AI and the Pursuit of Human Omnipresence
Exploring the technological toll on our mental health and how acting now will stop artificial intelligence from making things much worse.
As time marches inexorably forward, we find ourselves almost a quarter through the Twenty-First century, a period arguably defined by technological advances, economic and political turbulence, and a war on terror.
There is little doubt that each of these areas is significant, but I want to propose that something else has defined this period in a subtle but powerful way: a growing addiction to the pursuit of human omnipresence.
The pursuit of Human Omnipresence
For young people, the early 2000s were defined by instant messengers and texting, limited by expensive phone and internet plans. I was a part of one of the first generations to be continually “present” through digital mediums.
Less than a decade after the great fears of the millennium bug subsided, the iPhone arrived and changed everything. Around the same time, social media burst into public consciousness in a whole new way with Facebook, Twitter, and before long, Instagram. News outlets were increasingly online, instant, and adjusting their content in a desperate attempt to lure readers from an arena vastly oversaturated with information.
Fast forward to 2023, and people now connect, date, consume news, and even exercise through digital mediums. Despite being a full-time pastor, I regularly study, teach, write, and work in an online space with a huge swath of people I have never even met face to face.
We are glued to those little digital portals we call cell phones more than ever before. A Reviews.org study reports that 57% of Americans are addicted to their phones (and doubtless more in denial), and almost 90% check their phone within the first ten minutes of waking up. On average, participants in the study spend roughly 4.5 hours on their phone each day. Of course, this does not include PC or laptop usage.
In summary: we are more present and connected to the world than we would have even thought possible a century ago.
And that’s not a good thing.
Studies are beginning to shine a light on just how disastrous social media and the need to be continually present have been for teenagers. A study from JAMA Pediatrics in January showed that excessive social media use during adolescence can have severe consequences for a person’s mental and emotional state, as well as their ability to function in the world.
In adults, the situation isn’t much better. An article in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that the use of Facebook was negatively associated with several factors, including physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction.
The issues go further than social media. News consumption is also adding to this presence problem.
At the American Psychological Association, Charlotte Huff notes the rise of terms like “doomscrolling,” “headline anxiety,” and “headline stress disorder.” She cites examples of studies during the pandemic that found the more people consumed COVID-related news, the worse one’s mental health. However, growing studies are showing evidence that prolonged exposure to negative or “problematic news” is detrimental, eroding resilience and coping capacities.
…we could go on. These are issues that affect production as well as consumption. Take so-called “multitasking,” for example. In his book The Organized Mind, Daniel Levitin writes:
Multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can overstimulate your brain and cause mental fog or scrambled thinking. Multitasking creates a dopamine-addiction feedback loop, effectively rewarding the brain for losing focus and for constantly searching for external stimulation.1
When we try to multitask, we’re really trying to be present in more than one place at once. Perhaps ambipresent rather than omnipresent, but the dangers are clear to see.
Studies are consistently showing us that the unhealthy desire to be present beyond our intended human capacity is quite literally wrecking our brains.
We just weren’t designed that way.
Jen Wilkin spots the problem in her book None Like Him: “By tethering our spirits to a body, God decrees that we will be present where we are and nowhere else. Yet God, who is spirit, is able to be everywhere fully present.”2
True Omnipresence
Only God is able to be omnipresent. He is able to be near at all times as he fills the heavens and the earth (Job. 23:23-24). He is simultaneously able to be seated in a static place (Psa. 33:13-14) and yet be in all places. He not only has the ability to see all people in all places at the same time, but he actively chooses to observe His creation (Job. 24:21; Prov. 15:3). He is able to dwell in His people by His Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19; Rom. 8:8) and sit on his holy throne of grace (Psa. 47:8; Heb. 4:16).
Psalm 139:7-10 (CSB) beautifully expresses this reality:
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I fly on the wings of the dawn
and settle down on the western horizon,[a]
10 even there your hand will lead me;
your right hand will hold on to me.
God’s omnipresence should be terrifying to those who don’t know Him, but for believers, this is the ultimate comfort. He is vividly present. His hand is leading us. His hand is holding onto us.
This holy, merciful, grace-filled, loving God is with us.
Only God can be fully present everywhere.
We can’t. The pursuit of presence is killing us.
When we recognize that only God is present everywhere, we are able to be fully present where we are.
We can be fully present to our friends and families, shutting ourselves off from the mixed-up notion that we need to be ambipresent to prove ourselves to the world.
We can be fully present where we are in our battle against sin. There is no space for what Jen Wilkin describes as “practical atheism”; in other words, we can’t profess that God exists on a Sunday and then spend the rest of our weeks ignoring Him. Instead, we can run this race knowing that God is always with us and always helping us to become what He has already declared us to be.
We can be fully present because whenever we feel lonely, abandoned, or forgotten, we are not. God is always with us.
When we recognize that only God is present everywhere, we are able to be fully present where we are.
What has this got to do with AI?
Put simply, if we don’t grapple with the dangers of this reality now, increasing the use of artificial intelligence won’t make life easier for us.
One of the celebrated ideals of artificial intelligence is that it will make us more “present” than ever before. Transhumanists are striving to untether us from these pesky bodies. AI clones and even AI girlfriends are on the rise. Caryn Marjorie recently made headlines after releasing CarynAI, an AI chatbot that “replicates her voice, mannerisms and personality” — for $1 a minute. Majorie claims to want to “cure loneliness” from her fan base. According to a Washington Post article, CarynAI “shows how AI applications can increase the ability of a single person to reach an audience of thousands in a way that, for users, may feel distinctly personal.” What journalist Taylor Lorenz writes next is telling:
The impact could be enormous for someone resembling a personal relationship with thousands or millions of online followers. It could also show how thin and tenuous these simulations of human connection could become.
This is just one example of many where humans are trying to utilize artificial intelligence to become omnipresent—or at least give the illusion of it.
If the current effects of such a pursuit are causing irreparable damage, how much more might it be with the addition of AI?
So what do we do?
Before AI exacerbates the issue, it is vitally important that we remember how to be fully present in one place at one time. It is helpful to recognize that God is omnipresent, and we are not. Because only God is present everywhere, we can be fully present where we are.
Consider taking a few minutes each day to ask these crucial diagnostic questions:
“Whether online or in person, am I fully present where I am today?”
“What changes do I need to make to avoid the myth of ambi/omnipresence?”
“How does knowing that God is omnipresent and we are not affect us as believers?”
What do you think? Would you add anything? Do you have any questions? Are there any other issues we should be discussing? Let me know in the comments section below. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
If you’ve found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with friends and pastors to help prepare believers for the future of AI in the Church!
NOTES
Daniel J. Levitin, The Organized Mind (Toronto: Allen Lane, 2014), Kindle Loc. 1985 of 11437.
Jen Wilkin, None Like Him (Wheaton, IL.: Crossway, 2016), Kindle Loc. 1189 of 2240.