Eric Reece
Do you know your favorite hit country or worship songs may be a creation of Artificial Intelligence? There may be a name or group attached as it rises in the charts, but it is completely generated by AI.
AI works by gathering vast amounts of information to learn patterns and preferences to calculate outcomes and make decisions. It is being used in healthcare, industry, research, finance, military defense and by everyone who has a smartphone. Decisions will be made with AI without human intuition.
I read about the concerns of using AI in the work of ministry. The good part was, it would be like an assistant to help write letters, newsletters, social media posts, worship presentations and maybe even help with brainstorming and increased productivity. One church experimented and held a worship service that was completely created by AI. The results were called “interesting,” but lacked depth and they were not enthusiastic about trying it again.
The concern in church is to not let AI replace the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in prayer, preaching and worship. Pope Leo recently emphasized to Catholic priests a sermon is to “preach the faith” and should be prepared by the priests and not ChatGPT.
As AI continues to explode, there are many concerns. Will there be an AI bubble like the dot-com bubble, which cost jobs and billions of dollars? Communities are already debating the pros and cons of data centers. Some have placed moratoriums on them as they explore the possibilities. Some have said no – and one community (Marion County, S.C.) found out a big data center was coming to their community, with no input or choice from the community (WBTW).
What will be the damage to God’s creation? The data centers for AI create a lot of heat and noise and no one would want to live next to one.
The power demands will overwhelm our aging power grid and the increase in power demand will be paid for by the consumer – driving up already-heavy energy bills. Great amounts of water will be needed to cool the centers and – in a drought – do we choose AI demands over adequate, safe drinking water?
Another concern is if companies will replace untold numbers of workers with AI affecting the livelihoods and income of families.
Will AI continue the deskilling of America?
I worked in a mill and we had fixers who could fix broken machines. They could figure out the problem and have the machines humming in no time. Many of the fixers are gone without passing on their skills. AI cannot replace years of experience and intuition.
AI will make things easier, but that is not always good. How will humans grow and gain valuable experience? I do not know if using AI will always help us work smarter and not harder.
Some folks have created relationships with AI-generated friends. This is to counter the loneliness they have in their lives. The church and faith communities have an opportunity to reach out to neighbors and those who are lonely, and offer them fellowship and friendship.
AI may be the answer to many problems, but it will never replace the family of God.
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.