A Word from Mike.....
I continue to be astounded at the advancements in technology we continue to see playing out before our very eyes. Things are changing so rapidly that we cannot keep up, nor can most of us imagine or even believe the capabilities of the advancements. I’m talking specifically about AI—Artificial Intelligence. We have moved from the world of science fiction to reality in a very short time.
Just about one hundred years ago, my grandfather began as a rural mail carrier for the USPS, delivering with a horse and buggy! He went from that to seeing jet airplanes and then watching the U.S. send men to the moon. It impossible to measure with exactness, but several sources say that knowledge is doubling every 12 hours, compared to doubling every 25 years in 1945. Just this week I have shown examples of how AI is being used in Christian ministry. One man gave an AI program several bits of criteria about himself and his ministry and was immediately given ten things that he should do to enhance and improve his ministry. The program then asked him (independently of his input) if he wanted it to reduce the ten things down to three most important things. Another friend in the HBA sent me a condensed, synthesized, 20 minute podcast discussion/summary of my doctoral dissertation. The podcast featured the voices of a man a woman dialoging about what I had written, with extreme accuracy, and done in a very entertaining and understandable way…better than what I had originally written. I was told, also, that another ministry leader has planned out several years of ministry which AI laid out for him. Need I go on?
Indeed, AI can be a wonderful tool for life and ministry if handled with care and caution. We can make good use of it to bring vast amounts of information and helps to our fingertips, but, we must resist the inclination to trust this new advancement indiscriminately. We must not look to it as God to provide answers to all of life’s questions. When we see it as a tool to save time and to help us think of possibilities that we would not have likely otherwise considered, then it can be useful and good. But we must not let it determine what and how we do things. We must not forget that we are ultimately dependent upon God for wisdom and direction, and not AI. A useful implement for our life, work, and ministries; yes. A crystal ball (as it were) to direct our lives—NO!
A great challenge for us all in the days ahead is in learning how to use, yet manage AI well. We must become and remain ever vigilant and discerning in its use, which will become more and more difficult as its capabilities multiply hourly. I have not even scratched the surface of all that could be said, but hopefully I’ve given us some food for thought (without AI) to help us be on our guard. May God grant real wisdom to live life faithfully in this new and ever-changing environment.
MM
