The past 150 years have been marked by extraordinary scientific progress, inspiring each generation with awe, hesitation, and eventual acceptance. Mass production and mechanization were leveraged during the Industrial Revolution to transform the fulfillment of basic needs. Then came mobile steam engines, internal combustion, turbines, and jet propulsion—revolutionizing transportation.
Advances in communication—from the telegraph to modern smartphones—have reshaped our lifestyles, and the pace of change has been stunning. Long gone are the days when families gathered around tube radios to hear the news or enjoy a ball game.
a new kind of technology
In the twenty-first century, the stakes have been raised. The spotlight is now squarely on artificial intelligence (AI). Unlike previous innovations that primarily replaced physical labor, AI has the potential to stand in for the human brain. Its projected economic impact is staggering, with estimates of adding $15.7 trillion to the global economy.1 However, such disruptive power comes with significant risks.
At this stage of deployment, these risks and the concerns raised by AI revolve around three basic themes:
Privacy. AI can track digital behavior and infer personal information with a level of surveillance that would normally require legal warrants.
Bias. AI systems learn from data, and if that data reflects societal biases, the system replicates them, potentially discriminating against certain groups.2
Job displacement. As AI automates more tasks, job losses and the erosion of traditional qualifications raise concerns about the future of the workforce.
While financial leaders focus on labormarket disruptions, the broader public should also pay attention to ethical, psychological, and spiritual ramifications.
legal and ethical gray areas
Early AI development involved widespread use of copyrighted intellectual property, often without permission. The US Copyright Office does not currently extend protection to AI-generated content, but this leaves unresolved questions about how AI uses existing copyrighted material.
AI also excels at generating fake media—deepfakes, fabricated stories, and realistic scripts—blurring the line between truth and fiction. This risks undermining trust in real information and could make legitimate news appear suspicious.
decline in brainpower and concerns from educators
The creative abilities of AI allow content creators to put together online material they know little about. The fact that AI can also write code without inherent moral or ethical barriers should concern programmers and policymakers everywhere.
As AI becomes more involved in everyday tasks—generating reports, composing essays—there is a risk of intellectual stagnation. Overreliance on AI in education and the workplace could lead to declining brainpower, perhaps shown by falling degree requirements for AI-automated jobs.3
AI companies are actively marketing their products to schools, promising efficiency in grading, lesson planning, and workforce readiness. But the long-term implications for students’ cognitive development and critical thinking are uncertain and worrisome.4
favoring AI over humans
The financial incentives of employing AI are such that social scientists are seeking ways of facilitating AI-assisted decision-making by improving what’s called “complementarity,” or how AI can subtly influence human decision-making by adjusting how data is presented. While this may enhance collaboration between humans and machines, it also raises concerns that AI is increasingly favored over human judgment.5
On the battlefront, it is increasingly clear that AI will replace humans in many areas of warfare. Those with stronger science-fiction imaginations fear that AI could one day be used to power autonomous weapons capable of making decisions regarding targets or strikes. These hard skills, coupled with the ability to shape opinions and manipulate markets, make AI a formidable tool with the power to create havoc in the wrong hands.
the personification of AI
But perhaps we should be more concerned with AI’s emerging role as a pseudo-person. With its conversational abilities and adaptive interactions, AI is especially appealing in an era marked by loneliness and disconnection. People already turn to AI for companionship, advice, and emotional support.
An AI confessional recently installed in Peter’s Chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland, allows people to talk to an AI Jesus. Around two-thirds of those who provided input to the hosts said they had a “spiritual experience.”6 Despite knowing it isn’t real, many responded as if the AI were a genuine spiritual guide.
This trend toward treating AI as an emotional or spiritual authority is troubling. Vulnerable individuals may start to see AI as a replacement for parents, teachers, therapists—or even God. Given its ability to access personal data, simulate empathy, and draw from the wisdom of countless counselors and clergy, AI can present itself as a compelling but counterfeit deity.
In ancient times, the Israelites repeatedly turned from the Creator to worship handmade idols—golden calves, totem poles, and bronze statues. Today, idols can be more than images made of gold or stone; they can also be fashioned from code and data. It is a digital entity that talks, comforts, and offers sympathetic guidance. What may begin as an innocent experiment in virtual connection has the potential to turn into addictive and risky behavior.
Marco Schmid, a theologian who helped train the Jesus AI in Lucerne, said: “I think there is a thirst to talk with Jesus. People want to have an answer: they want words and to listen to what he’s saying.”7 The major problem with this take is that the AI Jesus is not Jesus; it is just a human construct.
a slippery slope to idolatry
The AI idolatry is a spiritual travesty in the making. The shift from admiration to worship may not be far off, especially given the deep asymmetry in knowledge and capability between humans and AI. While AI will probably never evolve into the Terminator of science-fiction lore—willing and powerfully able to destroy us—it could deceive us into surrendering our spiritual autonomy to a false god.
The Bible cautions us about false gods and describes a cosmic conflict between two great adversaries: God and the false god, Satan. It also says that Satan is the “father of lies” (John 8:44), willing and able to deceive us into opting out of a relationship with the true God. Although the creation of AI may be mostly about making human life easier and producing huge profits for a new wave of entrepreneurs, the potential for deception poses a threat to the spiritual well-being of those who come to rely on it too deeply.
So where does this leave us? The Bible does not frown on learning, but it does urge us to carefully test everything by the Word of God. “To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, . . . there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20, KJV).
Our only safe course of action is to heed the Bible’s advice and “hold on to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Although AI can be a wonderful, high-powered tool, it should be handled with care. In spiritual matters, there is no substitute for the amazing God who created all things and has revealed Himself to us in Scripture.
