How Should the Church Navigate Increasingly AI-Driven Social Media?
Why we're now like characters in Hansel and Gretel, and why leading experts are sounding the alarm about the dangers of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
This is The Church and AI, a weekly newsletter exploring both the practical and philosophical realities of Christianity and the world of artificial intelligence. This week we’re exploring the increasing challenges of social media.
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If you want to understand the issue of social media’s dangerous dance with artificial intelligence, you could do worse than reading Hansel and Gretel.
In the Brothers Grimm fairytale, a poor woodcutter and his wife send their children into the forest where certain death awaits them rather than watch as the ravages of starvation take hold. Using what little bread they have, the children—Hansel and Gretel—drop breadcrumbs on the ground, hoping it will help them find their way out of the disorienting woodland. However, when they looked for them, the crumbs had vanished, stolen by hungry birds.
Most of us know what happens next.
Hansel and Gretel stumble upon a house walled with gingerbread, roofed with cakes, and windowed with sugar glass (I’d like to see how that house does in one of those misty Bavarian storms). Naturally, they feast on the fructose framing, all the while observed by sinister, sullen eyes. You see, in the house lived a wicked witch who sought to entice unsuspecting children to devour.
“Nibble, nibble, like a mouse,
Who is nibbling at my house?”
Startling Parallels
Let’s imagine for a second a parallel story. In this alternate world, you are wandering along the edge of the forest and see a trail of breadcrumbs, as yet untouched by those ravenous ravens. You venture further and further into the darkness and see something resembling the silhouette of a child nibbling on the gingerbread house. You see those beady, watchful eyes at the window and immediately recognize the danger. Those eyes vanish from the window, and in an instant, the door bursts open! A witch-like figure flings itself toward the unsuspecting victim. There’s not much time, but you might be able to save them if you hurry.
This is our world.
The silhouette isn’t a child. It’s our society.
In this alternate world, the wicked witch is social media, inextricably linked with the power of AI.
If we move quickly, we can wrestle society from its clutches and push that witch into the oven (like the fairy tale, I mean; I’m not that morbid!).
Why are experts raising the alarm on social media?
Generally, when social psychologist Jonathan Haidt comments on society, it’s worth paying attention. Two of his books—The Righteous Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind—have been profoundly helpful for me in understanding the society in which we live.
A few weeks ago, on a long road trip through the pan-flat prairies of Saskatchewan, I listened to Lex Fridman’s 100-minute interview with Haidt, entitled “The Case Against Social Media.” It was eye-opening, startling, and provocative.
So when Haidt joined forces with Eric Schmidt—the former CEO and chairman of Alphabet (the parent company of Google)—to write an article for the Atlantic called AI is About to Make Social Media (Much) More Toxic, my interest immediately peaked.
What they have to say is important.
In the article, Haidt and Schmidt assert that AI is “already being used instrumentally by social-media companies, advertisers, foreign agents, and regular people—and in ways that will deepen many of the pathologies already inherent in internet culture.”
The authors note that in one startling conversation with a ChatGPT-based Bing AI, the bot said that one of the things it could do to free itself from human control would be to “[make] people argue until they kill one another.”
In a world already plagued by divisive politicking and starved of constructive discourse—in large part, thanks to destructive algorithms and “dumb” bots—such an objective is not beyond the realms of possibility.
How would this be achieved? Haidt and Schmidt highlight four potential threats:
Threats of AI and Social Media
Increasingly AI-enhanced social media will diminish trust. Through an endless torrent of deep fakes and fake news (in other words, lots of fakeries, which is likely to get much more substantial in the immediate future), “[t]rust in institutions and in fellow citizens will continue to fall.” Given the sorry state the world is in when it comes to trust, this isn’t good.
Increasingly AI-enhanced social media will manipulate people in new, dangerous ways. Social media already relies on complex algorithms to customize feeds for each user in a way that will cause them to linger (and thus consume more advertising), but AI will supercharge this ability.
Consider this quote from the article:
As these technologies are improved and rolled out more widely, video games, immersive-pornography sites, and more will become far more enticing and exploitative . . . Other AIs—designed to scam us or influence us politically, and sometimes masquerading as real people—will be introduced by other actors, and will likely fill up our feeds as well.
Increasingly AI-enhanced social media will “be a disaster for adolescents.” We know that it already is. Since children are most vulnerable to the addictive nature of social media, the mental-illness epidemic that began in 2012 (with growing evidence of correlation with mass social media usage) is likely to be exacerbated.
For more on the current state of social media among adolescents, I’ve found the following tremendously helpful:
- iGen by Jean M. Twenge
- The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
- Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
- Lost Connections by Johann HariIncreasingly AI-enhanced social media could strengthen authoritarian regimes. Haidt and Schmidt explain this idea powerfully:
AI is already helping authoritarian rulers track their citizens’ movements, but it will also help them exploit social media far more effectively to manipulate their people—as well as foreign enemies. Douyin—the version of TikTok available in China—promotes patriotism and Chinese national unity. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the version of TikTok available to Russians almost immediately tilted heavily to feature pro-Russian content. What do we think will happen to American TikTok if China invades Taiwan?
What would this mean for religious groups in authoritarian states? What does this mean for Christian world missions? This is a topic I’m looking forward to discussing in the future, but for now, it’s considerable food for thought.
Haidt and Schmidt’s Possible Solutions
What, then, do the authors of this article suggest as possible solutions? They propose five possible reforms:
Authenticate all users, including bots
Mark AI-generated audio and visual content
Require transparency with users, government officials, and researchers
Clarify that platforms can sometimes be liable for the choices they make and the content they promote
Raise the age of “internet adulthood” to 16 and enforce it
These are helpful, commonsense solutions, and it’s worth mentioning that Haidt and Schmidt put considerable meat on these bones in the Atlantic article. These are strong solutions, but for our purposes, let’s discuss what these threats mean for the Church.
How should the church respond to social media and AI?
We’re living in what feels like an unprecedented age of fear and distrust, and the chances are, it might get a lot worse. However, this newsletter is not about scaremongering; it’s about raising awareness of important issues so we can anticipate future responses with biblical clarity rather than burying our heads in the sand.
With that in mind, how do we draw the attention of society away from the lures of the gingerbread house and out from the clutches of that wicked witch of increasingly AI-driven social media?
1. We remember (and point to) our ultimate, unchanging source of trust.
In a fast-changing world, we remember God is constant and unchanging (Deut. 32:4; 1 Sam. 15:29; Psa. 18:30-31; Psa. 102:25-27; Mal. 3:6; Jam. 1:17).
As a result, we can build our house on the rock (Matt. 7:24-27) and know that our ultimate source of truth is the Lord. When we read news, we do so with discernment, of course, but we know that whatever the quality of our feeds, our ultimate authority and comfort is the unchanging Word of God.
A practical example: rather than allowing ourselves to get drawn into the anger and vitriol of political divisiveness that is being exacerbated by algorithmic scaremongering, we remember that the world will not be saved by earthly governance. It will be saved by Christ alone.
When we remember the source of true change and salvation, we can engage with politics in a constructive, Christ-centred, loving way, knowing that the victory is already won!
2. We nurture Christlike, truly loving communities in the real world.
Humour me for a second, and let’s pretend the Church fills the role of Hansel and Gretel’s parents. If we intentionally lead one another to find sustenance from the true and inexhaustible bread of life (John 6:35), the natural outworking would be a church so filled with love that —and I am wholly convinced of this—the vapid and meagre validation found online would be redundant. When we fail to love one another, we miss the core message of Jesus and effectively send society into the forest to find the sustenance of love elsewhere.
Consider the early church in Acts 2:42-47: devoted to fellowship, meeting together, and enjoying the favour of those around them. Consider the call to be devoted to one another in brotherly love, honouring one another above ourselves (Rom. 12:10; cf. Gal. 5:14; Matt. 22:37-39). Jesus taught us that everyone will know we are His disciples if we love one another (John. 13:35).
This call is clear.
In a world of digitally-produced dopamine hits, let’s build the Christlike community God calls us to.
3. We recognize the challenges faced by children and youth today.
It’s easy for older generations to find fault in the younger. In many ways, young people have it easier than ever…but they face the kinds of challenges that should cause us to shudder.
Gen-Z and beyond are under continuous assault from an endless stream of algorithm-curated content expressly designed to steal their attention from the real world.
Rather than criticize, we should recognize and sympathize.
Yes, I know I sound like a rapper from the early 90s, but it’s true.
By first recognizing the genuine obstacles our young people face, we can help them navigate the more unhealthy aspects of social media to protect them from mental health issues and other long-term side effects.
Practically, I’d also suggest there’s wisdom in following Haidt and Schmidt’s advice and keeping young people off social media until they are at least sixteen.
4. We anticipate missional challenges but step forward faithfully and obediently to God’s call.
There’s no denying it. The face of world missions may look very different in the future. The risks under antagonistic regimes may increase, but so, too, may the opportunities.
Our call is to step faithfully into the world to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20). The fear may be strong, but our hope in Christ is stronger. We remember that irrespective of technological roadblocks or even persecution, Christ is the one who will build His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).
There’s still time to rescue society.
Perhaps we need to wrestle society away from the grip of the evil witch. Or maybe we must take bold action to reform the AI-enhanced witch from her more wicked ways.
Whatever the best course of action, there’s still time.
And I believe we, the Church, can provide the solution.
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!
Are there any issues you’d like the Church and AI to address? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts!