The Bible says that God can work through all things, and a majority of pastors are convinced that includes artificial intelligence.
A new report from the Barna Group found that 77% of pastors believe God can use AI to connect with humanity. That’s a big difference from churchgoers, who are much more skeptical about God using AI. Only 31% say God can work through artificial technology, while 46% said there was no way God was using AI.
AI has been a major concern for all areas of society over the last several years, with fears growing exponentially since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022. U.S. adults are evenly split on their feelings about AI: 32% say it’s exciting, 33% are scared of it, and 41% say they’re “concerned” about AI.
And while a majority of U.S. pastors agree AI is something to be concerned about, they also see its potential for good. Three in four pastors (76%) believe that AI can be used to empower individuals with disabilities, and nearly three in five (57%) see its potential for making advancements in healthcare.
Brian Paige, vice president for IT at Calvin University, spoke with RELEVANT about the various ways that AI can impact our personal faith as well as our churches.
“When it comes to AI, or any technology, I think it’s good to be discerning, but we don’t have to be scared,” Paige said. “I think there’s a lot of media hype at this point that’s playing into fear. But for every dark side of technology, there’s a lot of positives, too.”
This doesn’t mean we should dismiss any worries, Paige said. Rather, it should cause us to question why we’re afraid, or exactly what we are afraid of, giving us the opportunity to grow in our relationship with Go.
“If God is in control and God is not fearful of this, what is causing this fear?” Paige said. “Is it because somehow I’m not in the right relationship with God, or am I not in the right relationship with technology?”
