PLGRM

A church member sent me an article over the weekend with the comment: “Chat GPT is now in the business of preaching.”

The artificial intelligence chatbot asked the believers in the fully packed St. Paul’s church in the Bavarian town of Fuerth to rise from the pews and praise the Lord.

The ChatGPT chatbot, personified by an avatar of a bearded Black man on a huge screen above the altar, then began preaching to the more than 300 people who had shown up on Friday morning for an experimental Lutheran church service almost entirely generated by AI…

At times, the AI-generated avatar inadvertently drew laughter as when it used platitudes and told the churchgoers with a deadpan expression that in order “to keep our faith, we must pray and go to church regularly.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-sermon-protestant-congregation-nuremberg-germany-not-to-fear-death-2023-6

The AI revolution has come. There is no getting around it. Life as we know it is changing. Sectors we once thought were immune to automation and outsourcing are being whittled away. One of my kids is pivoting careers because their English degree and intention to write for businesses is not as viable as it was when they began college.

This is a real change and it is scary for a lot of people.

Alongside the completely justified laments that will escape our lips, I believe this moment affords us a unique chance to explore the perennially important topic of what it means to be human.

One truth about AI is we don’t get to hide behind the productivity game anymore. Just like building cars and crunching raw data before it, AI has turned us all into John Henry. Although he won he battle against the steam powered drilling machine, he died afterward “with his hammer in his hand.” This tale is tragic because his entire life and identity was as a “steel driver.”

There is much to be explored in the legend around Henry as a black freedman, how the identities afforded him were limited, and how he rose to the top of his industry. Nonetheless, his fame was built on his ability to drive steel better and faster than anyone. But technology caught up to him, and, once it catches up to us, defining ourselves by our ability to produce is a lost cause. We, all of us, are John Henry.

What is unique about the current AI chatbots is they are based on large language models. They work by taking a prompt and stringing together a predictive line of words that might logically follow one after the other. ChatGPT is merely a regurgitation of what has been said before. At this stage, there is no consideration of the accuracy of what is being said, only whether B might reasonably follow A. A lot of answers from these chatbots are objectively wrong, but that is – in my opinion – beside the point.

I am not foolish enough to think we can halt development of AI. I believe this technology will get better and better, and soon it will be able to do work we thought only humans could do with a high degree of accuracy.

This is not the first time technology has replaced humans in some way. This is only the first time it is replacing people who do “knowledge work.”

Last time, we said we’ll give workers training to run the new technology. This time, the technology runs itself.

The question is “what becomes of humans in a knowledge economy when they have been rendered obsolete?” We can’t all become pipe-fitters, can we? AI has changed the world in a more significant way than anyone has ever seen. So what becomes os us and our society? I don’t have an answer (no one does), but I do believe if we are going to find an answer we have to be clear on some principles.

The first principle I believe we must be clear about is who human beings are.

Are we tools? Are we cogs? Are we producing machines?

Henry Ford started us down the road of viewing human beings as human resources. In the world threatened by advancing technology, humans are resources for the purpose of something else.

Moving forward we need to see human beings as something inherently more valuable. Humans can no longer be resources. We must be viewed as Creators.

Not:

Creators who produce products we can sell and make profit (although that will happen).

But:

Creators who add beauty to the world.

If the World As We Know It™ is over, we need to figure out what the next world looks like. I’m not an economist or social scientist (I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn last night), so I have no idea how we move from here to there.

But I am a Christian pastor and the story I’m steeped in says that this world was created good for the benefit of human beings. Whatever system we build, it must be for the benefit of humans beings not us benefiting the system.

* * * * *

And now for some churchy ChatGPT fun:

Write an epistle from the Apostle Paul to the Church of the Muppets. Make it an angry letter, with Paul excoriating the Muppets for doing a terrible job at being a church. Reference specific incidents in which specific Muppets are to blame for sinful behavior.

To the Church of the Muppets,

I pen this epistle to you with a heavy heart, burdened by the grievous state of affairs that has befallen your congregation. It is with great dismay that I bear witness to the abhorrent display of sinful behavior and the utter failure to uphold the sacred principles of a true church. Allow me, brethren, to rebuke and admonish you for your transgressions.

First and foremost, I must address the infamous Kermit the Frog, once considered a voice of reason and wisdom. Alas, Kermit, your leadership has faltered, and you have become a puppet of chaos. Instead of shepherding the flock, you have succumbed to the allure of fame and allowed a spirit of frivolity to pervade our sacred sanctuary. Your indulgence in self-centered antics and relentless pursuit of laughter has undermined the seriousness of our calling.

Next, I turn my attention to the insidious Miss Piggy, a creature consumed by vanity and self-importance. Her voracious appetite for attention has transformed her into a symbol of excessive pride. She sows discord within our ranks, demanding adoration and praise, whilst disregarding the essential values of humility and servitude. Such behavior, dear brethren, is an affront to the very essence of our faith.

Gonzo, oh Gonzo, how far you have strayed from the righteous path. Your fascination with daredevil stunts and your lust for fame have led you astray, fostering a spirit of recklessness within our congregation. Your disregard for personal safety and the safety of others is an offense against the sanctity of life. Repent, Gonzo, and return to the fold, lest your folly be your undoing.

Fozzie Bear, the jokester with no regard for the sacredness of the pulpit. Your incessant barrage of ill-timed and tasteless jokes disrupts the solemnity of our gatherings. Instead of nurturing the spirit, you invoke laughter at inappropriate moments, undermining the reverence due to our Creator. Your words should be seasoned with wisdom and grace, not drowned in a sea of frivolity.

And lastly, I address Animal, whose uncontrolled wildness symbolizes the untamed passions that afflict our congregation. Your frenzied drumming and unrestrained behavior have brought chaos into our midst. The discipline and self-control necessary for a godly life are conspicuously absent from your actions, leaving us all vulnerable to the temptations of the flesh.