I've been thinking a lot about AI lately. I can't seem to hear a podcast without it being mentioned. I hear "AI" thrown around in conversations, which I suspect (more often than not) is code for, "I'm not really sure, but I want to say something so I don't look silly." I trust there's a reason it's captivating so many of us, but I'm skeptical about how prominent or pervasive the creation and perpetuation of AI is.
On the one hand, I doubt we are hurtling towards a Matrix-like reality where we become batteries for the machines. Maybe that makes me naive or overly optimistic. On the other, I suspect we think AI will solve more of our problems than it actually can. That it will actually do the hard work required to build a business or earn a degree (for example). Or, even worse, that it will fill an unmet need in our lives. But isn't that the way? Aren't we always looking for hacks? Aren’t we always looking for something to fill a hole that cannot be filled by anything we humans create? Like AI.
Creation, after all, seems to lie at the center of AI--what it can create, what it cannot create, how it creates, if the creations are ethical, how we use the creations, and if the creation can use us. When I think of creation, however, I think of The Creator–God. I think of how God spoke the cosmos into life and how we bring our creations into the world. And I recognize the core difference at the heart of such a comparison. God creates from nothing (ex nihilo). Humans create from what is created. And so does AI because it is an extension of the creation. People create, program, and teach AI. People build, refine, and influence AI. And like people, everything AI creates comes from something. Unlike people, nothing AI creates is embodied or soulful.
And this seems to lie at the heart of my present thinking. As a trained theologian, I view the world as it relates to God, not the other way around. When I consider how AI relates to God, I see that while it creates, it is no creator. As such, AI cannot be expected to fill holes that only The Creator can fill because those unmet needs are rooted in the mind, body, and soul, and AI can neither operate in an embodied state nor on the spiritual dimension of human being. That we can, albeit clumsily in a fallen world, is evidence of the fingerprints of God upon us all–the very core of our identity as the imago dei (image bearers of God).
So far, that’s what I think of AI. I think it is a next-generation tool that can help us potentially achieve great things, but I doubt it can ever achieve greatness on its own because it lacks the body and soul to do the real work required for anything that matters in life. And while it is a tool, it currently is one I don't know how to use (like basically any tool designed to support vehicle maintenance…I got nothing).
But if it is a next-gen tool that can help us achieve great things, perhaps it can help me with a great thing on the horizon. I have a big adventure coming up this Fall, supporting The Gallant Few’s Run Ranger Run. Some teammates and I intend on tackling a 30-mile clip of the Teton Crest Trail to achieve our team total of 565 miles. I’m aging, so a solid training plan is in order. Yet I neither have the time nor the energy to investigate this on my own or meet regularly with a great coach. Perhaps ChatGPT can help orient me in the right direction. I guess it’s high time I find out!
