This Tuesday marked the 1000th day since ChatGPT’s release. Perhaps I live under a rock, but I started using this crazily smart, remarkably intelligent tool fairly recently. Yet, despite my late entry into the game, I quickly got mired in the quicksand. 

As a writer, I asked it for synonyms. As a mom of a senior in high school, I asked it about college rankings and how to apply for scholarships. As a speaker, I asked it to do research into Bible passages for me. As the list of searches grew, so did my dependence on this tool that I hadn’t heard of just a few years (months?) prior.

I realized that ChatGPT spewed out incredibly wise, thoughtful, and funny words before I could hit a single key on my laptop. And I grew increasingly insecure. Sure, I’d been writing content for 25 years, but this 3-year-old upstart was spouting content in ways I never could. Friends who generated content using AI had gone viral. And here I was, actually crafting thoughts and sentences like a made-from-scratch meal, instead of ordering take-out that would be delivered in seconds.

If I don’t use AI, I know that inevitably I’ll be left behind (not talking about the rapture, but everyday life here!).

But I also realized that I couldn’t let insecurity rob me of my God-given insights. I knew that I still needed to faithfully communicate what God laid on my heart.

Perhaps you’re a writer grappling with similar questions and quandaries. Or maybe you’re just old-school, unsure of how to navigate this new terrain where reality seems to have morphed into the unrecognizable. How do we form a right “tech-ology” (theology around tech :)) around AI? Here are some of my nascent thoughts.

Recognize that AI is a tool (not a substitute)

If you’ve been in any social setting over the last year, the conversation meanders to artificial intelligence. Without doubt, it has made life easier. What took hours is now accomplished in the blink of an eye. But there’s a cost. When we use AI as a substitute to think for us, to write for us, to draw, paint, plan, code, decipher, and diagnose for us, we deplete our own abilities. When a tool breeds dependence, it poses a danger to us. Are we growing in reliance on a man-made tool or growing in dependence on God?  

 As a Christian (writer), do I turn more to ChatGPT for words than to God for His Word?

Recognize that AI can produce passivity (not thoughtfulness)

I likely sound archaic. But hear me out. In a recent New York Times opinion piece, the current NYU vice provost writes this: “Our A.I. strategy had assumed that encouraging engaged uses of A.I. — telling students they could use software like ChatGPT to generate practice tests to quiz themselves, explore new ideas, or solicit feedback — would persuade students to forgo the lazy uses. It did not.”

As human beings, our bent is to take the easy way out. We like fast-food solutions. We like microwave fixes. The Bible includes several warnings about laziness because God knows we’re prone to it!

It’s only when we wrestle with our thoughts and our words that we can be formed. When we passively tinker with the words that ChatGPT spews out, we miss out on being strengthened and shaped by our thoughts. 

As a Christian (writer), am I tempted to laziness instead of stewardship of my skills?

Recognize that AI can produce better content (not more contentment)

I’ll admit. When I read through ChatGPT-generated content, I often turn green-eyed. It’s engaging stuff. It makes you think. It can even make you tear up a little. But as a writer, here’s what I know: when I let AI do my work for me, I miss out on glorifying God with the skills He has given me. When I silence my own voice in favor of something that is simply not real, I diminish my purpose. Applause may come from sharing AI-generated content. But contentment comes from an Audience of One.

As a Christian (writer), am I seeking the applause of the world or the glory of God?

Let’s be real. AI is inescapable and it is undoubtedly helpful. But as writers (and creators) we need to thoughtfully and prayerfully engage this tool. None of us can be prescriptive about how to use it. But may each of us draw boundaries around AI so we don’t forgo creativity for popularity and learning for laziness.

Human beings are created to be creative. That’s one way we bear the image of God. It uniquely defines us as a species.

May we reclaim the gift of creating as an expression of worship. 

 

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