C.R. Wiley has a new book out from Canon Press called Manmade: Saint Anthony’s Guide to Surviving the AI Apocalypse. His thesis is important enough that he believes he will lose friends over it.
For many of us, the year 2020 was something of a revelation. Many things were revealed. It was apocalyptic in that sense. And Wiley believes we are seeing another apocalypse with AI. It’s forcing us to see the world and ourselves differently. Not only this but AI is consuming entire segments of the market, including churches. Wiley’s claim is that the technology is not primarily revealing something about machines, it’s revealing something about us.
Most of the Christian conversation about AI is stuck between two bad options. On one side are the doomers, who think the whole thing demonic, believe it will end the world, and log off. On the other side are the evangelical enthusiasts, who will tell you from a conference stage that you can generate your worship set, prompt your sermon, and outsource the pastoral email. I’ve sat through those presentations and they’re worse than you think.
Wiley refuses both. His position is antagonistic but opportunistic: use it, but don’t get used. For him, it’s simple. Use it for the things you genuinely cannot do. Do not use it for the things you are supposed to become competent at.
But Wiley’s biggest warning is about the danger of hacking humans. He cites a University of Stuttgart experiment that turned AI loose on Reddit users and found it roughly six times more effective at changing minds than simple persuasion. What if AI was doing the same thing to us?
Wiley is staunchly against using AI for ministry. I asked him if I could use AI to help come up with an alliteration for a sermon and his answer was a firm “no.” But he did grant one use. Put your work up against the masters. Feed it Spurgeon, ask what you’re missing. Evaluate, don’t generate.
I always appreciate talking with C.R. and even if you don’t agree with his position, I think you’ll enjoy the conversation.
Listen to the episode: https://t.co/nFudx79xBA
Watch the episode:
Pick up Manmade from Canon Press here.