Ray Dai
Ray was born and raised in China before migrating to the United States at fourteen. He studied computer science and then later obtained a graduate certificate from Dallas Theological Seminary. He worked in church planting among a people group in East Asia for twelve years. Now he serves as the International Facilitator of Media for Movements. He and his family live in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Mission Round Table 19:3 (Sept-Dec 2024): 4-9
To read articles in this edition, visit this post on Mission Round Table 19:3.
1. Introduction
Is AI a tool to increase our ability to fulfill the Great Commission or a tool that degrades what it means to be human and serves in humanity’s rebellion against God?
This once-niche word favored mainly by computer scientists and Sci-Fi movie fans became the most notable word of 2023.[1] It has entered our everyday consciousness and its influence is growing daily. This article is written to introduce AI to missionary practitioners and to discuss various implications of both using and not using this technology.
2. What is AI?
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities.[2]
AI started out as an academic discipline in the 1950s.[3] During most of the ensuing seventy years, it was nothing more than a dream due to limited computing power and lack of data. However, the advent of the internet has meant that more data is now available for computers to access. Computing power has also increased over the years while the costs have gone down.
Public awareness of AI has changed radically since the arrival of Large Language Model (LLM)-based AIs, such as ChatGPT that was launched on 30 November 2022. In just two months, ChatGPT gained over 100 million users to become “the fastest-growing consumer software application in history.”[4]
LLMs work by first analyzing an enormous amount of data. Using statistical models and trial and error, they have become increasingly good at understanding patterns and can “generate new content.”[5] Because they are trained on human intelligence, their outcomes appear intelligent most of the time.
LLM is only one facet of AI, albeit the most noticeable today. Because of its ability to analyze and make sense of enormous amounts of data, AI can work “behind the scenes” in many areas. Examples include:
- Analyzing business data.
- Helping with medical research and treatment.
- Assisting educators in personalizing learning and automating tasks.
- Providing financial services.
- Making manufacturing more efficient.[6]
3. Current usage
Whether you realize it or not, you have been using AI. If you have shopped online, used social media, talked to a voice assistant like Siri or Google, used Google Maps, or unlocked your latest smartphone with your face, you have used AI.[7]
“What AI Can Do Today?” is a website that AI powers to analyze existing AI Tools. As of July 2024, there are already 16,244 AI tools that can perform 82,195 tasks. Even more impressive is the fact that the number of tools doubled between June and August 2024![8]
Andrew Ng, a professor at Stanford University, summarized the potential impact of AI well when he said that “Just as electricity transformed almost everything 100 years ago, today I actually have a hard time thinking of an industry that I don’t think AI will transform in the next several years.”[9]
3.1. AI generators
Through training on billions of items, AI gained the ability to generate text, image, audio, and even video based on what a user says. The more specific these “prompts” are, the better. For example, I told ChatGPT to “generate an image of AI apocalypse. I wanted to illustrate the stereotype of AI destroying the world, maybe in the style of ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still.’” It interpreted that as “a dramatic scene depicting an AI apocalypse, with large, menacing robots and towering machines taking over a city. The setting is dark and ominous.”
The result is a bit scary! (See Fig. 1.) I followed up with the prompt: “Slightly less scary? The details of the robot’s scary face isn’t quite necessary, and maybe artistically less realistic, more of modern art?” In less than twenty seconds, the version shown in Figure 2 was generated.
As you can see, AI has the ability to generate quality text, images, and even audio. Generating video is still quite complex and not as stable.
3.2. AI for search
The invention of the Google search engine made the vast internet more navigable by evaluating which pages will most likely satisfy your query. Now, with AI, there is no longer the need to browse and assess these separate Google results. It simply gives you what it thinks is the best answer to your search, condensed and ready to go. This new way of interaction saves even more time and energy. In other words, what Google was to the internet, AI is to Google today.
As a programmer, I have searched many websites looking for answers to questions I have, and have spent an enormous amount of time sifting through often outdated, erroneous, and opinionated answers. AI gives me an answer in seconds that is 90 percent correct. If I try it and find errors, I can even take that error back to AI and it will keep trying to get it right. From personal experience, I find that AI has made me more productive.
3.3. AI chatbots
AI chatbots are incredibly popular and have become even more so since COVID-19. Character.ai is a website that allows anyone to create or interact with a bot based on a real or fictional person. The site receives 3.5 million visits each day. Not only is it novel for people to interact with someone from history or a favorite book, but many people use the site for mental health issues. The “Psychologist” bot has received over 78 million messages in just one year.[10]
3.4. Other examples
There are many benefits to using AI. With its access to and understanding of vast amounts of information, AI can work well as an assistant that attends online meetings, transcribes them, and summarizes them. AI understands data and can perform analysis. AI can be a capable sounding board during the process of idea generation. You can even ask it to take an opposing position and debate with you to help you think through your own ideas and address alternative viewpoints.
4. Future
The exact future of AI is uncertain, but its trajectory is unambiguous. It is only going to get smarter with time. So much has changed, even during the few months of researching and writing this article. OpenAI, the leading AI company, added the ability to tailor replies based on what it remembered about the user. Next came Sora, an OpenAI text-to-video generator that is stunning in its ability to understand a user’s request and what it can generate. The latest version of ChatGPT can now intelligently interact with the user and the environment through sight, sound, and speech.
AI has already surpassed average human performance in specific areas like reading comprehension, speech, and image recognition.[11] This is called Artificial Narrow Intelligence or ANI. People are debating if and when Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) will become reality. That is the concept that AI will be better than humans “across a wide range of cognitive tasks.”[12]
What Sci-Fi shows like to portray and what people fear is the hypothetical Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI). At that point, AI would be more intelligent than humans in everything and could indeed think for itself.[13] Whether or not that is even possible is still debated.
5. Concerns
Although AI has many benefits, people often focus more on its many concerns. These range from how it is used negatively to how it affects us as individuals and how it could impact humanity.
5.1. The negative usage
Some people deliberately abuse the power of AI. One example of this is deep fakes—media created with AI intentionally to impersonate someone. Superior to editing an image manually, AI can generate convincing fake images or swap the face on an existing photo convincingly in seconds! This has led to abuse and harassment as well as fake news. AI voice generation has already aided some scams by pretending to be a loved one in some kind of trouble who needs money to meet an emergency.
A number of lawsuits have been filed against multiple AI companies, questioning if they had violated copyrights during the training and building of the models. As recently as 20 August 2024, three authors sued Anthropic, a leading AI company, for using their works without permission. The Reuters article went on to say that this is just one of many “filed by copyright holders including visual artists, news outlets and record labels over the material used by tech companies to train their generative artificial intelligence systems.”[14]
Finally, there is the issue of data privacy. Many AI services are free, but operating the computers that power AI can be expensive. The phrase, “If you are not paying for it, then you are the product,”[15] applies to AI. If they provide the software for free, they have to make money some other way. Then the question is: what are they doing with our information? At the minimum, AI companies will use our data for further training; at worst, they might even sell our data to third parties without our awareness, much less consent.
There are also unintended negative consequences. AI video tools are capable of generating realistic footage. However, sometimes people in the video are generated as headless or as having inhuman features. This is unintentionally degrading to the human form and God’s creation. Further, is the huge environmental impact because AI relies on powerful computers that require a lot of energy. A recent study found that “generating an image using a powerful AI model takes as much energy as fully charging your smartphone!”[16]
5.2. How it affects us as individuals
Just as someone who uses a shovel will find that while it can speed up his digging but also cause calluses, those who use AI will discover that this technology “is never neutral, but has an embedded value system that transforms individuals and communities.”[17] It is thus possible that using AI to do the hard work of thinking for us will lead to intellectual laziness and dormancy. We can ask the AI Magic 8 Ball something and receive an answer in seconds instead of trying to work out the problem ourselves. Seeking easy answers quickly can decrease our ability as thinkers.[18] And whether it is correct or not, AI will always give a confident answer. This confidence could create the impression that every AI answer is correct. Even a biased answer from AI could be disseminated worldwide as the truth and be the source of more fake news. On the positive side, AI could be a valuable assistant for someone who already has some experience in the area or knows the right questions to ask.
5.3. How it affects society
AI has already replaced jobs and will continue to eliminate jobs; more accurately, “AI will not replace you, but the person using AI will.”[19] AI is a powerful multiplier for those who have learned to use it. They are more productive because of it. A recent survey shows that “66% of the business leaders wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills.”[20] AI can create jobs as well and help people retrain for other jobs. However, AI will cause significant disruption to many industries. Graphic design, videography, programming, legal work, research and development, and administration are just some of the jobs that will be challenged by AI. Some workers in these areas will need to learn to work more efficiently with the help of AI. Others might see their jobs completely replaced by AI and will have to retrain for other jobs.
Because AI is trained primarily on data available on the internet, it has a distinct English language bias. While AI interfaces support more and more major languages, minor languages not already represented well on the internet will likely suffer further decline as more people use English and other majority languages to interface with AI.[21] Similarly, AI has a built-in bias toward “wealthier, Western perspectives” simply because the data already has that bias.[22]
5.4. Existential questions
Lest we think intelligent robots destroying the earth are only a Hollywood trope, a recent report prepared by an AI company for the US government “states that the most advanced AI systems could, in a worst case, ‘pose an extinction-level threat to the human species.’”[23] This could be caused by bad actors using AI to cause catastrophic damages or AI itself gaining too much power and becoming capable of intentionally or unintentionally causing harm to humanity.
While existential threats from AI are possible from a human perspective, Christians have faith in what the Bible teaches us about how the world will only end according to God’s wisdom and timing. As the Lausanne Movement’s report on AI reminds us, “We can find solace in the fact that God is not caught off guard by AI. He already knows all possible outcomes within his infinite wisdom.”[24]
Given these benefits and concerns about AI, how should we, as believers, live responsibly and purposefully? We must begin with a theological reflection about humanity and technology.
To examine the issue of AI theologically, we will look at the theology of humanity, the theology of technology in general, and the theology of AI specifically.
6. Theological reflections
6.1. Humanity
One of the fears of AI’s rapid progress is that it will become more human-like and even surpass humans in certain areas. The question we must then consider is: “What is human?” Historically, Christians have wrestled with the question of what it means to be the image bearers of God, to have the “imago Dei.” Although there is no consensus, according to the Lausanne report on AI, some have explained the concept in terms of the “human ability to think, to create, and to perform certain complex tasks.”[25]
There are multiple challenges with this understanding. AI can now intelligently respond to us and create or generate new content. Some would still say it is not thinking or creating because it is just a machine repeating what it has heard or learned. However, are human intelligence and creativity not also rooted in what we have learned and observed from others? AI now shares this ability to build upon what we have learned and create new things. Another problem with basing the definition of humanity on what a person can do is related to the issue of handicaps. Consider a person who is born mentally or physically less abled. Does this make them less of an image bearer?
The Lausanne report concludes: “The value and dignity of humans isn’t rooted in what we do but in who we are as unique image bearers of our creator, endowed with the capacity for personal communion with the tri-personal God.”[26] Therefore, no matter how capable technology becomes, it should never “be assigned a level of human identity, worth, dignity, or moral agency.”[27]
Our identity comes from God, and technology cannot change that.
6.2. Technology
Given our unique identity as humans, how do we define technology theologically? I owe much to John Dyer’s excellent book From the Garden to the City: The Place of Technology in the Story of God in which he thoroughly analyzes the relationship between God, humankind, and technology.
First, we need to recognize that technology is a good gift from God that plays a significant part in the story of God’s plan of redemption.[28] In the Bible, we have examples of God making a covering out of animal skin for Adam and Eve after their rebellion. Noah, following God’s instructions, built a boat as a means of deliverance. The Apostles spread the gospel broadly and quickly along the state-of-the-art Roman roads. Modern medical technology and social media are human technological creations that have been used by God in his sovereignty to further his redemptive work.[29]
Second, like the rest of creation, technology has been tainted and corrupted by the fall and has been used by humans in their active rebellion against God. The Tower of Babel is a stark example of humanity’s attempts to use technology to live independent, self-reliant, and sinful lives away from God. Even our noblest intentions go awry. The inventors of the machine gun, dynamite, airplane, wireless, and even the atomic bomb all thought their inventions would end war, as we know it.[30] Even so, humanity has continued unswervingly in their assault on other image-bearers of God.
Third, with the help of AI, humanity is closer than before to the ultimate rebellion of usurping God through technology. AI, harnessing all the knowledge of the internet, has a semblance of omniscience. The medical field, aided by AI, could see some real breakthroughs in the coming decades that will eliminate many diseases and significantly increase the human lifespan. But even if the inevitability of death remains in place, some scientists believe a “mind uploading” of our consciousness to AI is not impossible.[31] These ideas might sound far-fetched, but considering how much progress AI has made in the last few years, the overall trajectory is clearly upward and forward.
6.3. Perspectives
While technology is a gift from God that can be seen as part of his redemptive work, it can be corrupted by our sin and often used in active rebellion against God. How then should we relate to technology?
The first philosophical way forward comes in the form of “instrumentalism,” which says AI—and technology in general—is neutral. The person employing it can use it for good or evil.[32] This position is not exactly true, as using a tool affects the user with intended and unintended consequences. As mentioned in the above section on Concerns, using AI could profoundly change our thinking, even if it does not hinder or stop us from thinking altogether.
The next way to consider the problem comes through “technological determinism,” which says that technological progress is the unstoppable force behind societal change.[33] This approach emphasizes the inevitability of technological advancement. People can choose either to worship technology as the savior of humankind or sink into despair as technology gets out of hand and they feel powerless to change it.
The best approach is to analyze technology like AI critically and ground it in biblical truth. As Dyer says, “technology has inherent values, and humans have choice and agency.”[34] Adopting this perspective prevents us from being blinded by technology’s hidden values or consequences. It also allows us to acknowledge our part in discerning, engaging, and facilitating change in light of God’s truth and purpose.
7. Missiological reflections
We should consider how AI can be used or abused in God’s mission in a number of areas as listed below.
7.1. Marketplace of ideas
We do not live in a vacuum, but in a global “marketplace of ideas” where ideas—both good and bad—can be heard across the globe in seconds through the internet. If we are not in a discussion, chances are that others are there, and they are, by definition, dominating the narrative.
We do not need to use AI just because of a fear of missing out. Hudson Taylor went to where the people were and painstakingly learned to speak their language. Today, many people spend many hours a day online using AI. Twenty million people, mostly between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, spend an average of two hours on the aforementioned Character.ai site daily.[35] People need answers, and they are turning to AI in the privacy and ease of their homes. Can we find a way to engage with them “where they are?”
Barna Research, in the summer of 2023, found that only 28 percent of Christians believe that AI can “do positive things in the world,” and only 22 percent believed people could use AI in some way to benefit the church.[36] Even so, 44 percent of Americans (60 percent of millennials and Gen Z) are more open to God than before the pandemic.[37] Is this not a time we should step up in God’s mission, using whatever tools are available?
You can be sure our enemy, the devil, has not been silent. False teachers and cults are luring people away with their Facebook pages and YouTube videos. AI will only magnify their impact, as creating pictures and videos will be a click away.
What should our response be? When we survey current mission work, we can get ideas on how to use AI for God’s redemptive purposes in evangelism and discipleship.
7.2. Bible translation
Although Bible translators have made significant progress in recent years, over 1,000 languages spoken by 100 million speakers still await God’s word.[38]
An average Bible translation “takes 23 years and costs over a million dollars” to produce.[39] With the help of AI, a first draft can be done in less than 20 percent of the time and at half the cost. AI tools also improve translation quality by checking for accuracy and consistency. Mother-tongue translators and the community are still integral in the revision, checking, and testing processes, but AI tools accelerate the entire process and get God’s word to people in their language sooner.
7.3. Bible.ai
The recently launched Bible.ai seeks to address the millions of people searching for answers online. While affirming that nothing supersedes the importance of learning directly from God and others, it aims to “complement these practices, providing support and guidance to individuals as they seek to deepen their relationship with God and apply biblical wisdom to their daily lives.”[40]
7.4. Personalized discipleship
“Make disciples of all nations,” and not just converts—this is the core task of our mission work.
In languages with abundant discipleship material, AI can potentially produce customized discipleship material based on an individual’s spiritual condition, needs, and communication style. AI can help translate and make them available faster in languages lacking discipleship material.[41]
7.5. High-security contexts
In a context where security is a significant concern, AI can provide some initial answers in a safer environment for the seeker. While a seeker may not want to respond positively to Christianity in public at first, they can begin seeking answers in private through resources like Bible.ai mentioned above.
AI can also obscure the identity of believers in sensitive contexts through voice and/or facial changes or video generation. Before doing so, however, users need to carefully consider both the positive and potentially negative consequences of adopting certain approaches. While in some cases, it is good to protect the fledging believing community by allowing them to remain anonymous, in others, it is better that they stand up for the cause of Christ, even at the risk of identification and persecution. That is a decision local believers have to make for themselves.
7.6. Within OMF
Some OMF colleagues have already started to use AI as an integral part of their workflow. People are using AI to brainstorm and improve their communication. They use AI tools to clean up audio files, to edit videos, to generate images and voices for use in a security-sensitive context, and even to generate code for apps used in ministry.
8. How to get started
Missiological reflection has shown us that we are responsible for engaging in the marketplace of ideas, and many mission organizations are doing that by adopting AI.
The best way to start understanding AI more is to try it. If you have never used ChatGPT, instead of searching for something on Google next time, go to chatgpt.com and try it. ChatGPT may only know the latest news if you have a paid subscription, but ask it a generic question, and you might be surprised by the speed, accuracy, and thoroughness of its responses. If it is still interesting afterward, you can search for better ways to ask questions or “prompt” ChatGPT to generate even better answers. Another thing to remember is that, unlike Google search, ChatGPT has a context window, so you can ask follow-up questions like you would in a real conversation. For example, you could ask “What does the Bible say about … ?” and then follow up the answer by saying, “Please explain the first point in more detail,” or “Recommend some books based on what you said in point three.”
One of the best quotes I have heard about using AI is to treat AIs like a research assistant or intern.[42] You need to be direct and clear with your requests, and you might need to double-check the results, but AI can make your job a lot easier.
9. Conclusion
I hope this brief introduction has increased your understanding of AI, its capabilities, and its benefits and concerns.
We need to educate ourselves and other believers so that we can become more knowledgeable about AI, its uses, and potential downsides. Even though there is an “inevitability around technological progress,”[43] Christians need to be involved in the ethics of using such tools and bring a biblical perspective to the overall AI discussions rather than shrinking back in fear. AI development will continue, with or without Christian input. We can either use AI in a God-honoring way or just let it happen in a godless, humanistic way.
I pray that we can say of AI one day that even if some of the ethos was worldly and intended for evil, “God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen 50:20).
For more resources on missions and AI:
https://bit.ly/3YEcRMN
[1] Esther Addley, “‘AI’ Named Most Notable Word of 2023 by Collins Dictionary,” The Guardian, 1 November 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/01/ai-named-most-notable-word-of-2023-by-collins-dictionary (accessed 8 August 2024).
[2] Cole Stryker and Eda Kavlakoglu, “What is artificial intelligence (AI)?,” IBM, updated 16 August 2024, https://www.ibm.com/topics/artificial-intelligence (accessed 8 August 2024)
[3] “History of Artificial Intelligence,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_artificial_intelligence (accessed 8 August 2024).
[4] Dan Milmo and agency, “ChatGPT Reaches 100 million Users Two Months after Launch,” The Guardian, 2 February 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/02/chatgpt-100-million-users-open-ai-fastest-growing-app (accessed 2 October 2024).
[5] Mike Priest, “Large Language Models Explained,” Boost.ai, last updated 20 February 2024, https://boost.ai/blog/llms-large-language-models/ (accessed 8 August 2024).
[6] “What Are AI Applications?,” Google Cloud, https://cloud.google.com/discover/ai-applications (accessed 8 August 2024).
[7] Evan Killham, “The Robots Are Already Here: 10 Ways You’re Already Using AI,” Lifewire, updated 1 May 2024, https://www.lifewire.com/ways-you-re-using-ai-7480143 (accessed 8 August 2024).
[8] “What Can AI Do Today?,” https://whataicandotoday.com/ (accessed 8 August 2024).
[9] Shana Lynch, “Andrew Ng: Why AI Is the New Electricity,” Insights by Stanford Business, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 11 March 2017, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/andrew-ng-why-ai-new-electricity (accessed 8 August 2024).
[10] Joe Tidy, “Character.ai: Young People Turning to AI Therapist Bots,” BBC, 5 January 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67872693 (accessed 8 August 2024).
[11] The Lausanne Movement, “Artificial Intelligence: AI VS Human Performance,” https://lausanne.org/report/human/statistics-artificial-intelligence (accessed 8 August 2024).
[12] “Artificial General Intelligence,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence (accessed 7 August 2024).
[13] “Keywords Explained: How Is ASI Different from AGI?,” 9 July 2024, SoftBank News, https://www.softbank.jp/en/sbnews/entry/20240709_01 (accessed 8 August 2024).
[14] Blake Brittain, “Authors Sue Anthropic for Copyright Infringement over AI Training,” Reuters, 21 August 2024,
https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/authors-sue-anthropic-copyright-infringement-over-ai-training-2024-08-20/ (accessed 29 August 2024).
[15] I first heard this quote through the documentary “The Social Dilemma,” but likely other people said some version of this at an earlier time. The Social Dilemma, directed by Jeff Orlowski (Exposure Labs, 2020), https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/ (accessed 8 August 2024).
[16] Melissa Heikkilä, “Making an Image with Generative AI Uses as Much Energy as Charging Your Phone,” MIT Technology Review, 1 December 2023, https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/12/01/1084189/making-an-image-with-generative-ai-uses-as-much-energy-as-charging-your-phone/ (accessed 8 August 2024).
[17] John Dyer, From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011), 11.
[18] Eric W. Dolan, “‘Catastrophic Effects’: Can AI Turn Us into Imbeciles? This Scientist Fears for the Worst,” PsyPost, 13 February 2024, https://www.psypost.org/catastrophic-effects-can-ai-turn-us-into-imbeciles-this-scientists-fears-for-the-worst/ (accessed 9 August 2024). Chunpeng Zhai, Santoso Wibowo, and Lily D. Li, “The Effects of Over-reliance on AI Dialogue Systems on Students’ Cognitive Abilities: A Systematic Review,” Smart Learning Environment 11 (June 2024): article 28, https://slejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40561-024-00316-7 (accessed 24 October 2024).
[19] Manvendra Singh Rathor, “AI Will Not Replace You, but the Person Using AI Will,” Medium (blog), 28 March 2023, https://manvendrasinghrathore.medium.com/ai-will-not-replace-you-but-the-person-using-ai-will-b737472e6548 (accessed 9 August 2024).
[20] Sabrina Ortiz, “66% of Leaders Wouldn’t Hire Someone without AI Skills, Report Finds,” ZDNET, 8 May 2024, https://www.zdnet.com/article/66-of-leaders-wouldnt-hire-someone-without-ai-skills-report-finds/ (accessed 9 August 2024).
[21] Patricia Delacey, “Biases in Large Image-text AI Model Favor Wealthier, Western Perspectives,” https://news.engin.umich.edu/2023/12/biases-in-large-image-text-ai-model-favor-wealthier-western-perspectives/ (accessed 9 August 2024).
[22] Delacey, “Biases in Large Image-text AI Model.”
[23] Matt Egan, “AI Could Pose ‘Extinction-level’ Threat to Humans and the US Must Intervene, State Dept.-commissioned Report Warns,” CNN, 12 March 2024, https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/12/business/artificial-intelligence-ai-report-extinction/index.html (accessed 9 August 2024).
[24] Angela Kim, Sharoon Sarfraz, Jason Thacker, and Dan Whitenack, “Artificial Intelligence,” The Lausanne Movement, https://lausanne.org/report/human/artificial-intelligence (accessed 9 August 2024).
[25] Kim et al., “Artificial Intelligence.” Modern biblical scholarship understands “image” in royal terms, understanding it as human rule over creation as God’s regents. See Walter McConnell, “In His Image: A Christian’s Place in Creation,” Asia Journal of Theology 20 (April 2006): 114–27; T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem: Exploring God’s Plan for Life on Earth (Nottingham: IVP, 2008), 76–79.
[26] Kim et al., “Artificial Intelligence.”
[27] Kim et al., “Artificial Intelligence.”
[28] Dyer, From the Garden to the City, 11.
[29] Dyer, From the Garden to the City, 130.
[30] Dyer, From the Garden to the City, 133.
[31] Masataka Watanabe, “AI Consciousness and Neuroscientifically Plausible ‘Seamless’ Mind-uploading,” Open Access Government (October 2023): 284–5, https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/article/ai-consciousness-and-neuroscientifically-plausible-seamless-mind-uploading/168802/ (accessed 9 August 2024).
[32] Dyer, From the Garden to the City, 107.
[33] Dyer, From the Garden to the City, 108.
[34] Dyer, From the Garden to the City, 110.
[35] Tidy, “Character.ai: Young People Turning to AI Therapist Bots.”
[36] “How U.S. Christians Feel about AI & the Church” https://www.barna.com/research/christians-ai-church/ (accessed 9 August 2024).
[37] David Kinnaman and Carey Nieuwhol, “Ministry in the Age of AI” (webinar, RightNow Media, 22 January 2024), YouTube Video, 1:00:28, https://youtu.be/gHmkRHTTqZA (accessed 9 August 2024).
[38] Wycliffe Global Alliance, “2023 Global Scripture Access,” 11 September 2023, https://www.wycliffe.sg/post/2023-global-scripture-access (accessed 12 August 2024).
[39] Don Barger, “How AI Assists in Global Bible Translation,” The Gospel Coalition, 26 February 2024, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/ai-bible-translation/ (accessed 12 August 2024).
[40] “Welcome to Bible AI,” https://bible.ai/about (accessed 12 August 2024).
[41] Kim et al., “Artificial Intelligence.”
[42] Kinnaman and Nieuwhol, “Ministry in the Age of AI.”
[43] Dyer, From the Garden to the City, 237.
