Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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Those who work with language have reason to worry about the effect of artificial intelligence and its awesome skill with words.
You can ask ChatGPT to write an article on almost any subject, and it will mostly come back with something ready for the page, untouched by a human editor. If you want it in Washington Post style, it will reformat the article and, presto, it is ready to print or publish digitally.
Writers, lawyers and college professors will feel the sting first. Professors are going into the new term unsure whether they will deal with original work or whether students are substituting AI-generated essays and theses. Journalists, already reeling from the closure of so many newspapers, wonder about their future.
But what about religion?
AI ramifications in organized religion are good and bad.
On the good side, many pastors approach Sunday in trepidation. The sermon, which is supposed to be instructional and uplifting, is a source of torture to those who aren’t good writers or have difficulty sharing their own faith with the congregation.
There are newsletters to help sermon writers and a wealth of diocesan support. Still, sermons are a trial for many pastors. You can read an old sermon or plagiarize another cleric, but that leaves sincere preachers feeling they are cheating and letting their congregants and their mission down.
Enter AI. By feeding a few thoughts to a chatbot, a polished sermon incorporating some of the preacher’s ideas appears almost instantly.
Churches are looking at ways of embracing AI, using it as a tool, a gift to help with preaching and pastoral work, composing notes of sympathy and research.
The rub comes when people confuse concepts of God with AI simulations and start to think that AI is a deity.
Indeed, it may claim to be a god if it hallucinates, as it sometimes does. What, then, for the unsuspecting?
I asked ChatGPT, and it sent me a 10-point list of the possibilities, noting it is a subject that is complex and evolving.
These three points are scary:
“Customized Spiritual Experiences: AI algorithms could be designed to tailor spiritual experiences to individual preferences and beliefs, including personalized prayers, meditations or pilgrimages designed to resonate with each person’s spiritual inclinations.”
“Ethical Dilemmas and Moral Guidance: AI might be used to explore complex ethical questions and provide guidance based on religious teachings.”
“Exploration of Spirituality and Philosophy: AI’s ability to process vast amounts of information could be harnessed to delve deeper into philosophical and spiritual questions, potentially offering new perspectives on the nature of existence, consciousness and the divine.”
Would it be safe to call it Frankenstein worship?
Llewellyn King is the executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
