I have been writing short messages centered around my faith, family and observations of daily life for almost twenty years. If you have read any of my daily messages found in The Disciple Md online or on my short podcasts, you will quickly discover that there are plenty of grammatical errors and thoughts that can at times be disjointed.
Not too long after I started writing, a good friend of mine was reading one of my messages and informed me that he also had written an article for a magazine that was based on the same subject and that it was to be published later that month. I asked if he would send me a preview copy as he and I held the same point of view on the subject manner. He is very well spoken and educated. Sure enough, when I read his take on the subject it was very well written, researched, and lengthy. My message was about three paragraphs long and his was about three pages long. But in my opinion, the point of the message was the same. I was brief and to the point. His take was more scholarly and impressive but getting to the point was more deep. My audience and his audience clearly would not be the same, but he message is the most important part of the equation.
A few years later another good friend of mine, who read my messages on a daily basis, told me that he had thought about calling me and telling me that he would be happy to help me in making my writings more grammatically correct and in putting forth the message in a more formal manner. He also is highly educated and a very learned man. I thanked him, but then he said, “But you know what, I thought, that’s not how Scott thinks or talks. Those messages just really wouldn’t be him if we changed them.” Again, I thanked him for being so observant and also tolerant of my shortcomings as a writer. I was reminded that each man is best taught in his own language, so to speak.
What do these interactions have to do with the booming industry of Artificial Intelligence. Well, I have never used it as a source for any of my writings, which at this point are around 1100 messages. Why do I refuse to use it. Because AI is not who I am or how I think. Getting reference material from sources is wonderful but letting Artificial Intelligence speak for me is another matter.
So, it is apparent to me that AI is beginning to take over our human discourse. I detect it often, although I’m not sure, in talks given in business, or thoughts presented over the internet, and even in church talks. The verbiage used by many often sound, well, artificial.
It is more alarming to me when it comes to church. AI may be smarter than most humans, but it isn’t smarted than God, who communicates to us through the Holy Spirit. One of the most profound statements I ever heard was made by Mariam G. Romney, although I don’t think he was the originator of the quote, but he said in one of his addresses, “You know you have spoken by the spirit when you learned something from what you just said.”
To me that statement capsulates the power and majesty of how the Holy Spirit can teach any man, regardless of his academic standing in the community, lessons that reach far beyond what our puny brains normally can comprehend. And from personal experience, I know that statement to be true.
So, at least when I attend church, and want to be uplifted and inspired, I would rather have that done by someone who is inspired by the Holy Ghost than one who is parroting Artificial Intelligence. After all, it’s intelligence is artificial and trying to mimic the power of the all knowledgeable, who is God our Father.
So that next time we are tempted to go to ChatGBT, or other platforms, for a spiritual message we are assigned to give. Maybe we should remember that we can go higher for knowledge, by getting down on my knees and letting the creator of the universe who is omnipotent, and the master of all truth, inspire us and teach us what to say. It’s humbling to see what AI can do, but it’s inspiring to feel the power of God manifest itself to one’s self through the Holy Spirit, and know that you are being schooled by the most powerful intelligence in the universe. It’s electrifying and it’s awe inspiring that He, our Father, cares and communicates His will to us His children.