AI and Usage in Religion

It is no secret that AI has the potential to make us dumber. A recent study has indicated that less of our brain is engaged when we use AI to do our work.1 As with any body part, when the brain is not exercised, it becomes flabby. Frankly, I am also exhausted from reading long pages of nothing. Just a limitless amount of text with endless adjectives. I see it in press, releases, statements, prayers, etc. 

It is important for me to clarify that I do believe in using AI. I think it can be a helpful tool and I use it. For example, I often default to using passive voice. AI helps me refine my words sometimes so that I don’t. And, in the beginning of AI, I used it much more frequently until I realized its affect on my abilities. It also can be very helpful in creating images. Although we use the endless stream of AI created images to our peril, it is useful because of the lack of copyright. Many images are not available to us without payment these days. Also, for some simple tasks, like citations, it is very helpful and saves time. 

However, we have to guard against its overuse. We have to protect the beauty of what makes us human. The human mind, a God-given gift, is what separates us from all other beings. Art, beauty, and human touch will ultimately save us. However, it cannot save us if we don’t engage it. Even if we use AI for our base or to help us, we can at least edit the output to include our own human voice. 

I love grammar. But I’m getting to the point, where I find mistakes to be refreshing. Simple mistakes! This is something that I never thought I would say. However, at least I know that it was written by a human. It was the product of a human brain and of real emotions. Frankly, I never could’ve fathomed when I was going through graduate school that this would be an option. I’m slightly jealous because of the ease of doing citations with AI as I mentioned previously. 

However, I do worry where it will take us. Are we doomed to pages of gobbledygook? Will we all become like zombies dependent on asking a computer? What decisions we should make or what we should write? I certainly hope not. But I don’t hold out strong hope. I think we have to take this into consideration as we train new generations of clergy--to encourage them to use critical thinking, to ask questions about the programming and agendas, and to use things as tools rather than the only way. 

Hopefully we can use these tools created by humans for good. If we don’t, we do so at our own risk. 

Prada, L. (February 11, 2025). AI Is Making Us Dumber. Shocker. Vice: https://www.vice.com/en/article/ai-is-making-us-dumber-shocker/