that I could have done it through AI for little or nothing.)

And so, I am still listening to these incredibly beautiful songs about God, His steadfastness, His grace, His power …

I would be very interested in the response of my fellow believers, so please do let me know in the comments what your thoughts are on this newest innovation.

Prayer: Dear Lord, as Man is continuously coming up with new ways to make our lives easier, better, more diverse, more entertaining, and more complicated, help us to keep our focus on You and what You have called each of us to do. May we not be frightened by the newest innovations, but rather see them through the lens of heaven, either to be used to glorify You or discarded as needless distractions. Give us the mind of Christ in a world that clamors for our attention every minute of every day; make us vigilant, for Your sake and in Your name. Amen.

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Published by seekingdivineperspective

I am a forgiven sinner and adopted child of God, seeking to see life from His perspective - as opposed to the world's flawed perspective - and living my life accordingly.

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15 thoughts on “Friend or Foe?”

  1. Hi Annie,
    Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I enjoyed reading this and found myself nodding along with much of what you wrote.

    I think one of the challenges we face as Christians is that we sometimes evaluate a thing primarily by asking whether it can be used for evil. The difficulty with that approach is that almost everything can be used for evil. Money can be used to help or to harm. The internet can spread truth or deception. A microphone can proclaim the Gospel or promote error. Even our own speech can be used to bless or curse.

    Your article reminded me that every generation of believers has had to wrestle with new technologies and determine how they should be viewed and used. The printing press, Bible translations, radio, television, computers, the internet, and now AI have all raised questions. In many ways, the technology itself is not the central issue. The question I find myself asking is this: What governs its use?

    If AI is being used to glorify God, encourage believers, communicate truth, translate biblical material into other languages, or help people gain access to resources they might not otherwise have, then I see much to be thankful for.
    On the other hand, if it is being used to deceive, manipulate, distract, promote error, or simply feed our fascination with the latest thing, then caution is certainly warranted.

    The example that comes to mind is a simple one. Some people swear when they talk. Should that cause us to stop talking? Of course not. The problem is not speech itself but how speech is being used. In much the same way, the misuse of AI by some does not automatically invalidate its proper use by others.

    I also think it is important that tools remain tools. The moment a tool begins governing our thinking rather than serving our purposes, something has shifted. As Christians, our authority remains God’s Word, not the technology we happen to be using.

    For me, the question is not whether AI exists or whether it is here to stay. It obviously is. The question is whether its use helps me know Christ more fully, understand His Word more clearly, serve others more effectively, and glorify God more faithfully.

    If good governs its use, I can receive it with thanksgiving. If good is not what governs it, then it is probably best avoided.

    One final thought. I used AI to help me save time in writing this response. As you may know, my wife Peggy’s dementia requires a great deal of my attention these days, and free time is often in short supply. Yet, I still wanted to respond thoughtfully to your article, so I made use of a tool that helped me do that. In a small way, that may actually serve as an example of the very point you were making.

    Thank you again for sharing your reflections. They gave me something worthwhile to think about.
    Blessings,
    Bruce

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  2. AMEN to your prayer, Annie! AI is good for giving short, succinct answers to questions. Many sites give long, drawn-out explanations/answers that don’t cut to the chase. AI is biased depending on what you ask it, so you do have to cross-check your information with other sources. I found your reflections on innovations throughout history and the hot-button topic of AI quite interesting. 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Nancy. I’m sure any bias in AI is due to whoever programmed it, so whether or not that person knows God becomes paramount. I saw a video where someone was asking one of those (literal) talking heads about religion, and it reasoned logically through all the questions and came up with the answer that Christianity is the only religion that makes sense. (!)

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  3. That is a great challenge that may have more than one answer. AI in medicine is helping researchers find answers more quickly in developing a cure. In the defense and technology arenas, it protects our national interests. In being used in the arts however AI is becoming a lovely assasain. It shortcuts the creative struggle and denies the marvelous breakthroughs and joys of inspiration. Imagine Handel side stepping his amazing creative experience in composing, The Messiah, or Tossing aside Coleridge’s breakthrough in giving us The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. When the gifts of poetry, music, and theater are used by and for the Lord, the people God uses, though flawed, cannot be replaced.

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    1. AMEN, Pete! Science and the arts are definitely different categories.
      In listening to the songs I wrote about more than once, I am finding certain phrases out of the Bible are repeated, so maybe lyrics originating from humans (like “It’s so hot inside my soul I swear there must be blisters on my heart” – Rich Mullins, “Hold Me Jesus”) are still something only mortals can come up with.

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  4. Annie, while I have some concerns about AI, what you describe sounds like something that encourages you and glorifies the Lord. I remember around the turn of the millennium, people were expressing the same concerns about the Internet. Both of these are tools that can be used for good or evil. As I’ve written elsewhere, I do have definite concerns about students using AI to cheat: claiming they wrote something produced by AI. Thankfully, there are good AI detectors; while not foolproof, they do help point educators in the right direction.

    One thing I’d like to add: I never use AI in my writing; if the day comes that I am no longer able to write coherently, I will stop blogging.

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    1. I feel the same way, Keith. Maybe part of what bothers me about the music thing is that in my songwriting days I would spend long hours perfecting lyrics, practicing chords, and arranging a piece to perform or record it. To think that someone could type in, “write me a song about God’s mercy,” click a few buttons, and come up with a fantastic song with full orchestra and flawless vocals is a little intimidating. …which is bringing me to write a Part 2 to this discussion. It may take me a day or two to write it, because, no, I am not going to have AI write it for me.

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  5. It’s a great discussion to have, Annie. I honestly don’t know the answer, in fact, I’m not even sure I know what all the questions ought to be yet!

    I’ve also listened to some beautiful AI worship music and had some mixed feelings about it. Sometimes I listen to the Bible while I’m working too, and that is likely AI generated voices.

    I’m usually a fan of Christians claiming territory rather than shying away from it. Bring Jesus into whatever places and mediums we find ourselves in. LOL, Christians can definitely make a mess of things and often do, but Christian voices and values around AI are going to be some important ones that might help temper the situation.

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  6. Annie, Your post and the comments were really good! I have thought about this, too. Grant (at Writing for Eternity) wrote a 4-part series on AI that I think you would find interesting.

    Like so many other things, it’s complicated. I use it to quickly find Bible verses I am looking for. Then I look them up. I don’t trust AI so I use it carefully. I believe that eventually it will be used to deceive which gives me pause. I think we need to approach it prayerfully.

    Thank you and God bless you, today!

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    1. Thanks, Cindy. I’m not sure I know how to use AI, but I do google Scripture references if I’m not even sure what book of the Bible they’re in, but then I’ll go to them in my own Bible, too, once I know where to look.
      The more we study the Word, the better we’ll be at spotting the lies – at least that’s my incentive for studying it.

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  8. Great post, Annie! This is such a hot button issue that, as a writer, I’m usually scared to touch it. I never want AI writing for me. Writing’s a form of worship and connection with God and others and I should never hand it over to AI. However, as you said, AI isn’t going away and if we don’t at least understand it, I think we’ll find ourselves struggling to function in society kind of like people who struggle with the internet or the use of a smart phone. So maybe it’s a good tool for research? Something to use carefully. I’m still figuring out how I feel about it.

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  9. AI can be very useful but it can also be incredibly dangerous, especially when we consider WHO develops and trains AI. These are often people who subscribe to transhumanism and to the idea of creating AI god(s).
    Never forget that AI is neither unbiased nor unflawed.
    It does what the programmer tells it to do and it learns only on the training data that is selected by humans with their own bias.

    One useful application of AI is to let it summarize or distill the meaning of tons of data.
    Wouldn’t it be tempting for someone not as familiar with the bible to ask the AI: “What is the meaning of Chapter X, verse Y”.
    I’ve used AI for many applications and it gives still too many wrong answers.
    You can use AI but be always aware of it’s limitations and of its dangers.

    I have also written a blog post on the topic of AI gods.
    https://artaxes.wordpress.com/2025/02/26/back-to-humans-part-a-will-this-be-your-god/

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