Tag: AI and Faith

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Know About Creating: Does AI Threaten the Process of Making?

Interview With Jared Boggess

Does AI threaten the creative process? Jared Boggess, illustrator, Art Director for Christianity Today’s print magazine, and Creative Director of Fish Coin Press, joins Know Why Podcast to discuss why the process of making something matters. While humans are made in the image of God and are therefore creative, Jared explains, our process of making has been different from God’s since the beginning of time. Listen to know why you should enjoy the process of creating art.

Enjoyment in Work

Jared says the fact that we were made in God’s image means we were created to make things. But our process of making things is different than God’s. While God spoke the universe into existence, humans have always had to work to bring new things into being.

According to the Bible, humans were meant to work even before sin entered the world, Jared told Know Why. “Work itself is not bad. Labor is not bad. What came with the fall was our experience of it.”

“You might be in the wrong line of work if you never find yourself enjoying putting in the work.”

Jared Boggess

AI could subvert that process, Jared argues, allowing us to mimic instantaneous creation rather than putting in the work of making.

Jared believes that people should enjoy the process of their work, not just the result of it. “You might be in the wrong line of work if you never find yourself enjoying putting in the work,” he told Know Why.

Potential Tools

Jared thinks there may be helpful uses for AI technology, but insists that when it comes to art, AI is not simply another medium. He also warns that those who use AI to generate creative content should ensure that they do so ethically, since artificial intelligence has stolen content from other creators in the past.

However, he also doesn’t think it diminishes the need for new artists in the world.

“AI certainly does not remove our need to create,” Jared said, adding that as AI grows in popularity, human-made art may become even more valuable.

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Listen to another perspective on AI and art here.

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Should Chatbots Scare Me? Know About Healthy Tech Habits

Interview With Kate Lucky (Part 2)

Chatbots can be problematic, but can they also be useful? If artificial intelligence can do everything we can do, what makes humans unique? Back to think through tough questions like these is Kate Lucky from Christianity Today. She shares insight from her recent feature piece, “AI Will Shape Your Soul,” a deep-dive into what theologians and tech experts are saying about AI chatbots. Don’t miss part two of this interview, the final episode of our #KnowAboutHealthyTechHabits series! Listen to part one here.

Embodiment

Kate believes that everyone innately recognizes the importance of embodiment. “We feel that there’s something important to our bodies, to our humanity,” she told Know Why. Kate says this points back to the truth of the Christian tradition, which teaches that God took on a human body in the person of Jesus Christ. “It’s a really exciting place for a lot of these theologians, who are finding that the tech world is asking a lot of these questions about embodiment, for example,” she said.

Another question many are wrestling with considering the rapid advancements of AI: what does it mean to be human? If artificial intelligence can do things like converse and create art, what makes humans unique?

“We are more than any capability that we might have, any gift, any function that we can perform.”

Kate Lucky

Kate also points to Christian faith as providing peace in a time when many people worry about these questions. In short, our humanity doesn’t depend on our performance. “We are more than any capability that we might have, any gift, any function that we can perform,” Kate told Know Why. “We’re made in the image in the God just because we’re made in the image of God, and that’s that.”

Perks of New Technology

While we should think carefully about how our interactions with chatbots affect our habits and even our mental health, there could be helpful perks to the new technology. It’s not something to completely reject or accept without critical thinking, Kate says. “AI, for Christians, is always a starting point … it’s always just one piece of the puzzle.”

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How Will Chatbots Affect My Soul? Know About Healthy Tech Habits

Interview With Kate Lucky (Part 1)

Are you prepared for a world where AI bots have replaced customer service workers, tutors, and even therapists? Do we lose part of our humanity when inconvenient, messy conversations with people are replaced by streamlined, efficient chatbots? Here to think through this with us and provide some answers is Kate Lucky, senior editor of audience engagement at Christianity Today. She shares insight from her recent feature article, “AI Will Shape Your Soul,” a deep-dive into what theologians and tech experts are saying about AI chatbots. Listen to part one of this interview now!

Something Different

Kate points out that Artificial Intelligence has been around for a long time and has many helpful uses. But a more recent development in AI technology are chatbots like ChatGPT, released by OpenAI last year. These systems can generate poetry, replicate art, and carry on convincing conversations. While fascinating, the humanness of such chatbots made many people uncomfortable, Kate says.


“We feel that there’s something important to our bodies, to our humanity. We feel that there’s a difference when we’re on a zoom call and when we’re sitting around a meeting table in person.”

Kate Lucky

Some people are enthusiastic about the potential uses for these kinds of chatbots, but Kate warns that we will miss out on life’s “richness” when authentic human interactions are replaced by AI. “A chatbot won’t pushback on you, won’t challenge your perspective on something,” Kate told Know Why. “You can’t really learn humility from a chatbot.”

To learn more about how our interactions with chatbots have the potential to form our habits and our souls, listen to Part 2 of Kate’s interview next week. You can also see the resources below.

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