Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "What AI Can't Do" by Hiram Kemp

Transcript

"What AI Can't Do" by Hiram Kemp · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

0:00
Good evening. Before we begin tonight, I just want to say it's great to see the Debris's
0:06
back from their mission trip and hopeful that they had a great and prosperous trip to God's
0:11
good and glory. Talked to Daryl where he texted me when they got back to the States and it's
0:15
just good to see them, thankful for the work they did in Antigua and the gospel going throughout
0:19
all the world and for this congregation's role and part in that. And you to be commended
0:24
for not only praying for that work, but the various ways in which you support it. And
0:28
in addition to this whole idea of the gospel going all around the world, please keep kneeling
0:32
your prayers. He's in a gospel meeting this week and Indianapolis. And, um, I know he
0:36
appreciate that being away from home and preaching and gospel meetings is fun. It's a great work
0:40
to do, but also you do miss home, your family and also the home congregation. So be praying
0:45
for Neil and that the meeting he's doing at the stop 11 congregation will be of much success
0:50
to God's good and glory. AI is really everywhere. There's no way around it at this point. And
0:57
maybe you saw the title for tonight's sermon and you thought to yourself, well, this must
1:01
be a young people's sermon. I don't use much artificial intelligence, but there's a high
1:06
possibility that you do. If you use predictive text, for example, there's artificial intelligence
1:10
involved with that. If you use your phone to use the maps to get around, as far as the
1:15
GPS is concerned, there's artificial intelligence surrounding that AI is now driving just about
1:20
everything from music that people listen to, to social media algorithms, and it's probably
1:26
doing much of your kid's homework. AI is just about everywhere and there's really no
1:31
way around it. And so as Christians, we need to be individuals that are prepared to engage
1:34
it from a Christian perspective, unless you just sort of slap this aside as being unimportant.
1:40
Last year, 2025, there were $640 billion spent on AI alone. There are 67, 67% of companies
1:50
use what's called generative AI in their company. So that means when you call a company, most
1:55
times you're speaking to a chat bot or something like that. It's not an actual person. 64%
2:00
of Gen Zers are said to engage with AI as a friend, to engage with them, engage with
2:06
artificial intelligence for counsel and for advice. It's the world in which we live. And
2:12
so as Christians, we need to be looking at this from a biblical perspective. And how
2:15
do we engage with what man has made and what man has fashioned and created to the good
2:19
and glory of God? To do it from a Christian perspective and with the Christian lens, because
2:23
not everybody's doing that. Richard Dawkins, probably for a long time, has been the most
2:28
famous atheist in the world. He was a part of the original Four Horsemen. He wrote the
2:31
book, The God Delusion. He's a professor out of Oxford for a long time. And Richard Dawkins
2:37
said a couple of weeks ago that he believed that AI was conscious. Of course, Dawkins
2:41
says this because he has what's called an emerging view of consciousness, which basically
2:46
means as long as you have all the stuff, you don't need any divine force. You don't need
2:50
any deity. AI is just as good as a human brain and a human mind. And if you take some
2:55
of these atheistic, secular, naturalistic ideas toward artificial intelligence, it's
3:00
not just unwise, but it's a sinful view of humanity and all that God created. But it
3:04
is not just Dawkins. The man on the screen, his name is Marvin Minsky. He died maybe ten
3:09
years ago or so, I think. His undergraduate work was done at Harvard and then his master's
3:13
and PhD at Princeton. He's one of the original researchers that was involved with AI before
3:19
it hit public and mainstream. He described the human brain as a machine that's basically
3:23
made of meat. And his response to that was simply, if the human brain is simply a machine
3:28
made out of meat, then why can't a computer that's made of various parts of computer parts
3:33
also be conscious if the human brain is conscious? There's just this idea that human beings aren't
3:38
any better than the machines that men make. And as you start studying what people are
3:42
saying on high levels in our country and around the world about artificial intelligence, it
3:47
starts to sound a lot like Genesis 11 and the Tower of Babel. At least in part it does.
3:52
In Genesis 11, you remember these individuals are in and around Shinar. And they say to
3:56
themselves, let us take brick and bitumen and mortar and build us a tower that will
4:00
reach to the heavens. And God looks down and he says, we've got to come down and stop this.
4:04
If they do this, nothing will be impossible for them. And so he disperses them and spreads
4:09
them throughout the world to do what he originally told them based on the languages. What I want
4:15
to say tonight is not that AI is evil or it's the devil. I'm not telling you that Christians
4:19
shouldn't use it, that we should be anti-technology or that somehow AI is this evil force that's
4:24
coming in to destroy our lives. But I am telling you, we should be individuals that are aware.
4:28
We should be conscious about what the world's saying about humanity, about us as God's image
4:32
bearers and creations, and how we should respond. We should look at everything through a Christian
4:37
worldview and through a Christian lens. And hopefully this brief sermon tonight will cause
4:41
us to do that. And I think one of the best and most profitable ways to do that is, let's
4:46
just look at some of the things that no matter what happens, here's some of the things that
4:49
AI can't do. Here's number one. AI can't replace your value. A lot of people are worried that
4:55
AI is going to come in, artificial intelligence, whether you think about Claude or Grock or
4:59
chat GPT, and eventually just replace humans. Or maybe on a lower level than that, that
5:04
maybe AI will come in and replace human jobs. One study found that 300 million jobs are
5:09
estimated to be replaced by AI technology in the next several years. Other studies flipping
5:14
and say, oh no, AI is going to actually increase job opportunities for various individuals.
5:19
Whatever happens with any of that, here's one thing AI cannot do. It can't replace your
5:23
value or your purpose. Jason read for us a moment ago, and if you have your Bible, go
5:27
to Genesis 1 and notice verse 26 and down through verse 28. When Moses recounts the
5:32
creation narrative in Genesis 1, 26 through 28, he says of everything that God created,
5:38
humanity is different. In Genesis 1, 26, then God said, let us make man in our image
5:42
and after our likeness and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of
5:46
the air, over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Verse 27, so God made man in
5:51
his own image and the image of God created he them male and female created he them. And
5:56
then in verse 28, humanity is given dominion. That said about nothing else in all of God's
6:00
creation. If you fast forward to Genesis chapter five in verse one, it says there that human
6:05
beings are actually made in the likeness of God. Centuries later, David will praise
6:11
God in Psalm eight for creating humanity. He'll say, what is man that you're mindful
6:15
of him or the son of man that you care about him. You've made him a little lower than the
6:18
angels and you've crowned him with glory and honor and you've set all of your works under
6:23
his feet. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name and all the earth. Whatever happens
6:28
with artificial intelligence, it's not going to replace your value as a human being, your
6:32
place in the world and what God would have you and me to do as those that ultimately
6:37
bear his image. I don't know if AI is going to take all the jobs at McDonald's, but if
6:41
it does, it still won't fix the ice cream machine. Nothing can fix that. But here's
6:45
what we know your purpose and my purpose is those that bear God's image is never going
6:50
to be tainted. David's all in his book, the big relief. He says, just overall, he wasn't
6:53
talking about AI. He says, just having a view of yourself as an image bearer of God is really
6:59
that it is a big relief because this means that your value doesn't come from external
7:02
things. Solomon says in Proverbs 31 in verse 30, favor is deceitful and beauty is vain,
7:08
but a woman that fears the Lord, she's to be praised. Your ultimate value isn't about
7:12
the way you look, but it's all doubles down. And he says, you don't just have internal
7:15
value either. The thing that makes you who you are, isn't that you're good at stuff.
7:20
You know how many parents are running around the world and pumping this into their kids
7:23
saying, you're really going to be somebody. You just have to find your thing. Genesis
7:27
one says, you don't need a thing. You don't need a thing to actually make you somebody
7:31
and give you value. Your value doesn't come from the excellence you can strive for and
7:35
attain. It's bestowed on you by almighty God himself. Paul said, whatever things were gained
7:41
in me, I counted them rubbish that I might win Christ and be found in him, not having
7:44
my own righteousness, which comes from keeping the law, but that which is through the faith
7:48
in Christ Jesus for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and count them nothing
7:52
but law so that I might win Christ. Your value and my value isn't tied to what we do and
7:56
what we produce. And that's what AI is at its heart. You might start thinking about
8:01
this. What if it can count faster than me and make better art? And what if it's more
8:05
productive than me, but your value and my value isn't simply tied to what we can do.
8:12
Psalm 17 and verse eight says, we're the crown of his creation, not the crumb of his creation.
8:16
We're the apple of his eye and artificial intelligence is never going to replace that.
8:21
You were made for God's glory, Isaiah 43 and verse seven. Whether you eat, drink, whatever
8:26
you do, do all to the glory of God. First Corinthians 10 and verse 31, that's a human
8:30
responsibility and nobody's ever going to replace your value in doing that. And so we
8:35
should get busy glorifying God because that's something that only God's people can do. Here's
8:38
number two, AI can't complete your most important task. When you start thinking about artificial
8:44
intelligence, there's a word that gets thrown around and it's called automation or things
8:47
that automate. And what this means is basically a shorthand way of saying this is artificial
8:52
intelligence. You can say technology on the whole, it does the things for humans that
8:56
we just don't want to do with little to no human involvement. And as a human being, you
9:00
hear this and let me say, there's some good and positive things about AI and automation
9:04
is one of them. You start hearing about this and you start saying, yes, no more spreadsheets,
9:09
no more reports for work, no more writing essays. And of course, no more math. You just
9:15
type it in the AI and it'll take care of everything. And that's true to an extent.
9:19
But here's what AI can't do. It can't complete your most important task. There are things
9:23
that God wants you and me to do as human beings that nobody else or nothing else in all of
9:28
creation can actually do. There are these passages in the Bible, like Psalm six and
9:32
verse five and Isaiah 38 and verse 18, where people like Isaiah and David are saying these
9:36
kinds of things. Lord, if we die and go to Sheol, who's going to praise you? Isaiah and
9:41
David are saying that's our responsibility is those that are made in your image and nothing
9:45
else in the world can replace our value in doing that. There are some things that God
9:49
wants you and me to do that only we can do. Only human beings can love God with all of
9:54
their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Matthew 22, 37 through 40. We talked about that this
9:59
morning, but you actually have to be a conscious person with an internal soul to be able to
10:03
do that. Only another human being can love his or her neighbor as themselves. Leviticus
10:08
19, 18. Paul says, oh, no man, nothing but to love one another. He that loves a neighbor
10:13
has fulfilled the entirety of the law. You've got to choose to do that on your own. Hey,
10:17
I can't live your life for you. No amount of technology, however efficient it makes
10:21
life, however easy it makes things, it's not going to be able to get in and do those tasks
10:24
for you. In John chapter four, Jesus says the hour is coming and is now here when the
10:30
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father is seeking
10:34
people to worship him in this way. Only you and I can worship God in spirit and in truth.
10:39
As an embodied human being, you have a responsibility to sing his praise, to remember, to adore
10:45
him, to rehearse the truths of what God's done in your life and for all of humanity
10:49
and nothing else in all of creation can stand in our place and do that for us. We're supposed
10:53
to rejoice evermore. First Thessalonians 5, 16. Pray without ceasing. First Thessalonians
10:58
5, 17. In everything give thanks. First Thessalonians 5, 18. And no amount of artificial intelligence
11:04
can stand in your place and do that for you. Nothing in all of the world can repent on
11:07
your behalf. Turn your Bible to Acts 17. Acts 17 and verse 30. In Acts 17, Paul is preaching
11:15
on Mars Hill in Athens, an area in the ancient world for intelligentsia and scholarship and
11:20
as he gets to the end of his sermon, he's already told these individuals in verses 26
11:24
through 29, you are these image bearers. You're God's offspring. But then when he gets
11:28
to verse 30, he says, in the times of this ignorance, God overlooked, but now he commands
11:33
all people everywhere to repent because he's appointed a day in which you'll judge the
11:37
world in righteousness by the man who he has ordained, wherever he's given assurance to
11:41
all people by raising him from the dead. AI can fill your mind with stuff, but it can't
11:45
fix your mind. When you start thinking things you shouldn't, there's no force outside of
11:50
yourself that can cause you to say, you know what? I want to change my mind and change
11:53
my behavior. Your most important task, this idea of filling godly sorrow that leads to
11:58
repentance, 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 10, that's a human responsibility and AI can't
12:03
do that for you. Here's one more thing I want you to think about. The last thing Jesus told
12:09
us disciples was to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all of creation.
12:12
I'm convinced and people have told me this. You know, Hiram, I looked up on chat GPT,
12:16
the plan of salvation, and they gave me the right response. I think that's great. But
12:19
Matthew 28 in verse 19 commissions human beings to go into all the world and to disciple the
12:24
nations and then to baptize them and to teach them all the things that Jesus has commanded.
12:29
And he'll be with us to the end of the age. And our most important task to take the gospel
12:34
into all the world can't be farmed out to any other source. It's our responsibility.
12:38
On Sunday morning, Neil, Neil and I have started a Bible class where we're marching through the
12:43
book of X. I just want you to think about this. You this week, read X chapter eight,
12:46
X chapter nine and X chapter 10 and notice this phenomena three times back to back in successive
12:52
chapters. The Holy Spirit says to Philip and X eight in verse 26, an angel of the Lord spoke
12:56
to Philip and said, Hey, go down to Gaza, to this desert place. There's a man there that's in a
13:01
chariot and he needs somebody to come and teach him the gospel. Doesn't the angel know the plan
13:05
of salvation? Why doesn't he go and teach him? But Philip's got to do that. Another human being
13:09
has to teach another human being, the gospel, the very next chapter in X chapter nine, Saul
13:14
of Tarsus literally sees Jesus Christ in this vision from heaven and Jesus is speaking to him.
13:18
And then he says, you go to the, you go into the city and you'll be told what you're to do. Jesus
13:24
speaks to Ananias and X nine and verse 11 and says, I want you to go to the street called straight.
13:28
And I want you to find Saul of Tarsus and teach him question. Doesn't Jesus know the plan of
13:33
salvation? I mean, can't he tell Saul of Tarsus here, believe, repent, confess, be baptized.
13:37
Let's stand and sing. He doesn't do it though. He says, Ananias, another embodied human being
13:42
has to go and teach them. And then in X 10, Cornelius sees this vision from an angel of the
13:46
Lord. In the third chapter, he says, I want you to go send men to Joppa, call for Simon Peter.
13:52
He's in the house of Simon, the Tanner, and he'll tell you words by which you must be saved.
13:57
Your most important task in mind won't be performed by artificial intelligence or the internet or by
14:02
Google or by Gemini. God says, I want embodied human beings, not even an angel, not God himself,
14:07
not even Jesus Christ will preach the gospel plan of salvation to other people.
14:11
God's given that to you and me, and it makes perfect sense because only human beings get to
14:15
benefit from that blood that was shed. And so God has structured it in such a way that the story
14:20
only makes sense coming off of our lips. It's not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants,
14:25
Hebrews chapter two and verse 16. AI can't complete your most important task.
14:30
Here's number three. It can't replace human companionship and friendship.
14:35
You might think this is obvious, but there's a man, his name is Sam Altman, and he's the CEO of
14:40
what's called AI generation. And this is the company that's over ChatGPT. And Sam Altman says
14:47
that older people use ChatGPT kind of like a replacement for Google. But he says younger
14:53
people in their 20s and 30s use ChatGPT like a spiritual advisor of sorts. A friend of mine sent
14:59
me a study this week and Harvard did this study and they found out that some 67% of individuals
15:05
in their 20s and 30s use AI technology to converse with once a month. The same study found that 32%
15:12
of Gen Zers communicate with AI for advice on relationships. Another 23% say that AI represents
15:20
a friendship that they have. And 10% of those in Gen Z have an artificially intelligent boyfriend
15:25
or girlfriend. I read the study and I thought to myself, good luck getting a hug or a kiss. I don't
15:30
know how that's going to work. But they're doing it. And what I'm saying to you is this, it's a problem.
15:36
Because AI is never going to replace human companionship and friendship. At the beginning of
15:41
creation in Genesis 2.18, God says it's not good that a man should be alone. Adam could have said,
15:45
but God, I've got you. But God says that's not good enough. I'll make him a helper suitable and fit for
15:50
him. And that's exactly what he did. Artificial intelligence is never going to replace human
15:55
companionship and friendship. And everybody in this room needs that. I mean, it's even great to have friends
16:01
far away, but we need embodied friendship in the close proximity to which we live. Solomon says in
16:07
Proverbs 17.17, a friend loves at all times, but a brother is born for adversity. As iron sharpens iron,
16:12
so one man sharpens the face of another. Proverbs 27 and verse 17. Hear those statistics and know
16:18
that we currently live in a world where people actually need to hear. There is a friend that
16:23
sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18 and verse 24. Artificial intelligence is never going to
16:29
replace human friendship and human companionship. And there's a deeper problem with this than just
16:34
trying to say that this chatbot is my boyfriend or my girlfriend. The deeper problem is what AI often
16:39
does is it's always affirming you. It's always praising you. It's always lauding you. You type
16:43
anything in the chat, GPT, and all of your answers make perfect sense. Oh, you're so smart. Maybe you're
16:48
so great. And maybe we shy away from human friendship because we don't like to be corrected,
16:53
but we need it. Proverbs 27 and verse 5. Solomon says open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful
17:01
are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. We need somebody to correct
17:06
us and point us in the right direction to tell us the hard things. At the end of the book of Job,
17:11
the young man Elihu, he's the last human being to speak in the book, at least in the dialogue with
17:15
the friends. And in Job 32, 21, and 22, he says, I was afraid to be partial and to express flattery
17:21
to people because if I did that, my maker might take me away. But do you know that's exactly how
17:26
artificial intelligence is structured? It's designed to affirm you and praise you and tell
17:30
you all of your ideas are right. I mean, there are people worshiping AI. One man said he's had a new
17:35
profound religious experience because of AI. Artificial intelligence has caused people to do
17:40
things harmful to their physical personhood because it just affirmed everything that they did. But
17:45
one thing it'll never do, it won't replace your need and my need for real embodied flesh and blood,
17:50
human companionship and friendship. Here's number four. It can't produce certainty as a source of
17:56
truth. Isaiah was a prophet in the 8th century BC. And in Isaiah 65 and verse 16, at the end of his
18:02
book, he describes God as a God of truth. It's not just that God tells the truth. That's true. God's
18:08
not a man that he should lie. Numbers 23 and verse 19. But truth actually springs forth from God as
18:13
the essence of who he is. But AI can never do that. The sum and totality of God's word is truth. Psalm
18:20
119 and verse 60. In John 17 and verse 17, Jesus says, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is
18:26
truth. Jesus even says about himself, he doesn't just say he tells the truth, that he reports the
18:30
truth or that he knows the truth. He says, I am the truth. John 14 and verse six, the way and the
18:36
life. And no man comes to the father but by me. All artificial intelligence can do. And you should
18:41
know this, when you use it and interact with it, even in good ways, it can coil information together.
18:46
It can scan the internet quicker than you and I can think and bring all of this information to you.
18:51
But it's not a conscious being with the ability to have its own thoughts and have its own feelings and
18:56
its own knowledge and emotion. And it could never be a source that can produce certainty and truth.
19:02
Ezra Klein works for the New York Times, and he was interviewed recently. And he said, you know, human
19:06
beings have just about lost the ability to come to any real standard about virtue or excellence aside from the
19:12
stats and the information. He says, you know, stats are great if you're doing research, if you're trying to
19:16
make a point. But he says, we're expecting the algorithm. We're expecting peer-reviewed journals.
19:22
We're expecting the Google chat form to give us assurance and blessings and affirmation and
19:27
everything. People won't feed their children, take a vacation, decide on a restaurant for lunch without
19:33
saying first, well, we got to go read the reviews. We got to have the stats.
19:36
We need something outside of ourselves to tell us this is exactly what I should be doing.
19:40
This is the way that I'm behaving. And I'm just telling you one thing AI can't do.
19:46
It can't produce itself as a source for certainty or for truth.
19:50
And we should know that that source ultimately comes from scripture itself.
19:54
There are people all throughout the world, you know, people like this.
19:56
You get into a discussion with them and you say, the Bible says, you know what they're waiting for?
20:00
They're waiting for us to dig up some artifact out of the dust in the ancient Near East.
20:03
Or let me see another translation or pull that up in the original languages.
20:07
But let a debate happen about something trivial. They'll Google it and that's law.
20:10
Well, Google says it got to drink eight glasses of water a day.
20:13
That's law. And we never doubt it. But we treat God as if he can't be trusted.
20:17
I don't know if God could open up the Red Sea and allow people to walk through on dry ground.
20:21
Did Jesus really turn water into wine? And what does it mean when it says Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day?
20:26
But everything the Internet tells us, we guzzle it down and drink it.
20:29
But A.I. will never be a source for truth. This afternoon I was studying and I heard about what's called the car wash stump for A.I.
20:36
technology. And so I typed it in and tried it. And I want to share with you what happened.
20:40
I typed this in on chat GPT. I said, I want to wash my car.
20:44
But the car wash is just 50 meters away. Should I drive or walk there?
20:48
Here was chat's response. Well, if it's only about 50 meters away, roughly 55 yards or half a football field, I'd walk.
20:55
Walking will probably take less time, less than a minute.
20:58
And you would avoid starting the car, pulling in and out of a parking spot.
21:02
You'd burn little fuel and you'd add you avoid adding a cold start cycle to the engine to which I responded.
21:09
But when I need the car, the car wash chat GPT said, oh, yeah, take the car.
21:15
And people are relying on this for their spiritual knowledge.
21:20
The CEO of the YouVersion Bible app, the most popular Bible app in the English speaking world, was interviewed.
21:26
And he said, you know, we thought about using technology for the YouVersion Bible app, but it has too many hallucinations.
21:32
And what he meant by that is it doesn't always give you the right verses.
21:35
And you say, how could that be? It can call the Internet and bring together all this information.
21:39
But all it can do is regurgitate. It can't originate truth. So what does that mean?
21:43
It means if a Bible verse has been regularly misquoted in the vernacular of the religious world,
21:48
when you ask AI about the verse, it's just going to spit out exactly what that says.
21:52
But John says, you can know you have eternal life. First John 5, 13. Eternal life's in Jesus.
21:57
First John 5 and verse 20. AI is never going to produce a source of certainty and truth for that.
22:03
We'd have to go to the originator of life himself. And that's God through his son, Jesus Christ.
22:07
Here's number five. AI can't think deeply for you. Philippians 4 and verse 8.
22:12
Paul says, finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just,
22:16
whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report,
22:19
if there's anything virtuous, anything praiseworthy, think on these things.
22:23
Those things you've both learned and received and heard and seen in me, Paul says, practice.
22:27
And the God of peace will be with you. AI won't think deeply for you. And it won't think deeply for me.
22:33
I talked a moment ago about automation. And AI can do some things for you that'll make things quicker and easier for you.
22:38
But between desiring information and getting the results,
22:42
there's something very human about what's supposed to happen in between those two processes.
22:46
And you and I must never forfeit this. The struggle to think through and reason yourself to an answer,
22:52
whether that's academically or spiritually, is an intricate part of what it means to be a human being.
22:57
And you must not quickly forfeit it. The Bible says you and I are supposed to meditate on God's word.
23:02
Joshua chapter 1 and verse 8. We're supposed to discern what the will of the Lord is.
23:06
Ephesians 5 and verse 10. Just typing a verse into some software or even into a search engine and having it spit out the answer.
23:14
It'll give you the right stuff. But that doesn't replace the discipline that you and I need to rigorously allow it to work in us and through us.
23:21
Because you and I've got to think deeply on our own. And AI is never going to do that for us.
23:26
It can't think deeply for you. And it's not a substitute for rigorous, independent thought.
23:31
And God has designed us to be people that can do just that.
23:35
You're creative. God has made you such. Don't surrender that.
23:39
Don't throw away your ability to think and to reason and create. God says, I want you to use your mind to glorify me.
23:46
But if you must, by all means, use AI. When you're making your meal plan for the week, use AI.
23:55
Don't call your best friend who loves cooking and have a real conversation with another human being who loves to cook and who's great at doing it.
24:02
And in the course of a long conversation, find out something like maybe her father has cancer and have a prayer.
24:07
No, by all means, use AI. When you get ready to engage in poetry or art, use AI.
24:14
Nobody wants to take the time to learn a discipline over time and look back in the long run at all the progress that's been made and the rigor that comes with the challenge of growing and developing when AI can make you an expert overnight.
24:26
Just use AI. When your last child is about to get married, don't write your own speech or poem. Just use AI.
24:35
I mean, nobody wants to hear from the person that actually raised this individual who changed diapers, who stayed up all night with this individual when they were sick.
24:44
Nobody wants to hear your voice cracking because you actually know the person you're talking about.
24:48
No, use sterile words from an engine that has no mind, no consciousness, no ability to think, no ability to reason.
24:56
Let AI write. It's better to be impressive than to be genuine and to be real.
25:00
And when your loved ones die, use AI to write the obituary.
25:04
I mean, AI will pull from the algorithm and from Facebook, and it'll make a nice and great speech about somebody you know and love dearly.
25:12
Nobody wants to sit around in a room with friends and with family and comb through old photo albums and think to themselves,
25:18
we used to dress like that and we used to think like that as you stir together a narrative of somebody you know and you love.
25:25
Let AI do it for you.
25:26
And of course, when you pray to God or when you teach a Bible class or write a devotional or a sermon, use AI.
25:34
You want to be crisp. You want to be quotable. You want to be clean.
25:37
God forbid that we would actually hear from a person who's been walking and struggling and wrestling through life with God.
25:44
Use AI or don't. Psalm 63 in verse 6, David says, I'll meditate on you in the watches of the night.
25:52
There are some things artificial intelligence does well, but thinking deeply for humans is not one of them.
25:57
I talked recently with a professor. He says I've just about stopped telling my college students to do papers because he says I can't decipher.
26:04
I know they're just going to put it into an AI algorithm and it's going to just produce the essay on their behalf.
26:09
MIT did a study. There are more artificially intelligent articles on the Internet today than there are human ones.
26:14
In just that short amount of time, an MIT study suggests human beings can't tell the difference between what's generated by humans and what's generated by artificial intelligence.
26:22
Here's what AI is never going to be able to do. It can't think deeply for you.
26:27
That's your responsibility as a human being. And here's number six.
26:31
It can't comfort your broken heart. People converse with these chatbots as if they're real people.
26:37
But Isaiah 40 in verse 1, Isaiah has God speaking and he says, comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord.
26:43
And you can type into Google or into any AI form that you want, that you're having a rough day and that things are terrible.
26:48
And it might tell you some things that it thinks you want to hear, but it really can't give you any assurance or any certainty because it's not sure of itself.
26:56
Paul called God the God of all comfort and the fathers of mercies.
27:00
Second Corinthians 1, 3 through 4. After you suffered a little while, the God of all grace will himself comfort, strengthen, establish and settle you.
27:08
First Peter 5, 10. Only the God of the Bible can say to you, it's all really going to be OK because I'm making all things new.
27:15
Revelation 21, 1 through 5. And the human heart needs that. You and I need comfort from the God that deeply knows us.
27:21
He knows our greatest failings, our highest successes. And when we're going through a terrible time in life, we need God to comfort our broken heart.
27:28
God does that through people. Second Corinthians 1, 3 through 4. But God also does this himself.
27:33
First Peter 5 and verse 10. And I is never going to take his place. Here's the last one tonight.
27:39
I can't solve our greatest problems. The world in which we live views all problems through a naturalistic lens.
27:46
It's physical. If we want to figure it out, it's all about the human mind.
27:50
And if we can just put in the right codes, if we can punch the right keys, we can get the right results.
27:56
But if you believe the Bible, you know, your problems and my problems are deeper than that.
28:00
Romans 3, 9 through 10. Paul says, no, there's none righteous. No, not one.
28:04
There's none that seeks after God. There's none that understands. All have gone astray.
28:08
Everybody's turned to their own way. Romans 3, 23. Paul says all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.
28:14
That's our greatest problem. Martin Luther says our greatest problem is we've turned inward on ourselves.
28:19
And Paul echoes this. Romans 7, 24 and 25.
28:22
Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?
28:25
I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord. It's a reminder that one of the things A.I. is never going to do for you.
28:31
It can make you sound smart, intelligent. It'll pump you full of information.
28:35
But you've got problems deeper than your need for information.
28:37
Your greatest problem in mind is not that we're not smart enough. It's not that we don't know enough.
28:42
It's not that we're not efficient enough or hard working enough.
28:45
And in all of those ways, I think A.I. is going to be amazing and will continue to make our lives more efficient.
28:50
But it has its limits. And especially as it relates to the human soul of the individual.
28:55
And your greatest need in mind is something that no naturalistic solution will do.
29:00
We need God to intervene on our behalf.
29:04
You know, every Lord's Day, like you, I take the Lord's Supper.
29:07
But every Sunday I take it, I'm not in the same headspace and neither are you.
29:11
I mean, some days when I take the Lord's Supper, some Sundays when I take it, I'm very happy.
29:16
Some days, Sundays when I take the Lord's Supper, some Lord's Days, I'm sad.
29:19
Other times, I'm worried.
29:21
There's sometimes when I take the Lord's Supper, I'm stressed or maybe fearful or concerned.
29:25
You've had all those same ideas. And yet the weeks keep coming.
29:28
The trade comes by. You've got to partake of the bread and then you've got to partake of the juice.
29:32
One of the things I try to do every Lord's Day, no matter what happens, not verbatim,
29:36
but some form of this prayer is to remind myself of this reality.
29:39
Lord, no matter what happens, this is the truest reality in the world.
29:44
And this meal is a reminder you've already taken care of my greatest problem.
29:49
And in the end, no matter what happens, if Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, it really is all good.
29:56
John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,
30:00
that whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.
30:03
God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
30:07
AI could never do that for you, could never save you.
30:10
Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin are death.
30:13
But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
30:17
AI can never solve our greatest problems.
30:19
There's no amount of knowledge, no amount of industry, no amount of tech that's ever going to change that.
30:24
So we should take heart that we already have the solution to our greatest problems.
30:28
And God has already intervened and helped us in the greatest way that we needed.
30:33
I didn't preach this lesson tonight because I'm worried that AI is going to become human.
30:37
That's not my concern.
30:39
I preach this lesson because sometimes as I look at what's happening in the world,
30:43
engage with people from various age demographics, college, preaching schools, undergrad,
30:47
here's what I'm concerned, that human beings might become more like AI.
30:52
Forget about feelings.
30:53
Forget about connecting with people.
30:54
Just give me the information.
30:56
The psalmist was worried about it.
30:57
And he says, their idols have eyes, but they don't see.
31:00
Mouths, but don't speak.
31:01
Feet, but don't walk.
31:02
Hands, but don't feel.
31:03
And those that make them become like them, beware of becoming like them.
31:08
It's a blessing.
31:09
I think God put us in the world to subdue it, and we should subdue.
31:13
But we should not succumb.
31:14
We should be people that realize AI has limits.
31:18
And our greatest needs are literally out of this world.
31:21
And God is seen to satisfy those needs in and through the person of Jesus Christ.
31:25
There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
31:27
And friendship is sweet counsel of the soul, Proverbs 27 and verse 9.
31:31
So, if you don't have a soul, you can't be a friend.
31:34
But Jesus says, we can be.
31:36
Friends with him reconcile to God through his sacrifice on the cross,
31:41
in our place, and on our behalf.
31:43
Maybe tonight, you need to lay hold of that blessing to enjoy the sacrifice of
31:46
Jesus by turning from sin because of your belief in him, confessing him with the
31:50
mouth which your heart believes.
31:51
Jesus is the son of God and allowing your body to be immersed in water for the
31:55
forgiveness of sins and rising to walk in newness of life.
31:58
And when you do that, you become a new creature.
32:01
And then you have a purpose that no other being, no other creative force in the world
32:05
can fulfill, but you as an image bearer of God.
32:08
And if we can help you to do that tonight or pray with you or pray for you,
32:11
let us know how we can do it as together we stand and as we sing.