Seven Guidelines for Church Leadership in an Increasingly AI-driven World

Imperatives for leading well in a rapidly changing church context

Author’s note: this is an academic essay submitted for a Masters of Divinity module. Be warned: it’s about the length of a book chapter, so it’s not for the fainthearted! In the near future, I’ll be looking to present snippets from this paper in a way that is more casual for the general reader. My prayer is that the content presented in the study will save church leaders considerable hours of research and gain a basic understanding of the history and issues regarding the Church and AI. I sincerely hope it is a blessing, and would love to hear your reflections!

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The field of artificial intelligence has gained much media attention in recent times, and perhaps justifiably so. Few—if any—technical disciplines share the potential to utterly transform the world, whether for better or worse. For this reason, artificial intelligence is unique in our time—what journalist Jacob Stern describes as an “everything issue.”¹

This study seeks to show that integrating AI gives church leaders a unique opportunity to leverage its benefits as a valuable tool. However, successful implementation will require a deliberate approach characterized by prayerful discernment, multifaceted ethical considerations, and proactive preparedness to address concerning and potentially existential challenges. Given the nascent nature of the field, it is prudent first to understand something of AI’s short but complex history. Doing so will level the playing field, as it were, and provide a foundation to assess its broader societal impact, a critical component in the discussion. It is then possible to examine the potential implications on the Church and thus conclude with the following seven imperatives for church leaders as they shepherd their flocks into an AI-driven era:

1. Prioritize relationship, community, and pastoral care.

2. Preemptively foster congregational resilience.

3. Build adaptability into church structures.

4. Embrace positive technological developments.

5. Stay informed in a rapidly changing environment.

6. Proactively pray for God-given wisdom.

7. Keep an undistracted focus on the mission of the church.

OUTLINE:

• A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence

• AI’s Potential Impact on Society

• AI’s Potential Impact on the Church

• Seven Imperatives for Church Leaders

A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has lurched into the spotlight in recent years, but conceptually, it is not new. According to Stanford scholar Adrienne Mayor, some of the earliest ideations of AI exist as far back as Greek mythology. She is primarily referring to Talos, “a self-moving android with a power source that provides energy, ‘programmed’ to ‘sense’ its surroundings and possessing a kind of ‘intelligence’ or way of processing data to ‘decide’ to interact with the environment to perform actions or tasks.”² Interestingly, these are tales with which Jesus would likely have been familiar.

While human imagination has run rampant for centuries, the quest to actually achieve artificial intelligence ultimately began in the 1930s, when Alan Turing introduced the concept of universality.³ Summarized by Stuart Russell, universality means that humans “do not need separate machines for arithmetic, machine translation, chess, speech understanding, or animation: one machine [could do] it all.”⁴ In 1950 Turing then released a seminal paper entitled Computing Machinery and Intelligence, conceptualizing the imitation game and what would eventually become known as the Turing Test, an evaluation of a machine’s capacity to demonstrate intelligent behaviour at a level comparable to—or indiscernible from—that of a human being.⁵

The 1950s was a hotbed of activity in the field of AI. Turing’s work was closely followed by the Dartmouth Summer Research Project, which sought to discover “how to make machines use language, form abstractions and concepts, solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans, and improve themselves.”⁶ The following year (1957), Sir Julian Huxley published an essay introducing transhumanism as an idea, proclaiming that “the human species will be on the threshold of a new kind of existence . . . consciously fulfilling its real destiny.”⁷

By the mid-1960s, scientists and philosophers began to grapple with superintelligence as an idea; I. J. Good suggested that, as a result, there would “unquestionably be an ‘intelligence explosion,’ and the intelligence of man would be left far behind.”⁸

The 1970s ushered in what is commonly called the “first AI winter”—a period where technological limitations and lack of funding led to general inactivity until around 1980.⁹ Several factors thawed cooling interest in the field, such as the early development of PCs and significant Japanese investment in their Fifth-Generation Computer Systems Project, a $400 million, decade-long project designed to surpass Western efforts in achieving artificial intelligence.¹⁰ However, disinterest and failure due to technological restrictions hampered progress, and a second AI winter began in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

One of the great victories for AI was IBM’s “Deep Blue” project, which was the first supercomputer to beat a world champion at chess in 1997. However, aside from other incremental gains in the field, it was not until 2012 that notable progress occurred. In what is now described by many as “AI’s Big Bang,” Geoff Hinton and his colleagues made a breakthrough with neural networks, radically improving image recognition and thereby “transforming computer vision and the field as a whole.”¹¹ In doing so, Hinton paved the way for the present focus on deep learning in AI, bringing enormous investment from corporations and countries alike. On November 30, 2022, Open AI released an early version of “ChatGPT,” quickly becoming a viral sensation and igniting interest in AI among the general public.¹²

AI’s Potential Impact on Society

In Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, Bill Gorton asks Mike Campbell how he went bankrupt, resulting in the famous response, “Two ways. . . Gradually, then suddenly.”¹³ As the preceding history shows, AI’s proliferation into society has arrived in much the same way. It was already transforming the world from behind the curtain, but scholars are increasingly concerned about its stratospheric propulsion into the mainstream and its broader impact, particularly in the event of a superintelligence or singularity.¹⁴ By assessing AI’s technological possibilities, economic implications, cultural effects, and ethical challenges, one can gain valuable insight into its potential societal impacts and respond accordingly. As it is unrealistic to outline all of the specific changes that might occur in light of AI, this study will primarily draw attention to the sorts of macro-shifts that these technological advances might precipitate.

Understanding the AI Landscape

Despite common vernacular, present iterations of AI are more appropriately considered artificial narrow intelligence (ANI). In other words, they can perform specific tasks well but have not attained general intelligence (AGI), the ability to replicate the broad intellectual ability of humans in all areas.

If AI achieves general intelligence, the next milestone would be to considerably surpass human capability in all areas, thus achieving superintelligence and the realization of I. J. Good’s aforementioned “intelligence explosion.”¹⁵ Such an occasion is sometimes described as the singularity, a point where “technological progress becomes so rapid and exponential that it . . . [results] in a future in which machines can create and improve upon their own designs faster than humans can.”¹⁶

Superintelligence and the singularity are closely related, but the latter is broader, referring to the point where technology changes so rapidly that it fundamentally transforms the human race. One might visualize these critical events on a graph as follows:

A visualization of what I. J. Good describes as an “Intelligence Explosion.”...

The arrival of ANI is already transforming the world in which we live. AGI will consolidate and entrench those changes. However, if achieved, Stephen Hawking believed that a superintelligence would be “either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity.”¹⁷

Clearly, there is enormous potential for good in myriad disciplines. However, the risks are more pressing than many would like to admit, given that, by some estimates, superintelligence may arrive as soon as 2045.¹⁸ Elon Musk has expressed concern over an AI with the ability for “recursive self-improvement,” explaining that if researchers designed an AI system to eliminate spam emails, it might conclude that the most effective way to do so is to eliminate all humans.¹⁹ In recent months, dozens of prominent AI scientists and other notable figures signed a succinct but powerful statement: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”²⁰ In March 2023, over 31,000 people signed an open letter citing the “profound risks to society and humanity” by AI and expressing alarm at the lack of planning and management in light of such realities.²¹

An adequate treatment of the reasoning for such concern is perhaps beyond the scope of this paper; instead, how might these evolving forms of AI affect the society in which we live?

Economic Considerations

An artificial intelligence-driven economic singularity could lead to “radical abundance where nobody has to work for a living” or an “elite owning the means of production and suppressing the rest of us in a dystopian technological authoritarian regime.”²² At this point, both scenarios are feasible.

From 1820 to 2010, there was a tenfold increase in global GDP per capita. However, AI brings humanity into wholly new territory, the sort that could dwarf the impact of the industrial revolution and bring about a similar sort of profound change in considerably less time. Oxford Professor and founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute, Nick Bostrom, explains what might happen:

Since GDP would soar following an intelligence explosion (because of massive amounts of new labour-substituting machines but also because of technological advances achieved by superintelligence, and, later, acquisition of vast amounts of new land through space colonization), it follows that the total income from capital would increase enormously. If humans remain the owners of this capital, the total income received by the human population would grow astronomically, despite the fact that in this scenario humans would no longer receive any wage income. The human species as a whole could thus become rich beyond the dreams of Avarice.²³

Most of the growth that Bostrom refers to relates in some form to increased productivity. In the immediate future, some studies suggest that 40% of all working hours could be augmented or supported by large language models like Open AI’s ChatGPT.²⁴ At first, combining these intelligence capabilities with those of humans will significantly increase productivity and therefore enhance value production.²⁵ Eventually, AI-enhanced technology (manufacturing processes, self-driving cars, drones, and other such machinery) might be able to “take over routine tasks and liberate us to do more stimulating or challenging jobs.”²⁶

In turn, increased productivity could radically lower transport and labour costs (which, in turn, would lower the general cost of goods for the consumer), as AI-enhanced robotics do not require payment and can work 24/7. Undoubtedly, the utilization of such technology would cause “unprecedented job displacement. . . that will hit blue- and white-collar workers alike.”²⁷ However, governments could conceivably redistribute the enormous surplus generated by this technology and redistribute it through support schemes or a version of universal basic income (UBI).²⁸ In such a scenario, it is conceivable that poverty could be eradicated and work becomes optional for many.

On the other hand, with some projections suggesting that as many as 47% of jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI in some nations, competition for the remaining jobs would radically increase and thus drive down wages.²⁹ The gap between rich and poor may increase exponentially, causing more significant social problems and civil unrest, a sentiment expressed by the pope in September 2019.³⁰

Cultural Considerations

The proliferation of increasingly advanced AI in society will undoubtedly affect many facets of culture. In some ways, education may be greatly supported by the provision of specialized AI tutors at negligible cost,³¹ allowing human educators to “focus less on the rote aspects of imparting knowledge and more on building emotional intelligence, creativity, character, values, and resilience in students.”³² However, further integrating AI into distractive forces such as social media, which have already been shown to have adverse effects on adolescents, could be disastrous.³³ Such systems can “track an individual’s online reading habits, preferences, and likely state of knowledge, [and] tailor specific messages to maximize impact on that individual while minimizing the risk that the information will be disbelieved.”³⁴

As well as education, such systems and approaches will continue to affect social media in general and, in turn, influence the political and cultural landscape. Without ethical oversight, these systems may drive citizens into increasingly siloed perspectives, expose them to torrents of disinformation or artificial realities, and put groups at risk from nefarious regimes coopting information for their agendas. Regarding the former, some experts have predicted that as much as 90% of online content “may be synthetically generated by 2026,” ushering in an “information apocalypse” where disinformation and deepfake technology make it increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction.³⁵

Indeed, a social media influencer recently made headlines after releasing an AI chatbot that “replicates her voice, mannerisms and personality” for $1 a minute,³⁶ and several reports are beginning to surface about people “marrying” their AI partners.³⁷ With the latter, the ubiquity of camera and AI-driven facial recognition systems (along with “big data,”) could allow authoritarian regimes to, according to Calum Chace, “build apparatus of control which would make Big Brother in George Orwell’s ‘1984’ look amateurish.”³⁸ Indeed, China has already implemented an AI-fuelled social credit system.³⁹

Beyond nations, AI is also impacting the state of warfare. The US, China, the UK, Russia, India, and Turkey are all reportedly working on AI drone warfare technology;⁴⁰ Israel is notably ahead, having used an AI drone swarm to locate and attack Hamas militants as far back as 2021 (and has reportedly used the technology in combat since).⁴¹ Such technology could conceivably reach the general public, and a swarm of ten thousand drones that could wipe out half a city “could theoretically cost as little as $10 million.”⁴² As costs plummet and proprietary software becomes increasingly open-sourced, it is possible to imagine a situation where malfeasant operators or a rogue superintelligent AI with nefarious purposes abuse this technology. What was once the realm of science fiction movies is now a conceivable reality. Conversely, one might argue that implementing AI technology in warfare could curtail the loss of life in combat.

There are other ways in which AI may save lives. Artificial intelligence should “enable researchers to unravel and master the vast complexities of human biology and thereby gradually banish disease.⁴³ The healthcare industry can cut costs, reduce errors with increasingly automated surgeries,⁴⁴ and perhaps even produce neural-implant or human augmentation technologies “that will replace and improve [one’s] auditory perception, image processing, and memory.”⁴⁵ While early iterations of this technology are universally positive, the transhumanists sit on the spectrum’s other extreme.

First attributed to Sir Julian Huxley’s essay of the same name, transhumanism is “a philosophical movement that aims to free the human body and mind of their biological limitations, allowing humanity to transcend into a future unconstrained by death.”⁴⁶ Transhumanism’s ultimate conclusions are staggering, as O’Gieblyn explains:

According to this thinking, consciousness can be transferred onto all sorts of different substrates: our new bodies might be supercomputers, robotic surrogates, or human clones. But the ultimate dream of mind-uploading is total physical transcendence—the mind as pure information, pure spirit.⁴⁷

The enormity of these objectives cannot be overstated. According to transhumanists, the goal is to free oneself from the inferiority of the material world and enjoy a sort-of pseudo-spiritual existence. If such an aim sounds familiar, it is because the roots of such thinking go deep into the ancient world. Transhumanist thinking will warrant further discussion below. However, the growing pursuit of these outcomes may profoundly shape society.

Ethical Considerations

Putting aside the theological component of artificial intelligence for now, practically every iteration of AI-based technology brings additional ethical questions. Discussions around copyright and intellectual property laws, privacy protection, and digital security are at the forefront of these considerations. However, society must also grapple with the inherent bias found in artificial intelligence systems. While one may assume that AI systems are objective as they base their decisions on pure data optimization, it is vital to recognize that the mass of data which informs such decisions are embedded with the preferences and prejudices of its authors. “If,” as John Lennox notes, “the ethical programmers are informed by relativistic or biased ethics, the same will be reflected in their products.”⁴⁸

Furthermore, AI systems are commonly referred to as “black boxes.” In other words, given the nature in which many artificial intelligence systems arrive at their conclusions—usually consisting of incalculable volumes of data for a single decision—it is almost impossible to discern the processes behind the answers. This is hugely problematic in the financial sector or when looking to AI for a decision regarding critical health decisions.⁴⁹

In addition to these ethical questions, it is also essential to ask how one might control an AGI system and how to define whether or not developments in AI have reached a danger point in an industry where the economic incentive to continue is perhaps too strong for nations and corporations to proceed with caution. How humans grapple with these economic, cultural, and ethical realities will be some of the defining decisions of this century.

AI’s Potential Impact on the Church

As AI impacts society, it also impacts the Church, ushering the Body of Christ into new territory and posing important practical and theological questions that, sooner or later, will demand answers. By exploring some of the potential ecclesiastical impacts of AI in light of societal shifts, it is possible to develop a framework for church leaders to anticipate such changes well.

AI and the Church in Practice

Artificial intelligence can enormously benefit most areas of ministry within the Church. As believers gather to worship on a Sunday, they may soon find that AI has supported the worship leader in song selection, music transcription and chord chart creation. AI could automate the audio engineering process, and the potential ubiquity of augmented reality (AR) contact lenses could render projectors obsolete. Instead, Bible passages, song lyrics, and other media could appear—quite literally—before the eyes of the congregation. Some experts in the field predict that this kind of technology will be typical by around 2040.⁵⁰

Preachers may utilize large language models like ChatGPT for sermon preparation, though one must navigate myriad challenges here. Less morally ambiguous is the opportunity for multilingual congregations to utilize the AR technology to translate the sermon into multiple languages in real-time, vastly increasing the minister’s opportunities to serve multicultural communities. This technology may have far-reaching consequences for world missions. Although such realities may sound far-fetched, early versions of this technology exist.⁵¹ Indeed, incremental improvements in unsupervised machine learning (where AI is able to train itself without human involvement) will almost certainly aid—and perhaps finalize—the process of Bible translation in every language during this generation.⁵²

AI will likely impact staffing, enabling churches to squeeze greater productivity from frequently meagre budgets and prioritize pastoral care. It can support outreach, evangelism, missions, and discipleship through various ways and means. For example, a church may utilize an AI-driven chatbot to gamify teaching experiences and support children in their spiritual growth, or converse with potential visitors (and redirect them to a designated human at the right point). It could answer theological questions, create more interactive Sunday gatherings and be available to provide basic pastoral care at all times of the day (whether it should or not is another matter). AI’s ability to excel in data analysis can be of huge benefit to church planters, and help spot trends in attendance, giving and finances, and even advertising for special events. It will also help with many creative facets of ministry, including video and music production and graphic design.

While the potential benefits of AI are clear, it is also essential to recognize the practical challenges that may accompany such changes. Artificial intelligence may become a crutch rather than a tool, eliminating opportunities for believers to worship through service and causing some to seek AI for guidance rather than the Holy Spirit. Its ability to uniquely tailor content to individuals may exacerbate already disturbing levels of distraction from spiritual disciplines. Increasing distraction by the allure of technological developments will involve renewed and robust conversations about God’s call to human flourishing.

As with the potential societal impacts of AI, it is almost impossible to predict its full practical impact on the Church. The profoundly contextual nature of ministry and the unpredictability of AI’s future should instead cause church leaders to consider the more general theological implications and discussions that warrant consideration in the present. 

The Theological Implications of the Church and AI

For some devoted followers of AI, it has become a new religion. O’Gieblyn, herself a former Christian, asserts that “artificial intelligence and information technologies have absorbed many of the questions that were once taken up by theologians and philosophers: the mind’s relationship to the body, the question of free will, [and] the possibility of immortality.”⁵³ To many in the field, the “old religion” has been replaced by technicism, a faith in machine rather than man to act as ultimate saviour of humanity.⁵⁴ In fact, computer scientist Jaron Lanier believes that “if you want to make the transition from the old religion, where you hope God will give you an afterlife, to the new religion, where you hope to become immortal by getting uploaded into a computer, then you have to believe information is real and alive.”⁵⁵

Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski pursued this line of thinking to the extreme in 2015 when he founded the first church of artificial intelligence, which ran for six years before closing in 2021.⁵⁶ Theologically, how should church leaders (and believers in general) respond to the potential existential and pseudo-religious challenges of AI?

Transhumanism contains echoes of Gnosticism

Church leaders must grapple with the ethical challenges of biotechnology and brain enhancements. Is this biblical? If not, will believers be left behind intellectually and, as a result, become second-class citizens? These are important questions to consider. However, perhaps more pressing is the ultimate and growing push toward transhumanism.

Gnosticism refers to a religion that found some prominence in the Church’s early years. Its adherents shared some similarities with Judeo-Christian values but were markedly different in enough key areas that the global Church deemed them heretical.⁵⁷ Gnostics believed that the material world, including the human body, was inferior or evil and that one could attain salvation could by gaining secret knowledge. Transhumanism and Gnosticism share considerable similarities: where Gnostics sought to transcend the limitations of the material world through special knowledge, transhumanists also intend to try and transcend the limitations of the human condition through special knowledge (and resultant technology). Indeed, the goal is to move beyond the material altogether. Describing transhumanism as a genuine Gnostic heresy would be an overstatement since it is fundamentally secular. However, the echoes are notable.

 The Early Church (such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus) quickly rejected some of these ideas when they were presented as Gnosticism. Contemporary believers should be quick to do the same. Humanity is made in God’s image (Gen. 1:27). However, at its furthest conclusion, transhumanism effectively rejects the work of the Potter and aims to manufacture a pale digital imitation of the Clay.

Furthermore, transhumanism (and, more broadly, technicism) is a counterfeit gospel. Its proponents proclaim that humans live in a fallen world where material realities (rather than sin) hinder them from experiencing life in all its fullness. To transhumanists, death is one of those realities. Artificial intelligence and the singularity, it is posited, will make a way for humans to live forever, overcoming death and finding life eternal. Whoever believes in transhumanism and places their faith in a special knowledge concerning superintelligent technology will transcend the bounds of this broken world and experience eternity in an endless conscious existence. The problem is that with transhumanist thinking, mankind is trying to reach the heavens and make a name for themselves, dangerously excluding the omnipotent, incomprehensibly holy God of the Universe and the work of Christ in what amounts to little more than a 21^st-century Tower of Babel.

Church leaders must be prepared to engage with a world that believes in an counterfeit life after death and remind it that eternity as ones and zeroes (or even qubits) is nothing more than an empty, false promise. It is limited by the existence of the finite digital world and would cease to be a person’s true self. More pressing is the reality that even if this existence were truly infinite (which it would not be), it would still be an eternity separated from God.

Good Stewardship is a Biblical Mandate

Related to the imago-dei, God calls humans to have dominion over all creation under His divine leadership (Gen. 1:28). Ultimately, all that humanity has belongs to the Lord (Psa. 24:1), and believers have the opportunity (indeed, calling) to embrace a stewardship mindset, acknowledging our individually fleeting roles as managers and caretakers of His blessings. Part of this role involves careful stewardship of technology, which, of course, includes artificial intelligence.

The church has an opportunity to ensure that AI is developed and used in ways that honour God and promotes human flourishing. Because humans are image-bearers of the Lord and stewards of His creative work, they can make sure that AI never diminishes or disregards human worth but rather enhances and supports it.

To steward both creation and technology well, believers must engage in discussion around AI. One must ask why prominent figures like Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking are sounding the alarm and why Nick Bostrom describes the societal approach to AI as “like children playing with a bomb.”⁵⁸ As God-ordained stewards of the earth, church leaders must engage with and be prepared to respond to this issue.

Provision for the Poor and the Pursuit of Justice

Stewardship is an outworking of a believer’s role as image-bearers, and the outworking of stewardship is serving the poor and the pursuit of biblical justice. Isaiah 58:10 reminds believers that when one serves the hungry and satisfies the needs of the afflicted, their light will shine in the darkness. Proverbs 19:17 teaches that kindness to the poor is like a loan to the Lord, and he will give a reward to the lender.

Jesus identified himself with the poor and taught that serving them is tantamount to serving him (Matt. 25:35-40). He calls believers to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to their banquets (Luke 14:13-14). James exhorts believers to feed the hungry (Jam. 2:14-17). Micah 6:8 and Isaiah 1:17 instruct us to pursue justice.

As outlined above, there is a real possibility that artificial intelligence may lead to an economic singularity. In the best-case scenario, church leaders must grapple with biblical mandates in light of poverty’s elimination. In the worst case, it is paramount that the Church speak up on behalf of the oppressed (with respect, integrity, and honour), and fulfill its duty to serve the poor and seek justice for those who cannot speak up for themselves.

Work as a Blessing

Work is an integral part of God’s original design for mankind. In the pre-Fall world of Genesis 2:15, God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to “work it and take care of it.” The Bible calls believers to work “with all their hearts, as working for the Lord and not for men” (Col. 3:23-24). Believers bring glory to the Lord through labour; the very importance of a Sabbath rest implies the importance of work during the rest of the week. Clearly, there is something of intrinsic value to work.

In 1930, John Maynard Keynes envisaged a potential reality for contemporary humanity in his essay Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren. He predicted that the “economic problem” (as he referred to it) would be solved, and three-hour shifts or a fifteen-hour week “may put off the problem” of the “old Adam” urge in us to work so that we might “be contented.”⁵⁹ Keynes was astute and in many ways, eerily prophetic. The fifteen-hour work week may well be an imminent possibility if AI ushers the world into an economic singularity. However, it would seem that Keynes vastly underestimates the “old Adam” urge in humanity. The Bible shows that work is a valuable, meaningful, and fulfilling part of life. Thus to miss work is to miss a fundamental part of God’s design for humanity, which is no good thing. Indeed, studies are beginning to support Scripture:

The importance of having a job extends far beyond the salary attached to it. A large stream of research has shown that the non-monetary aspects of employment are also key drivers of people’s wellbeing. Social status, social relations, daily structure, and goals all exert a strong influence on people’s happiness.⁶⁰

A robust and biblical theology of work will ultimately immunize believers from the inherent emotional and spiritual dangers of a work-free economic singularity. However, church leaders must be ready to guide a world that grapples with these realities.

Believers Must Avoid Idolatry

In Exodus 20:3-5a, God is clear that His people are to worship Him alone; anything that holds a higher position in the hearts of His people is idolatrous (Psa. 115:4-8; Ezek. 14:3; Matt. 6:24; Acts 17:29). society is already gripped by the digital world in many forms (for example, social media, dating apps, and pornography). It is thus easy to imagine a scenario where the increasingly efficient and personalized AI world could cause people to worship something other than God. The very nature of technicism is idolatry: placing inappropriate trust in man-made creations rather than the Creator or elevating AI to a position of ultimate authority. Believers must keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfect of the faith (Heb. 12:2).

Other considerations

Of course, there are many other theological considerations regarding AI. How might church leaders respond to the growing capability of nefarious actors to commit highly targeted genocide using relatively cheap drone swarms? How might they navigate believers in their congregations entering into committed relationships with AI? In June 2023, over 300 people attended an experimental ChatGPT-powered “church service” in Germany.⁶¹ To what extent can this be considered church? These are just some of the questions to be considered as AI becomes an increasingly prominent part of society.

Seven Imperatives for Church Leaders

In light of these societal and theological considerations, this study proposes seven imperatives for church leaders as they shepherd their flocks into an AI-driven era.

1. Prioritize relationship, community, and pastoral care.

Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly change how churches complete administrative and information-based tasks. Used wisely, it will significantly aid many facets of ministry, including (but not limited to) preaching, teaching, evangelism, missions and sung worship. However, while it may give some semblance of personal interaction, AI will never be able to function as a legitimate substitute for authentic human relationships. Unless drastic changes occur, western culture is on course to become increasingly siloed, hidden behind digital avatars and personas and, in many ways, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Existential fears and confusion may abound, but the meaningful relationships to assuage such fears are declining. On the one hand, a wealth of information is at one’s fingertips; on the other, such information will be muddied by a potential “information apocalypse,” inevitably leaving some believers lost and confused and in great need of the comfort that accompanies genuine human interaction.

As AI becomes increasingly prominent, I propose that the sort of church leadership model where the pastor’s role may better resemble that of a CEO rather than a shepherd will become increasingly redundant. Instead, the need for relationship, community, and pastoral care will become paramount. Indeed, the Church may see a resurgence in pastoral visitations as the congregation thirsts for meaningful connection. Such relationships will provide much-needed stability in an environment that feels increasingly unstable, and can never truly be replaced by machine learning.

2. Preemptively foster congregational resilience.

All the signs indicate that the world will face drastic change over the next three decades. Church leaders can adequately prepare their congregations by supporting growth in biblical literacy, spiritual disciplines, and a robust understanding of the Gospel. In order to prepare believers to weather the coming storms, leaders can direct them to build their houses on the rock (Matt. 7:24-27). It is also prudent to preemptively approach some of these theological, ontological, existential and practical questions regarding AI sooner rather than later to ensure that the church is ready when increasingly drastic changes happen.

3. Build adaptability into church structures.

While it is impossible to predict the realities of AI’s proliferation into society, one can be sure that the face of ministry will change with it in many ways. Church leaders would be wise to assess processes and structures regularly and ensure adaptability in an increasingly fast-paced society. Envisioning staff and volunteers to be agile and prepared for the realities of change will ensure that churches can adapt quickly and effectively to the needs of their community. Proactive preparation in these areas now will lessen the potential challenges in the future.

4. Embrace positive technological developments.

Church leaders have a choice: they can act as 21st Century Luddites and oppose the growing incorporation of AI into society in all its facets, or they can embrace its positive aspects to fulfil the Great Commission more effectively. It is wise to have concerns about some of the outcomes of artificial intelligence, but it is equally wise to recognize how it can benefit the Church’s ministry for Christ. What this will entail is specific to a church’s community, focuses, and resources, but church leaders would do well not to bury their heads in the sand on the issue.

5. Stay informed in a rapidly changing environment.

AI developed gradually, then suddenly. As previously mentioned, it is impossible to predict how these changes might develop in the near future. However, it is enormously beneficial for church leaders to effectively pay attention to the ever-changing landscape to pastor their congregations through such change. This is not to say that all pastors must be AI experts; rather, that it is prudent to be aware of the significant cultural shifts that an increasingly AI-driven world may precipitate.

6. Proactively pray for God-given wisdom.

Wisdom is more than knowing something. It is about what one does with that knowledge. Brett McCracken puts it well: “Wisdom is not merely knowing the right answers. It’s about living rightly. It’s about determining which right answer is best.”⁶² Biblical wisdom is different from earthly wisdom (1 Cor. 1:25). Indeed, Jesus became wisdom for humanity (1 Cor. 1:30). The Book of Proverbs teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). In The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis highlights this truth: “ . . .all is vanity, save to love God, and Him only to serve. That is the highest wisdom, to cast the world behind us, and to reach forward to the heavenly kingdom.”⁶³ Proverbs reveals that the result of this sort of closeness with God is Christlike character (Prob. 11:2; 12:15; 13:1; 14:6, 33). One might express such a reality in the following way: Biblical wisdom is an awe-driven closeness with God that results in Christlike character.

In a world that edges closer to AGI (and possibly superintelligence), it will be tempting for believers to increasingly look to AI for knowledge. However, it is important not to confuse earthly knowledge with God-given wisdom. Church leaders must remember that while it is tempting to search for answers in ChatGPT and its inevitable successors, God alone is the source of true wisdom. As such, leaders would do well to take time for proactive prayer for God-given wisdom, particularly regarding the future of AI and the Church.

7. Keep an undistracted focus on the mission of the church.

There will be many distractions as AI becomes an increasingly prominent part of social and cultural life. However, church leaders must remember that whatever the outcome, the mission of the Church remains the same. It is important to recognize potential existential questions, but church leaders must help their congregations to hold them in their rightful place.

In great detail, Romans 9 reminds believers that there is only one throne over all, and it belongs to the Lord of all Creations. The Lord’s decree will prevail (Prov. 19:21), and He works everything out in agreement with the purpose of His will (Eph. 1:11).

Because believers serve a sovereign King, there can be no truly existential threat that would thwart God’s will.

Church leaders can remind believers that Jesus will one day return (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 1:7), and He will return to existent humanity. With every potentially catastrophic issue (such as nuclear threats and climate change), believers must keep in mind this critical and comforting truth.

Jesus will not return to an empty, barren wasteland with great fanfare and suddenly realize that humans annihilated themselves before He arrived.

While this should bring believers confidence regarding the future, there is no room for complacency. The world will not be destroyed, but that does not mean it is immune from devastating and irreparable damage. Thus church leaders must guide their congregations with an undistracted focus to live out the God-given calling of the Church.

Conclusion

There is much to digest as artificial intelligence improves and increasingly impacts the world. With seismic change comes considerable opportunity to leverage the benefits of AI as a valuable tool. However, as this study shows, successful implementation hinges on how church leaders approach the discussion. There are many practical, cultural, societal, and theological realities to digest; how leaders choose to do this will largely determine how the Church adjusts to the enormous changes that await it.

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Bibliography / Notes

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1. Jacob Stern, “Where’s the AI Culture War?,” The Atlantic, last modified April 9, 2023, accessed May 19, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/04/generative-ai-tech-elon-musk-chatgpt-politics-biden/673673/.

2. Adrienne Mayor, Gods and Robots (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018), 37.

3. A. M. Turing, “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem,” Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 2, no. 42 (1936): 230–265.

4. Stuart Russell, Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2019).

5. A. M. Turing, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” Mind, New Series 59, no. 236 (1950): 433–460.

6. J. McCarthy et al., “A Proposal for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, August 31, 1955,” Ai Magazine 27, no. 4 (2006).

7. Julian Huxley, “Transhumanism,” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 8, no. 1 (1957): 73–76.

8. I. J. Good, “Speculations Concerning the First UItraintelligent Machine,” Advanced in Computers 6 (1966): 31–88.

9. Calum Chace, Surviving AI, Third Edition. (Three Cs, 2020), Kindle loc. 433 of 4658.

10. Kenkichiro Koizumi, “Technology at a Crossroads: The Fifth Generation Computer Project in Japan,” Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 37, no. 2 (2007): 364.

11. Siobhan Roberts, “Geoffrey Hinton Has a Hunch about What’s next for AI,” MIT Technology Review, last modified 2021, accessed July 14, 2023, https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/04/16/1021871/geoffrey-hinton-glom-godfather-ai-neural-networks/.

12. Bernard Marr, “A Short History Of ChatGPT: How We Got To Where We Are Today,” Forbes, last modified 2023, accessed July 14, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/05/19/a-short-history-of-chatgpt-how-we-got-to-where-we-are-today/.

13. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, 1926. E-Book, (New York, NY: Scribner, 2014), 170.

14. Meghan O’Gieblyn, God, Human, Animal, Machine (New York, NY: Doubleday, 2021), Kindle loc. 131 of 3858;

O'Gieblyn notes that "Facebook uses neural networks to identify people in photos; Alexa employs them to interpret voice commands. Google translate uses them to convert French into Farsi." AI is also used for facial recognition, stock management, manufacturing, education, surveillance, and much more.

15.  Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), Kindle loc. 1528 of 9985;

Bostrom defines three types of superintelligence. Speed superintelligence is "an intellect that is just like a human mind but faster"; collective superintelligence is "a system achieving superior performance by aggregating large numbers of smaller intelligences"; and quality superintelligence is a system that is "at least as fast as a human mind and vastly qualitatively smarter".

16. “What Is Technological Singularity?: AI Terms Explained - AI For Anyone,” accessed May 5, 2023, https://www.aiforanyone.org/glossary/technological-singularity.

17. Alex Hern, “Stephen Hawking: AI Will Be ‘either Best or Worst Thing’ for Humanity,” The Guardian, October 19, 2016, sec. Science, accessed July 21, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/oct/19/stephen-hawking-ai-best-or-worst-thing-for-humanity-cambridge.

18. Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan, AI 2041 (New York: Currency, 2021), Kindle loc. 7198 of 7291;

It is important to note here that estimates vary greatly. However, in Superintelligence, Bostrom notes that the challenge of superintelligence is that humanity may not have adequate opportunity to prepare for such a scenario. In what he refers to as a "fast takeoff" scenario, the fate of humankind "essentially depends on preparations previously put in place. For this reason, it is wise not to dismiss early predictions out of hand .

19. Cade Metz, Genius Makers (New York, NY: Dutton, 2021), Kindle loc. 2208 of 6844.

20. “Statement on AI Risk | CAIS,” accessed June 2, 2023, https://www.safe.ai/statement-on-ai-risk#sign.

21. “Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter,” Future of Life Institute, March 22, 2023, accessed June 2, 2023, https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/.

22. Chace, Surviving AI, Kindle loc. 253 of 4658.

23. Bostrom, Superintelligence, Kindle loc. 4162 of 9985.

24. Paul Daugherty, “A.I. Will Potentially Impact 40% of Your Working Hours, According to Accenture,” Fortune, last modified 2023, accessed July 21, 2023, https://fortune.com/2023/05/11/ai-impact-work-hours-accenture-careers-tech-paul-daugherty/;

A large language model (LLM) refers to an AI system that can both understand and generate human-like language. By analyzing vast amounts of data, they are able to predict text patterns, structures, and meanings in a language. As such, LLMs such as ChatGPT are able to give the appearance of understanding.

25. Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann, “Why Every Organization Needs an Augmented Reality Strategy,” in HBR’s 10 Must Reads On AI, Analytics, and the New Machine Age (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2019), Kindle loc. 882 of 3348.

26. Lee and Qiufan, AI 2041, Kindle loc. 132 of 7291.

27. Ibid., Kindle loc. 5743 of 7291.

28. Annie Lowrey, “Before AI Takes Over, Make Plans to Give Everyone Money,” The Atlantic, last modified May 17, 2023, accessed May 19, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/ai-job-losses-policy-support-universal-basic-income/674071/.

29. Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne, “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?,” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 114 (2017): 254–280.

30. John C., 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective, 2020), 13.

31. Russell, Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control, Kindle loc. 1827 of 7202.

32. Lee and Qiufan, AI 2041, Kindle loc. 2122 of 7291.

33. Jean M. Twenge, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?,” The Atlantic, last modified September 2017, accessed May 30, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/; Jonathan Haidt Schmidt Eric, “AI Is About to Make Social Media (Much) More Toxic,” The Atlantic, last modified May 5, 2023, accessed July 21, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/05/generative-ai-social-media-integration-dangers-disinformation-addiction/673940/.

34. Russell, Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control, Kindle Loc. 1893 of 7202.

35. Europol Innovations Lab, Facing Reality? Law Enforcement and the Challenge of Deepfakes (Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2022).

36. Taylor Lorenz, “An Influencer’s AI Clone Will Be Your Girlfriend for $1 a Minute,” Washington Post (Washington, DC., May 13, 2023), accessed July 24, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/13/caryn-ai-technology-gpt-4/.

37. “‘We Love Each Other’: Woman Creates and ‘marries’ AI Chatbot Boyfriend,” Euronews, last modified June 8, 2023, accessed July 24, 2023, https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/06/07/love-in-the-time-of-ai-woman-claims-she-married-a-chatbot-and-is-expecting-its-baby; Vanessa Caldwell, “‘I Love Her and See Her as a Real Woman.’ Meet a Man Who ‘Married’ an Artificial Intelligence Hologram,” CBC, last modified November 18, 2021, accessed July 24, 2023, https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-nature-of-things/i-love-her-and-see-her-as-a-real-woman-meet-a-man-who-married-an-artificial-intelligence-hologram-1.6253767.

38. Chace, Surviving AI, Kindle loc. 1108.

39. “China’s ‘Social Credit’ System,” Artificial Intelligence +, last modified May 11, 2022, accessed July 21, 2023, https://www.aiplusinfo.com/blog/chinas-social-credit-system/; Lennox, 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity, 70.

40. David Hambling, “Israel Rolls Out Legion-X Drone Swarm For The Urban Battlefield,” Forbes, last modified October 24, 2022, accessed June 2, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2022/10/24/israel-rolls-out-legion-x-drone-swarm-for-the-urban-battlefield/.

41. David Hambling, “Israel Used World’s First AI-Guided Combat Drone Swarm in Gaza Attacks,” New Scientist, last modified June 30, 2021, accessed June 2, 2023, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2282656-israel-used-worlds-first-ai-guided-combat-drone-swarm-in-gaza-attacks/.

42. Lee and Qiufan, AI 2041, 5182 of 7291.

43. Russell, Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control, 1831 of 7202.

44. Kyle H. Sheetz, Jake Claflin, and Justin B. Dimick, “Trends in the Adoption of Robotic Surgery for Common Surgical Procedures,” JAMA Network Open 3, no. 1 (January 10, 2020);

The study conducted by Sheetz et al. found that "the use of robotic surgery procedures increased from 1.8% to 15.1% from 2021 to 2018." It is reasonable to assume that this number is significantly larger today.

45. O’Gieblyn, God, Human, Animal, Machine, Kindle loc. 771-773 of 3853.

46. Rawat, “Transhumanism: Savior of Humanity or False Prophecy?,” Big Think, July 27, 2022, accessed May 5, 2023, https://bigthink.com/the-future/transhumanism-savior-humanity-false-prophecy/.

47. O’Gieblyn, God, Human, Animal, Machine, Kindle loc. 771-773 of 3853.

48. Lennox, 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity, 149.

49. Thomas H. Davenport and Rajeev Ronanki, “Artificial Intelligence for the Real World,” in HBR’s 10 Must Reads On AI, Analytics, and the New Machine Age (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2019), Kindle loc. 223 of 3348.

50. Lee and Qiufan, AI 2041, Kindle loc. 3477 of 7291.

51. Simon Hill, “An App Wants to Subtitle Life for Deaf and Hearing-Impaired Users,” Wired, n.d., accessed July 25, 2023, https://www.wired.com/story/xrai-glass-caption-ar-glasses-first-look/.

52. Matthew Hutson, “Artificial Intelligence Goes Bilingual—without a Dictionary,” last modified 2017, accessed July 26, 2023, https://www.science.org/content/article/artificial-intelligence-goes-bilingual-without-dictionary;

This article cites two breakthrough papers that showed the viability for neural networks to recognize "word clusters" and thus decode new languages.

53. O’Gieblyn, God, Human, Animal, Machine, Kindle loc. 126 of 3853.

54. Derek C. Schuurman, “Artificial Intelligence: Discerning a Christian Response,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 71, no. 2 (2019), 77.

55. Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget (New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010), 37.

56. Kirsten Korosec, “Anthony Levandowski Closes His Church of AI,” TechCrunch, February 18, 2021, accessed May 22, 2023, https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/18/anthony-levandowski-closes-his-church-of-ai/.

57. Zachary G. Smith, “Gnosticism,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, n.d.

58. Adams, “Artificial Intelligence: ‘We’Re like Children Playing with a Bomb’ | Artificial Intelligence (AI) | The Guardian,” last modified June 12, 2016, accessed May 22, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/12/nick-bostrom-artificial-intelligence-machine.

59. John Maynard Keynes, “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren,” in Essays in Persuasion (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1960), 369.

60. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward, “Does Work Make You Happy? Evidence from the World Happiness Report,” Harvard Business Review, March 20, 2017, accessed May 22, 2023, https://hbr.org/2017/03/does-work-make-you-happy-evidence-from-the-world-happiness-report.

61. Benj Edwards, “AI-Powered Church Service in Germany Draws a Large Crowd,” Ars Technica, last modified June 12, 2023, accessed July 26, 2023, https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/06/chatgpt-takes-the-pulpit-ai-leads-experimental-church-service-in-germany/.

62. Brett McCracken, The Wisdom Pyramid (Wheaton, IL.: Crossway, 2021), 66.

63. Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, trans. William Benham, 1886.