Let's face it, AI is here - and here to stay! And it's somewhat amusing, fascinating and scary all at the same time to see it played with and consider all its possible future applications - even in the religious realm! One of the latest weird-and-wonderful things generated by AI to have caused a bit of a reaction on social media has been its rendering of a hypothetical selfie Jesus took during the last supper (as in the picture here). Whereas many found this picture hilarious, offensive or inspiring, I personally found it problematic. Not so much the picture itself but the broader issues with AI emerging from this picture - issues that must be considered when exploring various AI applications, especially to matters of theology, faith and, more generally, Church stuff.
Jesus Christ Superstar
One of the first things I noticed about this picture was the broad tendency to make a mockery of Christianity and Christ - just read the comments on Twitter and IG to know what I mean! Admittedly, this has less to do with AI and more with our post-Chrstian Western culture. While I see many using Jesus and the Bible as the subjects of their AI play-testing (not in a constructive way), I don't see as many efforts to do the same with Mohammed and other faiths' religious leaders. I guess that, being taught to pray for our enemies, "embrace the pain" as Jesus did and, at worst, "write to our MP", makes us easy targets. However, knowing who the "god of this world" is and how peeved he is with Jesus since his utter defeat and humiliation at the cross, this bias against Christianity shouldn't surprise us - neither its prevalence in the media space. As such, we shouldn't be surprised either if AI ended up being used in a similar manner...
On the brighter side, however, it's great to see Jesus still being the focus of such broad attention. I actually asked ChatGPT how often Jesus was the subject of its searches and the answer (see picture below) reaffirmed his popularity! Whether we like the type of attention he gets or not, it is still a reminder that, even in a world of AI, he still is the most influential person to have ever lived - although, according to Wikipedia, it's some dude called Carl Linnaeus (enough said!).
Church is for "weirdoes and losers"
Speaking of mockery, this picture seems to suggest Christianity is for... well, weirdoes and losers (or "colourful characters" - if you have better filters between brain and mouth)! On the one hand, as Bear Grylls rightly pointed out in an IG post, that's very much who Jesus surrounded himself with - the reject, the outcast, the lost and the broken, the very bottom of society. While the silk-wearing, articulate and wealthy religious snobs of the day accused him of socialising with sinners, Jesus pointed out that, just as a doctor, he had come for the sick, not for the healthy. As such, God was more impressed by mercy rather than heartless religion. However, pictures like this only tell half a story (and often not that well). Because with that statement, Jesus didn't say he came exclusively to save the uneducated, the poor, the outcast and the weirdoes - but the lost. And lostness is not the trademark of any social class but a state that transcends social boundaries. It refers to losing the way (of God) and finding it again (in Jesus). So much so that Jesus identified himself as "the way." And while he drew to himself many of the lost who belonged to the lower classes (and often just because he turned water into wine, multiplied food and healed diseases), he also drew many whose lostness wasn't worn on their sleeves - religious leaders like Nicodemus, scholars like Paul and men of science like Luke. His message fascinated both Roman officials and common fishermen. The same applies today! Among his followers, we find both the asylum seeker and the white businessman, the recovering alcoholic and the academic. And I hate it when I see Jesus portrayed either as a trademark of the estate or a middle-class mascot. While pictures like these limit Christianity to "the insufficiently intelligent", the truth is that the person and message of Jesus are for all - for we are all lost.
I asked ChatGPT a more direct question about being lost and its answer was not half bad!
White Jesus and glasses
Something else that stood out to me in this picture is the fact that Jesus is white (or slightly tanned.) His representation is not particularly objective but rather bent toward popular Western characterisations of the Messiah - although at least AI didn't make him blond and blue-eyed! This small detail raises the double issue of accuracy and objectivity, both of which AI is proving to be pretty bad at.
Accuracy
With regard to accuracy, AI bases its response on patterns emerging from large quantities of information publicly available on the internet - irrespective of its source and reliability. This means that, when it comes to more complex topics, AI will generate the summary of an echo chamber rather than original, objective and reliable material. Just this picture alone includes:
- People with six fingers
- Items that had not yet been invented, like corrective lenses and glass-cups
- Historically inaccuracies, like the fact that 1st century Jews consumed their food sitting on chairs around a raised table. Oh, and apparently Jesus only had ten disciples!
- ...and one of them was drunk off his head - something which Jesus would have certainly challenged among his own.
Objectivity
With regard to objectivity, AI is a means of information analysis and processing based on a human-designed algorithm. As such, it is proven to carry the biases of its engineers. As extensive testing shows, AI such as ChatGPT won't define a woman, would praise Democrats but not Republicans and claims that nuclear weapons are less dangerous than racism. Given its inherent susceptibility to bias, how much do we want to rely on its implicit promise of effortless truth? In the words of Greg McKewon, "Gaining unique knowledge takes time, dedication, and effort" (Effortless: Make It Easy to Get the Right Things Done).
Once again, I tested this argument for myself and ChatGPT failed big time!
Should we burn AI at the stake?
By now you will probably think that I'm ready to rally the torches and pitchforks and publicly hang this new devilish sorcery. Absolutely not! I am having tons of fun exploring various possible AI implementations for both ordinary and "religious" life (whatever that means) with close friends of theological and technological expertise. Whereas some of these implementations could truly benefit people and organisations, others are very worrysome - from AI-generated "sermons" and "worship" songs, to interactive religious idols and AI "evangelism". The issue isn't with AI itself *unless it goes all Skynet on us!* The issue is how we develop it and use it - especially with regard to things that are spiritual in nature. Whereas AI has the potential to provide easy access to somewhat accurate and impartial information (and endless memes!), so far it is proving to be another (and more powerful) impersonal tool for the promotion of biased narratives, with the potential for far more sinister things.
THIS BLOG POST WAS ENTIRELY WRITTEN BY CHATGPT
Naah just kidding! AI only wishes to write this good. Sorry pal, you ain't replacing me just yet!
Fantastic article. Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing. W
ReplyDeleteThank you! You are officially my first ever comment! Thanks for taking the time :)
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