In the spring term, participants in the Sparked mentoring programme considered the impact of applying Christian ethics to their scientific discipline. Here, Gloria Nkuliza reflects on how Christians should respond to developments in artificial intelligence in the workplace and beyond.
It's 3.30 pm on a Tuesday and I’ve made some headway on my to-do list. I still have a couple of ‘must-dos’ left before I’m satisfied with my performance that day. Suddenly, one of the managers hosting tomorrow’s monthly meeting stops by my desk and requests that I make a short 5-minute opening presentation. She’s nice but stern in her request and I awkwardly agree to put my list aside to help out.
“It needs to be memorable and interesting,” I think, “ I can’t have people daydreaming during the presentation, it’s only 5 minutes”! Typically, my perfectionist tendencies cause me to set aside at least half a day to make a presentation, no matter its duration. This time around though, I only had 1 hour before I’d become part of the dreaded ‘staying behind’ crew in the office.
After 10 minutes of racking my brain on topics to explore, I finally decided on one. Reading isn’t a refined skill of mine so I appreciate having extended amounts of time to digest what sources tell me, however, there was no room for comfort; I had 50 minutes to not only gather my sources but paraphrase them into slides, ensure the format was readable and attractive, and list my references.
The thought sprang to mind to use ChatGPT, a generative AI created by OpenAI. It felt cunning asking the chatbot to create the presentation script, but I reassured myself that the software was useful in helping me format my practice exam answers during university.
Click! Seconds after I pressed the spacebar, it created an answer. I could have easily used it without alterations - however, I took some minutes personalising the wording and verifying the sources. Crtl+S. It was 4.29 pm and the presentation was made. “Ahh” a sigh of relief, before I shut down my laptop for the day.
Although AI such as Grammarly and technical support tools are widely used within industries, I’d admit that it still felt a little grimy to use ‘support’ to make the presentation. Shouldn't I have done it all by myself?
Some would argue that like a calculator, AI is a tool that can improve productivity. But let us start with acknowledging what AI is exactly. Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are systems made to have human capabilities. The first AI system made was a remote-controlled mouse called Theseus, created by Claude Shannon in 1950, with the ability to navigate through a labyrinth and recall its course. Since then, the capabilities of AI systems have developed rapidly, with speech recognition, autotranscription, and auto-correct comparable to human level being integrated into our devices (Roser, 2022).
The integration of these AI systems into our daily lives has garnered some discussion but for the most part, has been dismissed. However, the rise of generative AI, a type of AI built using a large language model, capable of generating text and other media in response to user inputs, has rocked the boat globally (Johnson, 2023). Goldman Sachs estimated in 2023 that 18% of global work could be automated by AI, impacting two-thirds of jobs within the US and Europe, and most likely affecting those in white-collar jobs. If we participate in teaching AI how to perform tasks within our workplaces, will it then take over all our jobs? And if so, how would people in society earn a living?
What advantages and disadvantages does ‘Generative AI’ pose to our jobs?
According to research, information processing jobs and administrative roles are most likely to be replaced by ChatGPT and its competitor Bard, created by Google in 2023, as they have the capabilities to complete writing and programming tasks. In turn, jobs in agriculture, mining, and manufacturing are least likely to be affected, though constant efforts are made to replace humans with autonomous machines to improve productivity for unsafe tasks (Johnson, 2023).
In the financial sector, 56% of banks claim to have integrated generative AI into their business domains. Although using AI to give customised financial advice based on transactions would improve the profits of a bank, this may be one of someone’s job responsibilities, therefore making them vulnerable to job cuts if their extra time isn’t used to do other necessary tasks within the organisation (Johnson, 2023).
In 2015, Kristian Hammond of Narrative Science predicted that by 2040, a starking 90% of news will be written by machines. We, in 2024, can already recognise the prominence of AI in the generation of media, with popular media outlet BuzzFeed announcing its plans to rely on ChatGPT to improve quizzes and personalize content. To provide a silver lining, Kristian predicted that unambiguous data-heavy news would be primarily generated by the machines, therefore giving journalists ‘‘freedom" to explore topics outside this type of content. This could be exciting for those who want to be more expressive, creative, and poetic in their work. However for those who work for news outlets that prefer creating data-rich, descriptive articles, will they have job security?
As for legal services, attorneys have already started using ChatGPT to generate legal papers. This could be greatly beneficial for those who cannot afford human legal services; however, this use of AI raises ethical concerns on whether it is right to use a non-human entity to address human justice questions. Furthermore, current versions of ChatGPT and Bard are imperfect and have reportedly provided false information sometimes - would you trust a fallible non-human entity to defend your case in court?
How has AI already affected our interactions with society? And how does God instruct us to interact with each other?
An easy misconception would be to overlook a Christian perspective for this discussion as it is not overtly about situations within the church. However, since AI and its impact on jobs affect the church community and a large portion of people across the world, it is something we should be concerned about.
Moreover, the increasing sophistication of AI-supported fraud puts all of us at risk of experiencing cybercrime. One person even reported receiving a phone call from their daughter, pleading that she’d been kidnapped, only to find out that a scammer had cloned her voice in a ploy to retrieve ransom money from him (Venkataramakrishnan, 2024). Unfortunately, numerous scammers globally, influenced by greed and wickedness, continue to weaponise AI and make it increasingly difficult for people to distinguish between reality and voice clones, deepfake images, and videos.
Therefore, we Christians are required to take more precautions when using our electronic devices, applying 1 Peter 5:8 to this situation:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”.
Though we condemn scammers who use AI for illegal financial gain, we should be cautious to act with integrity when using AI. It can be tempting to cut corners and play the systems we’re invested in if we can do it undetected. Using ChatGPT to generate large amounts of a research paper here, going against online exam rules by using Bard to answer a question there - “it's not as bad as stealing money from people is it? I’m not hurting anyone…”.
Whether or not our actions can be prosecuted, we Christians know that God is our ultimate judge, and all sin is equally wrongful in the eyes of God. James 2:10 writes:
‘For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it’.
Our integrity is important to God. As demonstrated when Jesus commanded the Pharisees to pay back the taxes owed to Caesar in Mark 12: 13-17, God desires us to respect and uphold rules, no matter how easy they are to break and twist. Proverbs 6:16-19 writes:
‘Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.’
Aside from the misuse of AI, the sinister reality is that AI is much more integrated into our daily lives than we think, and has already replaced people in industry. When you pay for a train ticket, it is often AI that determines its price and distributes the ticket to us. AI systems can determine whether we are eligible for a mortgage or a new credit card.
Additionally, in a modern society driven by consumerism, increasing productivity, and profitability, the AI that is birthed out of it inevitably works to influence us to participate in these pursuits - with notorious large AI recommender systems peer-pressuring us into purchasing the latest trendy item through persistent ads on our social media feeds (Roser, 2022).
As Christians, we have to accept the permanence of AI in our society to learn how to live with it. It is also profitable to read Luke 10:25-37, where Jesus, who Christians believe is God incarnate, uses the parable of the Good Samaritan to expand on the Laws of God in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” and “Love your neighbour as yourself”.
In this parable, a Jewish man is robbed and denied support from spiritual leaders in the Jewish community. However, he is offered medical, financial, and domestic support from a Samaritian, who would be considered his antagonist, given the alienation between Jews and Samaritans at that time.
With this, Jesus insinuates that to care for our neighbour is to support those oppressed and mistreated in the world. The current side effects of AI in our generation include increasing levels of loneliness, division, and biased media coverage due to a reduction in daily human interactions and the use of recommender systems which cause us to overindulge in things we desire. Many people often are unaware of the effects of AI on them and therefore are unknowingly oppressed.
To act out these laws mentioned above, which are the first and second commandments of God for humans listed in Matthew 22:36-40, we Christians must be proactive to spot the problems that arise from AI systems in society (Thacker, 2022).
In addition to this, because of our transactional interactions with AI, it can be increasingly easy for us to treat fellow humans the same way. Genesis 1:27 writes:
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Since all humans, whether Christians or not, are image-bearers of the God of the universe, we should love others with the entirety of our ‘hearts, souls and strength’, cherishing and being generous in kindness to our fellow humans. As image-bearers of God, we should also represent Him well in our interactions, refraining from misusing AI for our gain or to harm others. As God implores us to treat others well, we should be conscious to maintain respect and compassion for one another, despite our emotionless exchanges with AI.
What does God say AI is?
What it means to be human has been a topical debate for centuries, and seems ever more relevant now - if AI systems seem to achieve consciousness, that being the ability to perceive or understand the world around them, will they become human or more (Lucky, 2023)? And if so, should they have equal rights to take on jobs performed by humans?
In the Bible, there are numerous examples of God treating people with grace because they were humans who pleased Him rather than because of their productivity or intelligence. For example, 1 Kings 21 explores a situation where vineyard owner Naboth is killed under orders of King Ahab of Samaria and his wife Jezebel so that Ahab could possess his property. Because of this sin, Elijah delivers a curse from God to King Ahab and Ahab becomes very repentant of his actions. 1 Kings 21: 28-29 describes God’s response to this:
“And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”
God was intentional about how He formed humans. Although other animals may experience emotions, sense their surroundings, and act on this information, humans distinctively can have personal beliefs and attitudes that influence their interactions with other beings and God Himself. This is possible because God granted all humans a soul, which gives us will and the ability to experience life after death, and a spirit, which enables us to worship God, know Him and express His love (DY, 2024) (Compellingtruth.org). The Bible writes:
“Behold, all the souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die” - Ezekiel 18:4
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” - John 4:23 -24
These truths make it even more hurtful to God when people worship AI as our spirits were made to worship God and not man-made idols. There have been accounts of people marveling at AI even to the point of worship, with former Google pioneer Anthony Levandowski creating a religious corporation called “Ways of the Future” which worships an AI ‘Godhead’ (James, 2022).
Although we can appreciate the advanced capabilities of AI, we mustn’t allow this to grow into idol worship as it takes away our reverence for God who is above AI, humans and all other created things, with capabilities that we ourselves cannot comprehend. Jonah 2:10 writes:
“Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies”
Since the beginning of time in Genesis 1, God has closely interacted with humans whether they were sinful or righteous towards Him, presenting His desire for a relationship with us humans over any other living beings. Regardless of how intelligent AI will become, AI systems are human creations and we do not have power to supply them with souls or spirits, therefore they cannot obey the first and second commandments that God bestows on humans (Lucky, 2023).
How should we react to AI at work?
Now that we recognise the permanence of AI in our daily lives, we can either scornfully resist it or engage in interactions with it. However, how best should we react to it in the workplace?
AI is being improved at incredible rates. Each new iteration is implemented into industries within months of its creation, forcing people to interact with these AI systems and battle to understand how to navigate them (Santry, 2023). As alluded to in a previous section, these advancements also mean that proper regulations and legislation in line with these systems are staggering behind more and more to keep up with these AI advancements.
Although job security is a valid concern, there is a much more pressing mission for us Christians to influence the appropriate development, implementation, and use of AI. It matters to us the foundation on which AI is designed, as we can change it from one of consumerism and deception to one that upholds godly principles.
We serve a God who rewards human work (Colossians 3:23-24), loves justice (Isaiah 61:8), instructs us to follow ethical standards (Romans 13:8-10), and values humans equally (Acts 10:34 -35). If we drive these principles into the future development of AI, we can do our part in glorifying God and positively impacting society.
For those who are in senior management meetings, we should campaign for AI to be created as a tool to improve human capabilities and expertise rather than to mimic humans in the workplace. Those in governmental and legislative positions should drive for AI developers to be penalised if their AI is found to influence inequality, social division, and the oppression of the working and lower class. Those in regulatory positions should push for mandatory clear ethical standards to be enforced.
Jobs must be created and advertised on accessible digital and in-person platforms to enable those replaced by AI systems to earn a living, and governments should ensure the future generation is properly educated on digital literacy and agility so they can better navigate an increasingly digital workplace. If properly managed, AI could be an excellent creative tool that works alongside humans in the workplace, however, this requires us to hope that companies and developers agree on this focus for the future of AI (Rotman, 2023)
What should be our outlook on the future?
For AI systems in our generation that rely on machine learning to be trained, such as GPT-3 and PaLM, training computation, algorithms and input data are three fundamental factors to generate their capabilities (Roser, 2022). As of now, we are in a deep learning era, where training computation is doubling roughly every 6 months, with 2022’s PaLM’s training computation being 5 million times greater than its predecessor 2012’s AlexNet within just 10 years. AI systems are becoming increasingly powerful at unprecedented rates.
There is a wide debate about whether the computation used to train an AI system would match that of a human brain. AI researcher Ajeya Cotra estimates that this ‘transformative AI’ will be developed by 2040 based on the historical long-run trend of AI training computation, and this is only just over 15 years away. This has gotten so serious that an open letter to pause the development of AI more than GPT-4 has gotten thousands of signatories including Elon Musk’s (Santry, 2023). There is even speculation that AI systems could eventually outsmart, outnumber and replace the human race, placing a risk on our civilisation, let alone our jobs.
We are in times where the technological future seems unpredictable and no one knows what AI will do if it reaches this ‘transformative’ form. However, we must remember that we believe in the eternal all-powerful God, who exists outside of space and time and knows our future, so we can rest assured by putting our trust in Him:
“Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” - Isaiah 46:9-10
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” Hebrews 1:10-12.
References
Compellingtruth.org. (n.d.). What is the difference between the soul and the spirit? Compelling Truth. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://www.compellingtruth.org/difference-soul-spirit.html
DY, G. (2024, March 5). Soul vs. Spirit: What is the Difference? - Bible Meaning and Verses. Christianity.com. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://www.christianity.com/wiki/salvation/difference-between-a-soul-and-a-spirit.html
James, M. (2022, August 1). AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the Beast of Revelation — The Church of God International. The Church of God International. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://www.cgi.org/news-and-events/2022/8/1/ai-artificial-intelligence-and-the-beast-of-revelation?sapurl=LytxNWdtL2FwcD9lbWJlZD10cnVlJnJlY2VudFJvdXRlPWFwcC53ZWItYXBwLnJlZGlyZWN0b3ImcmVjZW50Um91dGVTbHVnPWFw
Johnson, A. (2023, March 30). Which Jobs Will AI Replace? These 4 Industries Will Be Heavily Impacted. Forbes. Retrieved March 17, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/03/30/which-jobs-will-ai-replace-these-4-industries-will-be-heavily-impacted/?sh=618570a75957
Lucky, K. (2023, September 11). AI Will Shape Your Soul. Christianity Today. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/october/artificial-intelligence-robots-soul-formation.html
Roser, M. (2022, December 6). The brief history of artificial intelligence: The world has changed fast – what might be next? Our World in Data. Retrieved March 17, 2024, from https://ourworldindata.org/brief-history-of-ai
Rotman, D. (2023, March 25). How ChatGPT will revolutionize the economy. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/03/25/1070275/chatgpt-revolutionize-economy-decide-what-looks-like/
Santry, J. (2023, April 12). Should Christians Use AI Chatbots? Christian Jobs. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://christianjobs.co.uk/news/should-christians-use-ai-chatbots
Thacker, J. (2022, March 25). Why Christians Should Care about Artificial Intelligence. Radical.net. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://radical.net/article/why-christians-should-care-about-artificial-intelligence/
Venkataramakrishnan, S. (2024, January 18). AI heralds the next generation of financial scams. Financial Times. Retrieved April 19, 2024, from https://www.ft.com/content/beea7f8a-2fa9-4b63-a542-88be231b0266
