Given the current cultural crisis of AI, the PCA 53rd General Assembly assembled an Ad Interim Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Composed of four teaching elders and three ruling elders from churches all across the country, this committee will spend the next 2-3 years assembling guidelines for the use of Artificial Intelligence in PCA churches.
While there are many concerns that could be addressed, the committee has been directed by the General Assembly to limit the scope of study to the use of AI in the church. This includes AI use in preaching, teaching, church administration, church discipline, and Christian education, including Covenant College and Covenant Theological Seminary.
On October 13, the committee held a discussion panel on Covenant’s campus, giving students the opportunity to ask questions, give feedback, and contribute to the conversation. Many students submitted questions ahead of time.
In response to the question of what AI is, one member of the committee addressed the neutrality of technology: “Every tool forms us back. Language is fundamental to how we learn, communicate, and pray. It is very powerful. It is capable and dangerous.”
AI is prevalent in all areas of life. Since there is so much money behind AI development, it is marketed very strongly. You have to go out of your way to avoid it. Since all tools are formative, the committee wants everyone to be aware of how they are being formed.
In the cultural mandate of Genesis 1:28, God commands humans to fill the earth and subdue it. They are called to create well, and they need skills to do that. If they outsource work to AI and never develop those skills, that ability will be lost.
AI is a tool with tremendous potential, but it is easily overused or misused. The committee members recommend to default to not using it, and justify its use every time you do. According to one member, using AI as a tool to speed up a process that one has already mastered is okay, but using it to help think or create is a misuse.
The committee came to campus not only to answer student questions but to get student input as well. They took some time at the end of the discussion to ask students some questions.
When asked how AI is hurting the community, students identified many concerns. For instance, AI panic is breaking trust between professors and students, and people on campus are using AI to generate posters, outsourcing art to a robot and taking away opportunities for artists to use their skills.
Many are also concerned about the use of AI as a counselor or friend. Some said sycophant AI chatbots are creating narcissists. People are using AI as a credible source of absolute truth, offloading moral responsibility.
These struggles are real and pressing, and deliberation is important. As the next generation of church members and leaders, Covenant students are an important part of this conversation.