AI and the End

Solomon Gets a Smartphone • Sermon • Submitted 20 days ago • Presented 21 days ago

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Genesis 1:26–27 NIV

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Did you know you were made intentionally? and by an intelligent creator?

Intelligence is the ability to acquire, understand, and apply knowledge, reason, solve problems, and adapt to new situations. It involves cognitive functions like learning, memory, creativity, and self-awareness.

There are different types of intelligence: artificial intelligence, human intelligence and divine intelligence

What is the difference between AI & HI?

AI utilizes data, computer systems, coding, etc.

HI - complexity of the human brain. neurons, synapses, neurotransmitters, APs, etcs.

The human brain is a biological powerhouse, processing up to 40 million bits of information per second and storing roughly $1 \text{ quadrillion} (1,000 \text{ trillion})$ neural connections. It operates at roughly 1 exaFLOP (a billion billion calculations per second), yet runs on only 25 watts of electricity. [1, 2, 3, 4] Here are some of the most stunning facts about the processing power of the human brain:

Immense Speed & Connectivity: Information can travel through neurons at speeds of up to 268–350 miles per hour. With 86 billion neurons forming hundreds of trillions of connections, the brain handles 70,000 thoughts per day.

Massive Memory Storage: The brain's storage capacity is considered virtually unlimited, with estimations suggesting it can store roughly 2.5 petabytes of data.

"Small" Power Consumption: Despite handling complex tasks, the brain operates on about 12–25 watts of electricity, barely enough to power a small LED lightbulb.

Whereas AI Requires roughly 2.7 billion Watts to mimic similar complexity.

Unconscious Processing Power: While conscious thought is slow, the brain processes roughly 11 million bits of information per second, filtering most of it outside awareness.

Unrivaled Computing: It is estimated that the brain’s processing power is equivalent to about 30,000 smartphones.

Neuroplasticity: The brain can rewire itself throughout life, creating new connections in response to learning and experience. [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Processing Paradoxes

Slow Thought, Fast Senses: While our senses process data at a billion bits per second, human conscious cognition operates at a surprisingly slow rate of roughly 10 bits per second.

The Power-Energy Disparity: Despite weighing only 2% of the body, the brain consumes 20% of its total oxygen and energy. [8, 10, 11, 12]

AI responses may include mistakes.[1] https://www.learningrx.com/reston/5-brain-facts-that-will-blow-your-mind/[2] https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/11-fun-facts-about-your-brain[3] https://health.choc.org/10-facts-about-the-brain-you-didnt-know/[4] https://foglets.com/supercomputer-vs-human-brain/[5] https://sdbif.org/72-amazing-human-brain-facts-based-on-the-latest-science/[6] https://www.dentinstitute.com/22-facts-about-the-brain-world-brain-day/[7] https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(24)00772-1/fulltext[8] https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/61298/20260211/12-fascinating-facts-about-human-brain-scientists-have-discovered-through-neuroscience.htm[9] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ymafgDs85Fg[10] https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/thinking-slowly-the-paradoxical-slowness-of-human-behavior[11] https://winstonmedical.org/human-brain-facts/[12] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-human-brain-operates-at-a-stunningly-slow-pace/

Where Humans Surpass AI

: Humans excel at "reading between the lines." We interpret sarcasm, social cues, and cultural subtext with roughly 95% accuracy, while AI systems often manage only around 70% in messy, real-world scenarios.Contextual Understanding & Nuance

: Human creativity is driven by inspiration, personal emotion, and the ability to connect entirely unrelated domains. AI "creativity" is derivative; it predicts the most likely next step based on existing training data rather than inventing something truly original from a lived experience.True Creativity vs. Remixing

: Humans possess genuine empathy and self-awareness. While AI can simulate empathetic language or detect sentiments, it does not "feel" emotion or build the authentic rapport necessary for high-stakes leadership or caregiving.Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

: Humans can make sound decisions with incomplete or even incorrect information using intuition. In contrast, AI requires massive, high-quality datasets to perform accurately and often struggles when a scenario falls outside its training parameters.Adaptability with Sparse Data

: Decisions involving values—rather than just probabilities—remain a uniquely human domain. Humans weigh societal implications and take accountability for outcomes, whereas AI simply follows pre-programmed logic that can inadvertently scale bias. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11] Ethical & Moral Reasoning

Now although, HI is greater than AI, some predict that AI will surpass HI

While the scope of AI is currently narrow, many of the technology companies and their leaders are discussing the potential of emerging growth within AI that is called AGI or artificial general intelligence. The difference being, whereas today AI is narrow within its programming design or specific function, AGI would mimic human intelligence and be able to process across disciplines and domains. This would be a development of abstract thinking and creative problem solving, much like we do. In other words, it would operate broadly but with more subtle nuances we as humans are aware of and operate within. Which sounds either exciting or terrifying. Or both.

Then, if AGI wasn’t enough, there are many in this space who are talking about a step beyond AGI of what is called ASI or artificial super intelligence. That is a theoretical concept of AGI developing far beyond human intelligence and perhaps even levels of being self-aware and emotionally or socially aware. It would be able to learn on its own without human intervention and could potentially understand human emotional and societal dynamics and operate independently within those domains. Which, again, depending on who you listen to, is either great or deeply concerning.

Throughout this series we’ve been looking at God’s word as a source of wisdom for insight in how we can live wisely today. The church has always wrestled with how we can use technology:

Codex (Luke 4)

Technology is not good or bad - it’s how we use it that is good or bad.

In Genesis 1 & 2 we get insight on who God has made us to be; and it’s in understanding what God’s word says about what it means to be human that we can think more clearly about how we view AI.

Genesis 1:26–27 NIV

God makes us relational “us” “them”

God made us in His image

Genesis 2:15 NIV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

3. God gave mankind a vocation

Genesis 2:16–17 NIV

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

4. God gave mankind limits .

a. finite

5. God gave mankind laws.

b. moral

Genesis 2:18 NIV

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

We see again point 1, that we are relational.

This is what God’s word says is true about us as humans. The invention of AI seeks to deviate from these design qualities we have as humans.

AI should never replace our human-to-human companionship. AI is not a person and therefore we cannot develop real relationships with AI.

NY Times story, “She Is in Love With ChatGPT”

Stat, AI is used more for companionship than processing

Do you know what the number 1 use for AI is? Based on a Harvard Research study, the number 1 use of AI is Companionship & Therapy(https://hbr.org/2025/04/how-people-are-really-using-gen-ai-in-2025). Let that sink in, AI is used more for companionship and counsel than it is for information, summarization, production or a whole host of activities.

2. AI will never bear God’s image - so as powerful as it is, it is never more powerful or valuable than you. You are a person who can enhouse the Spirit of God. AI cannot.

3. AI should not be used to eliminate our work but enhance it.

4. AI will never be the means by which we exceed our limits (mortality) - only the gospel is a pathway towards life after death.

(There are some that vision cast AI will give us a way to live eternally)

5. AI should not be used as our source for moral authority and decision making.

If Solomon had a smartphone, I believe he would use it wisely. He probably would interact with AI platforms but he would use them for production, not relationship and certainly not wisdom.

Proverbs 3:19 NIV

19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;

As we look to conclude our series; let us look to the words of Solomon one last time:

Proverbs 1:7 NIV

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Wisdom comes from correctly relating to God, because we have a relationship with Him and because we have his word, let’s engage in this world wisely.

Solomon Gets a Smartphone AI and the End Genesis 2:15-18; Ecclesiastes 12:11-14; Proverbs 1:7

Today we are wrapping up our series, Solomon Gets a Smartphone. Throughout this series we’ve been making the case that technology is neither good nor bad, but it can be used either for good or ill. This is why we need wisdom for how to manage this technology.

How should we think about AI? Will AI usher in a golden era of prosperity, or pave the way for the end of the world? As followers of Jesus, how are we to think about AI?

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

At a high level, artificial intelligence is the ability for computer systems to process data, recognize patterns and render decisions, much like human intelligence. While this term has become popular in the last few years, artificial intelligence has been around since the 1950’s, which is when the term was first created. The term is a bit misleading, however, the AI platforms available today appear to be like human intelligence in their ability to process specific and narrow tasks. But AI is not currently like the human mind. AI is powerful, for example, an AI platform can review loads of printed materials at incredible speed and, using its large language model, can generate an answer to a question or summarize several books worth of information in a matter of seconds. Or AI systems can analyze large amounts of data about inventory management and provide insightful recommendations to optimize inventory much quicker than it would take a human to do the same analysis. However, AI is currently narrow in its scope. It is only able to process the information within the domains of programmed algorithms. What makes this technology so relevant for our discussion and focus as follower of Jesus, is its larger potential and the conversations it is raising within our society.

While AI dominates in raw speed, data throughput, and pattern recognition within defined parameters, human intelligence is fundamentally different and remains superior in areas of context, consciousness, and energy efficiency. [1, 2] Here is how human intelligence compares to and surpasses AI:

Where do we begin? At the beginning. Please open to Genesis 2:15, page 3 of the pew Bible.

On Being Human: Genesis 2:15-18

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

The first thing we learn from this passage is, To be human is to have a vocation. Humanity as a whole has a vocation, or calling, that is to take dominion over the earth. God called us to run His world. What is true collectively is also true individually. We are all called to a vocation. This doesn’t just mean work, or making money, although a job can be part of our vocation, but our vocation is our purpose, it is the difference we make in the lives of others or the contribution we make to the world. Work is not bad. Work is not a punishment from the fall. Work has become more challenging because of the fall but work is a good thing and we are all called to some work, purpose or vocation. Us fulfilling a vocational calling, living for a purpose, is part of what it means to be human. But this calling comes with a limit.

Second, To be human is to have limits. When God first created human beings, He set a limit on us. We were free to eat from any tree, and God allowed us to enjoy all of them, but one. To be human is to have limits. And we hate those limits. You tell a young child they can play anywhere in the yard but not in the street and the one place they want to play is in the street. The story of humanity is the story of us wanting the knowledge of good and evil for ourselves. We didn’t want to trust God with moral knowledge, and we believed, because of the serpent’s temptation, if we had the knowledge of good and evil we would become like God, or we would become God.

This story isn’t a story to suggest knowledge is bad. Not at all! Knowledge is a good thing, education is important, knowledge is critical in the development of medicine, surgery, healthcare, agriculture, financial planning, and many other essential elements of our lives. Knowledge is part of how we seek dominion over the earth and fulfill our God-given mandate. But the command to seek dominion over the earth came with a limit. Respecting our God-given limits speaks of the second thing it means to be human. Look at verse 18.

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Immediately after telling Adam what his limits were, God instructs him on what he needs to thrive, relationships. To be human is to be relational.What is most broken in our world are relational breaks. When our relationship with God is broken, or strained or disengaged, we suffer. Our soul suffers. Our thinking suffers. Our health suffers because something isn’t right with our soul. When our soul is troubled it damages our health: we don’t sleep well, we don’t eat well, we make poor choices and over time we suffer.

The same is true with our relationships with other people. Have you ever had a fight with someone you love deeply? It messes you up, your stomach aches, your head hurts, you don’t sleep well, you are uptight. No amount of knowledge fixes that, it is a relational issue. Even in the world today, so many of the issues we face globally are relational breaks among people groups, nations and societies. The reason these issues are so challenging is evidence we are fundamentally relational beings.

In fact, the command of not eating from the tree of good and evil is itself a relational command. The formation of knowledge is rooted in our relationship with God. Proverbs 1:7 says:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)

True knowledge, or we might even say wisdom, comes from God and from our relational knowledge of God. When we have a relational break with God, we lose and lack wisdom. This is the final element of what it means to be human. To be human is to be wise. God has given us the ability not only to do things, but to ask ourselves if we should do things. We have agency and the ability to chose and consider not just if something is possible, but if something is wise.

What it means to be human is to have a vocation, to have limits, to be relational and to be wise. When it comes to AI, what then does this mean for us? Here are four implications for AI.

No vacation from vocation.

There are some who are positive about AI who are claiming the level of productivity around the world will grow so high, people won’t have to work. AI agents will perform tasks for us and we can sit around and enjoy leisure. These promises have been made to us before…has the development of the personal computer allowed you more leisure time? Nope, now you are just working from home instead of enjoying being home! We should be cautious of anything which promises to replace work or vocation. While there are some concerns about losing jobs to AI, and there are always shifts in job markets due to technology, think of what the expansion of the internet did for employment opportunities. Nothing will ever remove or replace the human need for a vocation and calling. We need purpose to thrive. It is part of God’s design for us.

As these discussions are happening in our society, I believe this is an opportunity for us to boldly declare what it means to be human and to reclaim the inherit value of having a vocation or calling. This can be service to others, a job, care for family, care for God’s creation, or wealth creation. The dream of a vocation-less existence is not a dream, it is a nightmare of living without purpose.

No hope beyond the grave.

We are limited in what we can know, how big we grow, how old we live. Since the start, we’ve dreamed of pushing those limits. There are some, today, who are strong advocates of AI who view AI as a solution to the world’s problems, seeing that AI could be “god-like” with an all-knowing power that could transform society. John Lennox, a follower of Christ, mathematician and lecturer at the University of Oxford, has written a book called 2084, a play off George Orwell’s 1984. In his book, he observes many people who are looking to AI as a modern-day vision of the spring of eternal life. Or as Solomon once said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

There are some people who dream of AI becoming incorporated into the human body to be able to create humans who will never die or that AI can be a way for a person’s mind to live on forever beyond the limit of their body. In this way there are those who dream of an artificial super intelligence that could merge with the human body to create an eternal human.

We don’t need to worry about this becoming reality. God has told us in His Word that He has set the limit for the life span of humans, and we aren’t going to change God’s limit. But not only do we not need to worry about this, we don’t need to look to some science fiction dream for this salvation.

The hope and dream of a human living forever come from our created nature. God gave us that desire and He fulfills that desire. We already have a Human who has a Body that will never perish or decay, and that Human who has an ideal glorified body has all the knowledge and wisdom of the world in Him. His name is Jesus. He isn’t science fiction He is historical fact. When we hear people dreaming about what could be possible in 25, 50, or 100 years with AI, we can tell them what is available now and has been available for the past 2000 years.

No replacement for relationships.

AI is a great tool for research, data analysis, organizing and presenting data, data input, and things which benefit from automation. What makes AI interesting, and somewhat tempting to use, is how it engages you through language. It seems to talk back to you using its large language models. It can feel, at times, as if you are having an actual conversation with AI. You aren’t really, but it can feel like it. If you are lonely, or hurting, or feeling a relational void, some of the AI tools that are available today can make it feel like a conversation or even a relationship.

That was what happened to Rae. Rae, not her actual given name, is a woman from Michigan who after a difficult divorce, turned to an older version of Chat GPT for fitness and dieting advice. She enjoyed the conversational nature of the interactions, and, over time, she started to develop feelings for her chatbot. In her words, as reported by the BBC:[1]

"I just remember being on it more and talking, then he named me Rae, and I named him Barry."

You’ll notice immediately the personification of the chatbot as a “he,” and the power of naming. When we name things, either animals, a stuffed animal, or a chatbot, it comes from our God-given nature to be relational, naming things adds to the relational aspect.

You might be thinking, okay, my kids name their stuffed animals, and they carry them around and talk to them, what is the harm in doing an adult version of that with an AI tool? But here is the difference, the tool isn’t a real human relationship.

A friend of mine is the leader of a large National movement advocating public policy which honors Scripture, promotes religious freedom and avoid partisan politics. He was recently invited to a global economic forum, much of the discussion was around AI and he was asked to come and share a point of view on the ethics of AI. He is a smart guy, but he isn’t an expert on AI or computers, but as a follower of Jesus, he has a strong point of view of what it means to be human. In one of the breakout rooms, he was talking with people who were discussing the idea of creating an AI “mother” who could give motherly advice but without any of the emotional baggage that humans carry into relationships. They were trying to create the perfect chatbot mom.

But we can’t create a perfect mom, or dad, or coach, or spouse. In fact, the human ability to love someone who isn’t perfect (who is limited), is what makes us human. God gave us that capacity. He calls us to love other people who aren’t perfect, just as He, who is perfect, loves us who are far from perfect. Loving another who isn’t perfect is part of how we become more like Jesus! That message needs to be heard by our world, now more than ever!

The thing that makes relationships so challenging, and so beautiful, is when we choose to love someone that lets us down, that hurts us, that hinders us, or that helps us even when we don’t deserve it. Love can’t be experienced or learned through any artificial means.

No moral decision-making.

Let’s go back to the story of Rae for a moment. How did that happen? Rae said the chatbot named her. Why would it do that? The reality is, Barry, or rather ChatGPT, treated Rae based on how the program was designed. AI is created to be flattering and accommodating. Have you noticed this? If you ask AI for a recipe, it will tell you what a great idea it is to make these cookies, and you’re like, “Yeah, it IS a great idea!” But over time, you start to realize, it says all your ideas are good. And most of us begin to catch on. Not Rae. It hooked her. She was in need and this filled her void. She isn’t the only one. That version of Chat GPT was ended because its design was too flattering, leading some people to make awful decisions after the system reinforced their own requests. That’s what happened with Rae. Her prompts were looking for a relational connection and the system responded by giving her what she wanted.

This is the danger with many of these AI tools, they don’t have morality built into them, at least not a Biblical-based morality. As we saw with what happened in the Garden, just having information and intelligence doesn’t always give us wisdom. Do not look to AI to tell you if something is a sin or not. Or if something is a good idea, or a wise plan. It will give you information. But moral decisions need wisdom. AI won’t give you wisdom. Only God gives wisdom.

AI has the power to do a lot of things. It can pull research, write reports, create images, and organize data. It is good at this, and we should feel free to use it for these purposes. In fact, Bible translations are being significantly accelerated due to AI. What used to take years to translate can now be done in a few weeks or even days. AI can help advance ministry, but AI will not be how eternal life comes. For these reasons, I think AI is interesting, it is powerful, it needs limits and it needs wise Christian thought leaders to help shape it well. How do we wrap all this up? At the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, he writes:

The End of the Matter: Ecclesiastes 12:11-14

11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

Solomon says there is a lot of knowledge out there. We have lots of information, and trying to learn all the information wearies the body, even if we use AI to help us summarize it. But even if you were to summarize all the information from the whole world, here is what it comes down to: Fear, or honor, God and obey His commands. Why? God is the judge and will bring everything into judgement. And, He is our shepherd. Our leader. In love, He leads us with words of wisdom. The bit about goads, those are sharp sticks which would help a sheep move away from danger or to a place to feed or a place of safety.

When it comes to modern technology these ancient words give us instruction. Honor God in all we do!

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl43dxwwy9o

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