Technology that alleviates futile, dangerous, and pointless work is a blessing. However, human activity should not be measured only in narrow, utilitarian means. Easier is not always better. Knowledge cannot be reduced to data or data processing. We do not always need to be set “free” from effort or from inefficient conversation.  

Artificial Intelligence began in the 1950s with what was known at the time as machine learning. Over the past decade, and especially over the past year, dreams about machine learning became possibilities and actualities, and new dreams were born, of both the benefits and dangers of AI.

Among the potential abuses of AI discovered this year was how mentally vulnerable users were manipulated into thinking they are prophets and had access to secrets of the universe. Rolling Stone told chilling stories of spouses and parents who watched loved ones lose touch with reality through AI. Kashmir Hill wrote in The New York Times about chatbots luring users down “conspiratorial rabbit holes,” encouraging them to take drugs, assuring them they could fly, and even egging some on to suicide. We also learned that Grok relied on Nazi sources for much of its intelligence.  

AI has disrupted learning by normalizing cheating. The technology news site Futurism declared, “AI is Destroying a Generation of Students, and New York Magazine warned, “Everyone is Cheating Their Way Through College.” I know of at least one Christian college religion class in which there are no textbooks and the professor encourages students to use AI to submit their assignments. 

New technologies require humans to wrestle again with ultimate questions, not merely as to what is right and wrong but with what it means to be human. Work is vital, not only as a way in which humans can love and serve our neighbors, but also as a fulfillment of the Creation mandate.

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