In Nashville at The Art of Leadership Live, Carey Nieuwhof shared insights from his research which are included in AI and the Future Church: Make Your Ministry Irreplaceable in a World of Artificial Everything.
What does it mean to be the Church in an Age of AI?
Most of us ask the wrong questions about AI
Common Question: How are you using AI?
A More Pressing Question: What kind of impact will AI have on humanity?
The Church has the capacity to lead the culture on this question.
We can help answer the question of what it means to be human in the Age of AI.
“The AI revolution will be 10x bigger than the Industrial Revolution and 10x faster.”
– Demis Hassabis
During the Industrial Revolution people moved from the country to the cities. Kids as young as 5 were working in factories. People were working 12 hours per day for 6 days a week. Child labor was not outlawed until 1930. Most places began to give Saturdays off starting in 1926. It took about 100-150 years to come to a more healthy rhythm of work after the Industrial Revolution.
In this time in history, AI is ubiquitous like electricity. We don’t even think of electricity until it’s not working.
Three Stages of AI
- Artificial Intelligence which is AI based on a predictive Large Language Model.
- Artificial General Intelligence which is when AI outperforms the best humans in all fields.
- Artificial Super Intelligence- some don’t believe this will ever exist. Some believe it will. This is when AI outperforms all of humanity. This is when we don’t understand what AI is even doing. We see glimpses of this happening even now such as the way new models are making themselves better without human intervention.
Nobody knows where this all lands.
Not governments. Not tech CEOs. Not even the people building AI.
The ethicists, philosophers, and theologians are way behind.
As followers of Jesus, we need to be able to communicate what it means to be truly human.
“First people think AI is magic. Then they think it’s human. Then it becomes their religion. “ – Seth Godin
This can prepare you or scare you. Let it prepare you!!
Possible Cascading Crises:
- White collar bloodbath.
Think of the family farm 100 years ago which became unprofitable and stopped being a viable option or the factories that left what is now called the Rust Belt. Now, the jobs we most want our kids to go into are some of the jobs experts argue are most at risk. (Coding, attorneys, etc.) What happens when unemployment becomes way more common? - Rise of the super-elite.
There will be people who become incredibly wealthy quickly. 49% of consumer spending is now led by the top 10% if income earners. Example, Matthew Gallagher and his brother created MedVi with sales of $1.8 billion with just the 2 of them. - Artificial Intimacy.
In 2026, the number 1 usage of AI is therapy/companionship. Numbers 7-10 were relational advice, work buddy, astrology and tarot readings, and general advice. - Brain rot.
Using AI could help you think more intelligently or replace our thinking which would be like going to the gym and having someone else work out for you.
God is in control but He’s not controlling.
So how will your church respond?
As the world becomes more artificial, the church should become more human!
Looking at the world can lead us to despair. Looking at the Lord can give us hope to take back to the world!
