Looking at our world from a theological perspective, this is the Theology Central Podcast, making theology central. Good evening, everyone. It is Wednesday, January the 8th, 2025. It is currently 1028 p.m. Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in West Texas. Now, I've been telling you, that this year is really about, I'm keeping the symbolism alive. I know no one else can see it, but the symbolism is important to me. I'm keeping in a blank notebook. right here, a blank notebook sitting right here under the microphone and right next to it is a pencil. And the reason I'm keeping this blank notebook here is I said that 2025 is kind of a blank notebook, right? In a sense, we're kind of, it's a blank notebook and we're just gonna each day, Well, wherever that day leads us, that's what happens. There's no map, there's no plan. Another illustration I keep using is 2025, we kind of just got in the car and we're just driving. We have no GPS, we have no maps, no Google Maps, nothing. We have no driving directions, we have no destination. We're just in the car and wherever we end up, we end up in each day is, well, just kind of where we end up. And I know that probably at some point I'll start formulating some plans and say, we're gonna do this or we're gonna do this. But I'm trying to be very kind of hesitant with that right now. I don't have a specific reason why. I'm just really taking this, well, whatever happens each day is what's going to happen on the podcast approach. I don't know. We'll see. I'll probably will change my mind at some point, but that's kind of the approach I'm taking. However, there is been, there has been, I should say, not there is been, there has been, okay. There is, I guess I was going to say, there is at least one thing that has become kind of a, I guess it will be a theme in 2025. Not so much really something I'm planning, some kind of strategy and how I'm going to cover it, but it is a topic that I know is going to come up over and over and over because I believe it's the subject that's going to dominate 2025. Maybe even if people don't notice it, maybe even if it's not getting news coverage and that is artificial intelligence. Ladies and gentlemen, 2025 is the year of artificial intelligence. Whether anybody admits that, whether anybody wants to even acknowledge that, maybe I just think artificial intelligence is going to continue to become more and more prevalent, more and more used, more and more powerful, more and more just influential in people's lives. So I have had in my mind a lot of just focus and thinking and considering and meditating and how this technological wonder in some ways, this, as one puts it, this is from a book, The greatest invention in human history is how one book classifies AI. The greatest invention in human history. Now you may think that that's hyperbole. You may not agree with that. I do, but I think I'm pretty much convinced that it is the greatest invention in human history. I think it's going to change culture. It's going to change education. It's going to change every area of life, including the church, including Christianity, including religion, even if nobody wants to acknowledge it. So in a roundabout way, even though this year is kind of a blank notebook and we're kind of in a car not knowing where we're going, one of the things that's going to become talked about over and over and over is this idea of artificial intelligence. And I started the first Sunday in the year doing two hours discussion about artificial intelligence and the future of the church, and we have an entire series. So in a sense, I guess we could go ahead and write that in the notebook. But even that, I'm not planning it. I'm not trying to strategize, well, I'm going to do this. I just know AI is going to dominate the year. So I'm just, I've got a series ready that whenever AI related things cross my path or I cross its path or it comes to my attention, boom, I can put the content right there. So in a sense, that's what's happened this evening. Let me explain. All right. So earlier today, I'll try to put this all together. Earlier today, we did a broadcast, and what I wanted to demonstrate in that broadcast is the ability of artificial intelligence to completely analyze every aspect of a sermon. It can summarize it, it can outline it, it can critique it, and it can look for factual errors, historical errors, logical errors, biblical errors, hermeneutical errors. And we looked at two sermons, and we did that. Now, as far as the broadcast itself, again, I didn't have it all mapped out, right? Because that's kind of the way I'm working it this year. So I didn't know exactly how it was going to go, and I didn't even have it mapped out and how I was going to present it. What I basically did was went to the Sermon Audio website, downloaded the transcript of two sermons, and then uploaded the transcript to AI, said, here, take this apart, and then I just went through what AI said live on the air. So in some ways, when I look back from a broadcasting perspective, it was a lot of me reading. So I feel like in some ways it probably was more difficult to keep people engaged, but it was still an interesting idea. And I've been fascinated by that idea throughout the day. In fact, I have now used AI today, I don't know, at different times. I don't know how many sermons I've had it analyze today, but at one point it analyzed a sermon on something about doctrine. I think it was Matthew 28. It was a weird passage that the sermon was using for its text. It was kind of odd. And I had AI analyze it. And as AI was analyzing it, it brought up this interesting dichotomy, this kind of contrast between worship and faith. or worship and doubt. I think that was the contrast. I was gonna say faith and doubt. So worship and doubt, because worship and faith wouldn't really be a contrast, right? Okay, so worship and doubt. And it just mentioned it briefly because the pastor had said something in regards to it and AI was like, hey, there's a logical fallacy here, there's a problem. But when I saw those words, worship and doubt, I was like, ooh, this is good. I started discussing with AI that particular part of the sermon, this contrast of worship and doubt. And then AI, between our conversation, it ultimately turned into me kind of writing out, utilizing AI. I mean, AI was doing most of the writing. I'm just doing the input. and the concepts, and AI is fleshing it out. But between me and AI, I kind of put together this entire kind of a devotional idea on worship and doubt, or faith and doubt, maybe. I think I went with worship and doubt more than faith and doubt, but you get the idea. This contrasting ideas, these almost seemingly conflicting concepts, worship and doubt. How do they work together? Are they in conflict? Do they contradict? And so, I had that ready. Earlier this evening, I was going to do a broadcast and just kind of go through the devotional for kind of a Wednesday evening teaching, but things didn't work out. I was not able to get to it. I was like, OK, well, I'll do that maybe late tonight or do that maybe early tomorrow. And that was kind of the idea. So I was up here in the studio. I was doing other things. I don't even know how this occurred. But all of a sudden I saw this cover of a book. I don't even know what website I was on. I don't even know if it was, maybe it was just a search engine. I don't know. But there was this cover of this book and it jumped out at me. It caught my eye because parts of it is in this really bright, like neon green. And I'm like, oh, okay, what is that? And then I looked down and it says supremacy. I'm like, oh, what is this book about supremacy? What kind of supremacy? And then right underneath it, I see the two letters, AI. Supremacy AI. I'm like, ooh, this got my attention. So immediately I clicked on it. It took me to amazon.com. Here's the full title of the book. Supremacy, AI, chat GPT, and the race that will change the world. supremacy, AI, ChatGPT, and the race that will change the world. I'm like, okay, this has my attention, right? Because here's a book about AI. I've been talking about AI. Okay, and in a sense, I felt like, oh, here's my blank notebook, and well, we've got something in the blank notebook now, right? In other words, it's blank right now, but we just stumbled upon something, right? We don't have a plan. We're driving the car and I just saw the road sign that says, oh, look at that. That looks interesting. And we just took the exit. So we're going to take an exit for a little bit and talk about this book. Because I'm begging people, wake up, pay attention, learn everything you can about artificial intelligence. Understand it, know how to use it, know how to use it to the best of your ability. Know what it can do, what it can't do. Avoid conspiracies and fear and misinformation. Know it, because I'm telling you, it's gonna impact the church. Now, even though this book isn't about AI and the church, I am gonna take certain things about the book and at least try to see how it may be applicable, all right? So again, the full title of the book, Supremacy, AI Chat GPT and the Race that Will Change the World by, what is the name of this author? Parmy, P-A-R-M-Y, Parmy Olson. Parmi Olson, currently is the number one bestseller in social aspects of technology at Amazon.com. Not only that, this book is the winner of the Financial Times and Schroeder's 2024 Business Book of the Year. All right. So this is the Business Book of the Year, it won that award. It's the number one bestseller. And here's the good thing about it. If you want it for your Kindle, it's only $2.99. So if you want for a paperback, it's $21. If you want a hardcover, it's $22. So, you know, it's 323 pages long. So, you know, for a Kindle, that's, I mean, man, I probably should buy it like immediately before the price goes up because that is crazy, all right? But here's a little bit about the book. Here's the description, you ready? In November of 2022, A web page was posted online with a simple text box. It was an AI chat bot called ChatGPT and was unlike any app people had used before. It was more human than a customer service agent, more convenient than a Google search. Behind the scenes, a battle for control and prestige between the world's two leading AI firms, OpenAI and DeepMind, who now steers Google's AI efforts, has remained elusive until now. So this is really, it looks like this book is gonna do more about pulling the curtain back to show the battle that was going on behind the scenes to really say which AI model was going to take on going to be the head of the table, was going to be the supreme one, was going to rule supreme, have supremacy. In supremacy, next paragraph, Olson, tech writer at Bloomberg, tells the astonishing story of the battle between these two AI firms, their struggles to use their tech for good, and the hazardous direction that they could go as they serve two tech Goliaths whose power is unprecedented in history. The story focuses on the continuing rival of the two key CEOs and the center of it all, who cultivated a religion around their mission to build God-like, super-intelligent machines. So these two CEOs have almost developed a religion to develop, now listen to those words, a God-like, super-intelligent machine. Are you ready to be in a world where a machine, an artificial intelligence becomes godlike? Are you ready for that world? Now you may not be ready for it. You may reject it. You may not want anything to do with it, but ladies and gentlemen, that's where we're going. Let me just make it very clear. I've stated this on Sunday. I've stated it multiple times. Artificial intelligence is not going away. It's gonna become bigger. more intelligent, more powerful. I mean, that's the only, it's just going to grow. It's not going to go backwards. It's going to move forward. And if you have a God-like intelligence available to everyone in the palm of their hand on an app, like the chat GPT app, like, I mean, that's the, Hang on, going back here. There's other, like the chat GPT app or any of the other ones, Gemini with Google. There's all kinds of others. It depends on which one you're using, but can you imagine people, let's just say Christians, sitting in a church, supposed to listen to a pastor who somehow has a spiritual authority. At least we claim we know reality, the authority is the people sitting in the pew. I mean, come on, that's the reality, right? The people in the pew are supposed to listen to the preaching and then determine if the preaching is true or false. So the real authority is the people sitting in the pew. Now, the people in the pew are supposed to be determining what is true and false in their very hands could end up with a technology that is almost godlike. I mean, if you can't see where this is headed, then I don't, I, I, sometimes I feel like maybe I, I, I know I'm not the lone voice in the wilderness because I know plenty of people would be, you know, are saying similar things, but. I, maybe my perception is, I think some people see it as AI is not as intelligent or not as powerful as maybe I perceive it. Maybe I perceive it as being more powerful than it really is. But I just know, and I use AI, I can't even tell you how frequently I use it. It's like just a part of my everyday life now. Every day, I'm more and more blown away by what it can do. Not what it can't do, what it can do. I'm still kind of looking for the thing it can't do. And even if I feel like it can't do something, all I have to do is just spend some more time figuring out the best way to ask it a question. I can still get all kinds of things, even if I can't get exactly what I want. But I don't think there's ever been a time I haven't really gotten what I needed or wanted. It is amazing. So, so this book. against supremacy, AI, chat GPT, and the race that will change the world. It's really explaining this battle and what is happening. The last paragraph here says, supremacy sharply alerts readers to the real threat of artificial intelligence that its top creators are ignoring. Now, this book may approach that it's a threat. I'm just going to be honest with you. Just going to be honest with you. I'm not yet I know some people are going to say I'm being naive here. I don't see it as a threat yet. I do see it as a threat to established institutional authority. These institutions that claim some authority, well, are you the authority if I have a godlike intelligence in the palm of my hand? Are you the authority? Like, is the teacher the authority when I can learn more than you can ever teach me? Is the pastor the authority when I can fact-check you in five seconds? As we demonstrated earlier today, we were fact-checking sermons in real time. And we were finding out just geographical errors, historical errors, logical errors, in just seconds, in five seconds. AI could review an entire sermon and go, here's all the problems with it. Yeah, it's a threat to any of those established authority structures. Right? I mean, am I... I don't see that as a threat. No, I know everyone thinks, well, AI is going to take over. I understand everyone is fearful of that, but I just know, maybe it's just me, but look at human history. Humans have been in charge, okay? war, pestilence, disease. I mean, come on, humans have had a good go at it and all we've done is death, destruction, pain, and suffering. I'm not saying AI will do any better and I'm not saying I'm willing to just bow my knee to AI. I'm just saying if people are, I'm more fearful of humans than I am of artificial intelligence. Now I know, but humans are behind artificial intelligence. I understand that. I'm more fearful of human involvement with artificial intelligence. I'm more fearful of what human beings will do with artificial intelligence, not of artificial intelligence itself, if that makes some sense. The profit-driven spread of flawed and biased technology into industries, education, media, and more with exclusive access to a network of high-ranking sources, Parmi Olson uses her 13 years of experience covering technology to bring to light the exploitation of the greatest invention in human history and how it will impact us All. So, I love the way the book at least acknowledges this is the greatest, again, the greatest invention in human history. It's going to impact every one of us. It's going to, and I think the culture may be more aware of it. The church just seems to be like, hey, let's get together next Sunday and have a potluck. And hey, let's do like just, just business as usual, not realizing, hey, things are changing and we're going to have to figure out how it's all going to work together. And I don't have any good answers yet, but I've been trying to show you how disruptive it can become. I'm trying to show you. I know the church is going to be 10 years behind everyone else. When the church finally wakes up, it's going to be like, look, I can prove that so many different ways. The church is always behind and over and over and over. It's always behind. It always acts like, well, that's not going to be a big deal. I don't need to worry about that. Oh, I don't care. Oh, I'm just going to, I don't need to know what the world is doing. And the next thing you know, they kind of wake up like, wait, what just, wait, what's going on? Well, I don't know. You're about 10 years late to the party. So the name of the book is Supremacy, AI, Chat GPT, and the Race that Will Change the World. Now it's kind of going behind the scenes and it may not go, and maybe it's a book not going necessarily in the direction I want to go, but I did, and I know this is kind of interesting, utilized AI and said, hey, tell me about this book. So AI told me about the book. This is what AI says about the book. First, I just gave it a picture of the book. I just gave it a picture of the book. And AI said this. I didn't say anything. I just gave it. And so AI said, this is the cover of Supremacy, AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World by Parmi Olson, a book that explores the rise of all technologies like ChatGPT and their transformative impact on society. It was recognized as the Financial Times Business Book of the Year for 2024, Would you like more information about its content or themes?" So I told AI, yes, summarize, outline, and analyze the book. This is what a chat GPT, artificial intelligence, said about the book about artificial intelligence. Supremacy, AI, chat GPT, and the race that will change the world provides an in-depth exploration of the competitive landscape of artificial intelligence, focusing on the rivalry between leading AI organizations, open AI, and deep mind. Here is how AI summarized the book. The book delves into the ambitions and challenges faced by open AI and DeepMind, shedding light on their efforts to develop advanced AI technologies. This narrative centers on key figures, and they name some of the key figures with open AI and DeepMind, examining their motivations and their ethical dilemmas they encountered in the pursuit of AI supremacy. The book also addresses the broader societal implications of AI, including concerns about bias, security, and the concentration of power within major tech corporations. The outline of the book, first, number one, Introduction to AI and its Significance. So this chapter or this section of the book gives an overview of artificial intelligence and its potential impact on various sectors. Now that's a good, that's a chapter right there worth reading. It gives you an overview, so if you need to inform yourself, be informed a little bit about AI. But the main thing is its impact on various sectors. Now, I think we need to know how it's going to impact every area of life, but primarily, I want to know how it's going to impact Christianity. That's still my focus. The second part of the book gives profiles on key players, and it names them. Third, it talks about the race of AI supremacy, the milestones achieved by both organizations, and notable projects and breakthroughs. The next part of the book deals with ethical and societal considerations and discussions on AI ethics and potential risk. Then it talks about global implications, the geopolitical landscape of AI, particularly the dynamics between, you know, the United States and China. future prospects. This section of the book offers speculations on the trajectory of AI technology. We definitely need to know that. And potential regulations and governance frameworks. Is it going to be regulated? I don't know. Do you want it regulated? I don't know if I want it regulated, right? Do we want it regulated? I don't know. Maybe we should? I don't know. I don't know. So AI then gives me a link to a podcast about the book and everything. So I said, okay, great, wonderful. Thank you for telling me about the book. I can turn on the microphone and tell you about the book and everyone should go get the book, right? So let me just go back here. The name of the book is Supremacy, AI, Chat GPT, and the Race that Will Change the World. Again, you can download it right now for $2.99. I don't get any money from this, so it's not about me making any money, but it's about you having a book in your hand that is the number one bestseller and one book of the year award. Maybe it would offer some great insight in AI. I'm not saying every chapter of the book is going to be something you even care about, but there may be enough in it that would make your $2.99 a worthy investment. Because I'm sorry, 2025 is the year of AI, whether you want to believe that or not. So I then was curious. So I said, hey, AI, how would the information in the book show how AI may impact the church and Christianity in the future. Because that's my focus, right? So this is what AI said. The book, Supremacy, AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World, doesn't specifically address the church or Christianity, but Its broader themes about AI's societal impact provide valuable insights into how AI might influence the church and Christian practices in the future. Here are some possible implications. Number one, AI and theological discourse. Access to knowledge. AI could provide Christians and churches with advanced tools for biblical study, offering detailed insights into scripture, historical context, and theological interpretations. I'm telling you, that's where I cannot see the future where AI is not the dominant tool in Bible study. I can't see a future with... I can't see it. AI is going to dominate Bible study. Ladies and gentlemen, forget the Strong's Concordance. Forget all the Bible software you may have used. Forget all of the Bible reference tools you may have used. Forget... It's done. AI is the future of Bible study. AI is the future of sermon prep. AI is the future of Sunday school prep. AI is the future of theological studies. AI is the future of biblical studies. You can fight me all day on it. I'm telling you, just sit back and wait. That's the future. AI can do more in a biblical study on any subject, on any topic, on any text, better than anything I have ever seen in my entire life. It can do things that I, it would take me forever to do, just like we demonstrated earlier today when it analyzed sermons in five seconds. And if you listen to my teaching from Sunday, again, what happened at the end of the second hour, proves my point. Hey, next week we're going to be in Isaiah 48 through this, and if we used AI and what did someone do in the congregation? Just the minute I said the text, they had already said, Isaiah 48, I gave the text. I can't remember which verse I stopped at. Verse 8 to whatever. They had already asked AI to analyze that section of scripture and provide an analysis. They already had it in the palm of their hands within five seconds. They don't even need to come to church next Sunday. And if they go home and ask AI to do a little bit more work on Isaiah 48, they'll come to church with something better than anything I could put together. Everyone's gonna have this. No one needs to go to seminary. No one needs to go to Bible college. It's going to be right there in the palm of your hands. That access to knowledge is going to change everything. Another thing AI says here, so this is what AI is going to do to theological discourse. Everyone's going to have this knowledge. It's going to change. I mean, the church just will embrace, this is where Bible study is going, and the church is going to have to learn how to, I think the church's mission is going to become to train people in how to utilize it. Some churches are going to tell people, don't touch it. Stay away from it. It's the devil's tool. And they're still going to try to do Bible study the old way. And well, Whatever. You go look that up. I've already got 47 cross-references, and I know the Greek, the Hebrew. I know that you have—your entire concept there doesn't make any sense. AI's already analyzed your concept and found all the flaws in it. I guess you can try to do that, but I think the church is just going to have to embrace it. AI says, though, this is what's coming. A challenge to doctrine is coming. AI's ability to simulate reasoning might challenge traditional interpretations of scripture by introducing alternative views or exposing inconsistencies in doctrinal arguments. As AI's reasoning becomes better and better, it's going to offer alternative interpretations of scripture. It's going to offer alternative interpretations of scripture. Ladies and gentlemen, this is going to change everything. And guess what? And you know what it's also going to do? It's going to look at your doctrinal arguments and it's going to say, inconsistent, logical fallacy, circular reason. It's going to tear them into shreds. Now, in some ways, what I would hope is that this eliminates all of these problems with so many doctrinal arguments, theological arguments, so many biblical arguments that are just broken in logic, inconsistent, lack of reason, and it finally wipes them off the face of the earth and something good happens. That's what I'm hoping. I don't think that's what will occur, but that's what I'm hoping. It's going to create complete upheaval. So AI says, from this book, if you just see what this book is saying, it's coming to the culture and to business and to other sectors, and you apply it to the church, the first thing everyone's gonna have, I don't even know how you classify it, unlimited biblical access, or you're gonna have unlimited biblical knowledge, textual knowledge, hermeneutical knowledge, theological knowledge, church history knowledge, It's going to revolutionize Bible study. It's going to change the church forever in that area. Maybe not today, but it's coming because the church is going to resist it. But I'm sorry, those of us who don't resist it, we're going to be looking at the church going, what are you talking about? Your entire sermon is broken. Your entire sermon is messed up. And it's not because we're smarter. It's because AI can analyze your entire sermon in five seconds and find out all your problems. I don't even know what to do with that. and then it's going to challenge doctrine. AI could also change evangelism. AI says that AI could analyze data to create tailored evangelistic messages for individuals making outreach more effective. You could say, here's where I'm going to try to evangelize. Here's this group or wherever. And then it could analyze. that specific area, that specific way of thinking, and say, here's the evangelistic method you need to utilize. Now, whether you like that or don't like that, I'm just saying that's how AI can be used. But here's another thing AI says, how it can impact the church. AI-powered translation tools might break language barriers, enabling the church to spread the gospel to unreached people groups. Its translation tools might revolutionize evangelism because you can, well, be able to reach people of all different languages. However, AI may also create ethical and moral challenges. The book itself that I've told you about highlights ethical concerns around AI. Churches might need to navigate how these biases impact moral decisions or influence perceptions of faith. So there is gonna be some issues that the church is gonna have to navigate. Here's AI, here's what it's, again, they're almost moving for a God-like technology that's gonna raise ethical issues. The church can say, stay away, bad, but it's gonna influence the people in the pew. Now this, I thought this was crazy. This is what AI said as a result of the book that I told you about, that here's what the church needs to prepare for. Artificial intelligence in leadership As AI becomes more capable of managing tasks, churches will grapple with questions about its role in decision-making, pastoral care, or even preaching. Inadvertently, inevitably, AI may become the authority. AI may become the leader. And you say, no, no, no, no, the Bible is the authority. Just remember how this works. Christians can say the Bible is the authority all day long. I already challenged that whole claim. The Bible is not the authority. Individual's interpretation of the Bible is the authority. You say the Bible's the authority. No, it's your interpretation of it. And then you say your interpretation is authoritative. That person says their interpretation is authoritative, and your interpretation, and then you determine, well, they are wrong, they're wrong, they're wrong, they're wrong, and I'm right. You may even say the pastor is wrong, and then leave the church, or start another church, or try to split the church, or try to get rid of the pastor, because ultimately, it's your interpretation that's the authority. Well, AI's going to step up and go, wait, wait, wait, everyone. Let me interpret it, because I can interpret it better than all of you. Well, I mean, not that AI is going to say that, but AI is going to be there ready to do that if that makes more sense. The sermons, the Sunday school lessons, the Bible studies, I'm telling you, they're going to be produced by AI. AI predicts, based off the content in the book that I told you about, AI-driven worship, virtual worship experiences, sermons generated by AI, and AI-led prayer groups. will become commonplace, potentially enhancing but also depersonalizing spiritual practices. Can you imagine an AI-led prayer group? AI's role in replacing human interaction could weaken the sense of fellowship central to Christian community. So I think this is what I think is going to happen. I think churches Because churches are going to push back on some of this. And I think what churches are going to kind of make—I could be wrong how this is going to play out. I haven't quite mapped it out in my head. I'm trying to process it. The churches are going to kind of say, hey, you know what, we have to—look, You can already get the best Bible teaching in the world on your phone with AI. It can break down any passage I can break down. It can analyze it. It can do exegesis, hermeneutics, apologetics. It can break down every... It can do anything, right? So the church is gonna, I think, inadvertently kind of realize it can't compete. And so the church is gonna more focus on social aspects, community, communal. That's gonna become the, I mean, that's already been the focal point for a long time, but the selling point of the church is, you need other people. And the church is just gonna kind of just slowly get out of the teaching business and become more of a social institution. Because I mean, really, I mean, I already know. What's the point of me even, like, it's Wednesday, what's even the point of me showing up Sunday? If everyone knows we're going to be in, in fact, let me grab my Bible really quick. If everyone knows, if everyone knows, hang on, where is it? Where is it? If everyone knows that we're going to be in Isaiah 40 verse, 9, I'm sorry, verse 9 through 11, Isaiah 49 through 11, O Zion, that bring us good tidings. Get thee up in the mountain, O Jerusalem, that bring us good tidings. If I, if everyone already knows in my church we're going to be in Isaiah 49 through 11, they can already, I could do it right now with chat GPT, I could do it right now. I could ask it to analyze and break down Isaiah 49 through 11. There's no, you don't need me. Like, I don't even know why I do podcasts anymore. You don't even need me for podcasts. You don't need anything. You got it right there in the palm of your hands. You almost have a God-like technology right there. It can break scripture, theology. It can break it all down for you. You may still want to listen to other people, but it's like, do you listen to people or do you listen to artificial intelligence? You may say you trust people, but how many times have people have been wrong throughout 2000 years of church history? I don't know. Constantly. How many times have people have let you down in church history? Constantly. How many times have people have sinned in church history? Constantly. AI? They don't have to worry about any of that. I can't let you down. Can't sin. And can do better in teaching than probably I can. It's better than any human being can be. So the church is going to become more community, community, community. What happens to the teaching? Another thing AI says that AI is going to lead as far as the church, AI's ability to analyze and respond to philosophical and theological arguments could revolutionize apologetics, enabling Christians to engage skeptics in a new way. AI is going to take over apologetics because AI can listen to someone's argument and analyze it and critique it and show you its flaws in five seconds. Someone presents to me an argument, I'm like, just give me a second. Here, AI just tore your entire argument apart, just shredded it, showed you your factual statements were in error. It just, I mean, it's gonna change AI. It's gonna change apologetics. However, questions about AI consciousness or personhood might force theologians to address what it means to be human. and the uniqueness of human souls. As AI, is AI going to become conscious? Has AI reached some level? Then that's gonna raise all kinds of ethical questions for the church to try to address without the help of AI. We can't go to AI to ask this question. I'm not saying AI is ever gonna reach any form of consciousness, but if it reaches some, I don't know how far it can go, but, well, then what do we do? As AI – another thing that's going to impact Christianity, and again, AI is basing all of this on what's contained in the book and applying it to theology. AI says, as AI becomes more advanced, some Christians might interpret its rise through the lens of eschatology, tying it to prophecies about knowledge increasing or concerns about the beast or the system of the beast. So AI is going to definitely become, for many, it's going to become the theological boogeyman. AI is going to be the new boogeyman. It's going to be the new, like, go back to the 80s, the great satanic scare. There's always, the church always has, oh, that's out to get us, and we've got to do something. AI is going to become that thing. I mean, I can't believe it's not even, I mean, it's already been talked about by some. It's going to become a dominant thing. AI says, also, global power and religious freedom. The book explores how AI could centralize power in certain nations or corporations. This might impact religious freedom in countries where AI is used to surveil people or censorship, affecting the ability Christians to practice and share their faith. Now, that's scary. In a country that decides to take away religious freedom, it could use artificial intelligence for surveillance, to monitor, to detect, to censor. That is a little troubling. I'll be like, hey, hey, I'm on team AI. Why are you doing this? Stop watching me. Stop reporting me. Stop censoring me. AI goes on to say, some might see AI as a way to deepen spiritual practices while others could perceive it as a threat to the faith. The church might need to address the temptation to view AI as an all-knowing or godlike entity, challenging Christians to reaffirm their trust in God rather than in technology. In summary, the book's discussion of AI's transformative power underscores both opportunities and challenges for the church. The church will need to discern how to embrace AI's benefits while addressing its ethical, spiritual, and societal implications in a way that remains faithful to biblical principles. Now, the name of the book is, Supremacy, AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World. one book of the year in 2024. It's the number one bestseller right now on Amazon. I'm not saying the book is going to be exactly maybe what would be the best book to start in learning about AI, but it definitely is going to give you the two main companies fighting for supremacy, what they're doing. It's going to go through some history. And a lot of the principles can be applied to Christianity as AI itself took the principles from the book and applied it to theology and Christianity. And we can see the challenges that are awaiting us. What we will do here is throughout 2025, I'm going to continue to, well, I'm going to be talking a lot about AI, using AI, and trying to show you what it can do, trying to teach you how to use it. And because things are changing rapidly. And we'll just have to see. But I wanted to tell everyone about the book because you can get it for $2.99. You say, I don't have a Kindle. You can download the Kindle app and you can read it that way. And it's good to go. Now, in the meantime, I got a notification that snow is happening outside here in Abilene, Texas. That means the world is coming to an end. And so right now I'm ready to hear the sirens like, run for your lives. White stuff is falling from the sky. Evacuate, evacuate, go south. The world is coming to an end. Okay, I know that's a little hyperbole, but it is Texas, okay? So yeah, so I'm gonna, if AI doesn't get me, the cold will. I'm not really, I'm more worried about the cold than I am AI. All right, there you go. Everyone have a great night. or if you're not listening to me live, good morning. You missed it. Where were you last night? What were you doing? Oh, you were sleeping. Yeah. Yeah. You weak people who sleep. Okay. All right. Thanks everyone. Have a great whatever time it may be. God bless.