{"id":8578,"date":"2025-10-31T15:49:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=8578"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:49:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:49:24","slug":"church-must-not-be-backfooted-when-it-comes-to-ai-but-lead-the-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=8578","title":{"rendered":"Church must not be \u2018backfooted\u2019 when it comes to AI but \u2018lead the charge\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n \u00a0(Photo: Getty\/iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n

AI is changing the world as we know it and the Church has a responsibility to be ahead of the curve, says Christian technologist Nick Kim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kim, who has spent over 20 years working in the technology sector, including time at Google and YouTube, says AI is unlike anything else ever invented because while these \u201cmake our lives easier, they don\u2019t really challenge what it means to be human\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is fundamentally different from any other invention because it is taking our most prized asset, our intelligence, and we are now outsourcing it to a machine,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is more, that machine can create more intelligence, meaning AI\u2019s growth is exponential. Kim says this growth will only accelerate, with huge implications not only for society but for the Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLiterally all aspects of society will evolve and grow at an accelerated pace, from business, to education, to the way that we relate to each other, to ministry, to the Great Commission,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these aspects will benefit from the boom in intelligence that we\u2019ll have from these machines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is a prime opportunity for the Church to then not be backfooted but really lead the charge in this area and leverage this technology for the Kingdom of God and something good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kim was one of the panellists in a special session on AI at the World Evangelical Alliance\u2019s general assembly taking place in Seoul, South Korea, this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Delegates at the assembly heard about some of the challenges that AI is presenting to the whole of society. These include problems with fake images, academic dishonesty, inaccurate information, a lack of transparency, the impact on jobs and the environment, and the fact that AI cannot distinguish between right and wrong in the way that humans can.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quintin McGrath, a researcher on the link between AI and faith, spoke of a \u201chuman identity crisis\u201d in which the principle of the image of God is \u201cbeing replaced and challenged by AI\u201d, while transhumanism – the belief that the human condition can be transformed by AI and other technologies – is \u201cundermining the Gospel\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He noted that attitudes towards this new technology vary considerably, even among Christians, some of whom are positive and others extremely suspicious.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ranges all the way from embracing the opportunities through to total resistance. It\u2019s portrayed as a tool of the enemy in some cases, and in other cases it\u2019s a gift of God for us at this particular time. This is the tension we can see in the Church right now,\u201d he said.
<\/strong><\/p>\n

He believes that part of the role for the Church is to help build a \u201ctrust framework\u201d for AI aimed at aligning it with biblical principles and sound theology, and increasing accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe core question is: does our AI system enhance our desire to love God and love our neighbours?\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes our AI system strengthen or weaken our relationships with God and others? \u2026 Does it serve real human needs? Are we thinking about the benefit for everyone? Are we treating everyone equally?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With AI already shaking work and jobs, Dr McGrath said there was a need for Christian leaders to be increasingly \u201cproactive\u201d in providing pastoral care to those affected.<\/p>\n

Also on the panel was philosopher Professor Chris Watkins who said that irrespective of personal feelings around AI, church leaders needed to care about it because of its very real impact on people.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are affected and in the future will be increasingly affected by AI, whether we personally are users of AI or not, and whether we personally are enthusiastic about AI or not,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is inevitable that people who are very close to us in our families, congregations and communities will have their lives changed by AI and that should matter to us as people who believe in a God who died for people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Professor Watkins challenged Christians to consider the bigger picture and the human impact on both users and developers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I would urge us all to do as we use AI is to look behind the screen and what AI presents to us; look at the infrastructure that\u2019s necessary to present to us the prompt that flickers on our screen,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is involved in making that possible and who is hidden from our view? What people are involved in this huge global enterprise of AI that are off the stage?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0(Photo: Getty\/iStock) AI is changing the world as we know it and the Church has a responsibility to be ahead of the curve, says Christian technologist Nick Kim.\u00a0 Kim, who has spent over 20 years working in the technology sector, including time at Google and YouTube, says AI is unlike anything else ever invented because<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[83,85,82,84],"class_list":["post-8578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jesus","tag-backfooted","tag-charge","tag-church","tag-lead"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}