Artificial Intelligence – Your Next Best Friend?

I’ve been around long enough to witness some incredible changes in the world around me. In medicine and health, cutting-edge technology like MRI machines and minimally invasive techniques allow doctors to diagnose and treat patients with greater precision and effectiveness than ever before. Along with our strides in promoting healthy lifestyle choices, we now enjoy longer life expectancies and better health outcomes. But it’s not just medicine that’s evolved over the years—it’s how we connect with each other. Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp have entirely transformed how we interact with friends, family, and even strangers. It’s hard to imagine life without them now—yet it wasn’t long ago that we had to rely on pay phones, landlines, and snail mail to stay in touch.

Of course, the biggest game-changer of all has been the rapid advance of technology. When I was growing up, the internet was a far-off dream, and the idea of a smartphone seemed like something out of Star Trek. Now, though, these technologies are everywhere—from the apps on our phones to the QR codes we see on everything from posters to payment to church giving. But even as we marvel at all the amazing things that technology can do, we can’t ignore the potential pitfalls that come with it. And one area that’s been getting much attention lately is Artificial Intelligence or AI.

On the one hand, AI holds incredible promise for helping us in ways we’ve never even imagined. But on the other hand, there are some serious concerns about its impact on our relationships and communities. In the rest of this article, we’ll take a closer look at AI chatbots, exploring what they could mean for the future of our world and the people in it.

Although headlines about AI have mostly been about ChatGPT, many other chatbots are making waves too. These are designed to interact with users by simulating natural, life-like conversations and providing various levels of virtual companionship. For instance, XiaoIce is designed to create emotional bonds through empathetic conversations. At the height of the recent pandemic, it had 660 million users worldwide, with 150 million in China alone. Mitsuku is another AI-powered chatbot that can engage in human-like conversations. Mitsuku has won the coveted Loebner Prize—an annual Turing Test competition for the most human-like AI—five times. Replika is also a popular virtual AI companion, and chatting with Replika feels just like talking to another human. Millions turn to chatbots like these because they provide companionship 24/7. Moreover, such virtual friends neither criticise you nor let you down. Thus, they can “virtually” satisfy one’s most basic emotional need for friends and connection.

While there are advantages to chatbots, there are associated dangers as well. Firstly, though they may exude individual persona, they are not humans. It is all too easy to spend excessive time—as some do—chatting with AI chatbots. Some others also develop romantic feelings for them because they are “always there” to comfort and empathise.

Secondly, depending on AI chatbots detaches us from forming genuine relationships as God intended. 1 Peter 4:8–10 exhorts us, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” Thus, we were made for community and connection, just as our God is Triune. Although real-life communication and interaction often fall short of our expectations, the remedy is to grow in forgiveness and love instead of turning to robots to fill our most profound needs.

Thirdly, we may replicate real people with a virtual version of themselves and, thus, never move on from the bond or their influence. We see this in the movie Superman, where he confers with the AI version of his late father in the Fortress of Solitude. This scenario is no longer just fiction, as it was recently reported that a man in China had developed an AI version of his late grandmother to continue communicating with “her”. Replika’s founder also shared how the chatbot first started as an attempt to replicate the persona of her close friend who died in an accident. So, a chatbot trained to be your conversational avatar, which out-lives you, could soon be a reality.

However, the question remains: can an avatar truly capture the essence of our being? Can it replicate the nuances of our personality, the depths of our emotions, and the complexity of our thoughts? The psalmist declares in Psalm 139:14, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it.” We must remember that as creatures made in God’s image, we are beyond mere algorithms, however sophisticated they might be. Our spirit cannot be digitised.

Therefore, although AI can serve as “first aid” to lonely or distressed individuals, the indulgent use of AI can result in frightening consequences. Blurring the line between real and virtual can cause individuals to withdraw from genuine human connection. God made us relational beings who thrive as we experience love in the community. Indeed, all the “one another” commands in the New Testament—accept one another, seek good for one another, encourage one another and others like these—become meaningless if we allow AI to replace genuine relationships. Relationships can disappoint, frustrate or fail us, but we can also experience joy, satisfaction, and warmth, which we must never surrender to AI.

Next, we briefly look at the most well-known chatbot at the moment: ChatGPT. It is a sophisticated AI system that produces text and image content in response to a user’s prompts. Effectively, it can be used to write essays/sermons, draft business plans, and generate programming code. If you have explored using it, you will know that it is learned, intelligent, and even brilliant—a most impressive tool. Reports tell us that ChatGPT scored between 52.4% and 75% correct in the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination—a landmark achievement by AI. In the Test of Understanding in College Economics, a standardised test of economics knowledge in the U.S., ChatGPT ranked in the 91st percentile for Microeconomics and the 99th percentile for Macroeconomics. Its updated version, GPT4, ranked among the highest achievers in a list of difficult exams. This means that we have near-expert knowledge readily available and easily within reach. There are many implications, but here, we will focus on only one—AI decentralises knowledge and authority in the church.

Traditionally, the clergy is regarded as the most knowledgeable in the Scriptures. In 2 Timothy 4:2, the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” Similarly, Paul asked Timothy to guard and proclaim truth, teachings, and doctrines in 1 Timothy 4:6, 13 & 16. However, if AI proves more knowledgeable, produces better sermons, and provides definitive answers, then Scriptural expertise shifts from clergy to AI. Although AI occasionally misinterprets Scripture, it frequently explains passages clearly, perhaps more often than we would like to admit.

Consequently, ministers and leaders may have to strengthen their engagement of thoughtful and nuanced reading of Scripture in sermons and Bible studies to remain faithful to the text and relevant to our culture. Further, even as the repository of religious knowledge shifts, the local church must prioritise genuine care, concern, connection and community among its members. Otherwise, if knowledge and understanding can be obtained through AI, and edifying relationships are also missing from the body, the church may struggle to remain relevant.

In conclusion, while AI chatbots are powerful and valuable tools that offer convenience and companionship, we must be careful not to allow them to replace genuine human connections. As the world continues to develop AI technology—and it can only get better and better—let us not forget our God-given gift of fostering genuine relationships and communities, which are essential to our well-being and growth as human beings created in God’s likeness.

About Mok Kok Hoong

Mok Kok Hoong is a retired pastor in Penang. He was in the Operations and Engineering Semiconductor industry for 23 years before becoming a pastor for ten years. He loves reading, is passionate about discipleship and plays FIFA!