I wasn’t sure what the Spirit would have me write this week, so I began setting up my Mac environment with my typical writing, research, and Bible tools, when up pops this new “feature” in my Microsoft 365 Word app call “co-pilot”. Now, mind you, I didn’t ask to have this feature installed and I don’t like the idea of having it incessantly following my cursor and asking me if I want Microsoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) to help me write my blog.

But here I am, irritated when I normally would be focusing on content. Then something occurred to me – why not write about this distraction?

If I were still a college student tasked with writing term papers and such, the thought of some AI helping me with rough drafts might sound appealing. But as a pastor who’s trying to abide by the Spirit’s guidance on what to write, it’s a nuisance. Every time I hit return on my keyboard, a little icon pops up asking if it can help me finish my thoughts.

I don’t want AI suggesting what to write about God. AI is a counterfeit for a human brain. At best it should be used as grunt labor, but, as an inhuman counterfeit, it has no place in helping with spiritually appraised things.

For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 2:11-16

Even an unbelieving human can’t understand spiritually appraised things. So, what chance does AI have? None. The best AI can ever hope for is to train itself on what humans have recorded in large repositories like the Internet and come up with derivative conclusions. The problem is that the Holy Spirit is nowhere to be found in that process.

Walking by the Spirit and carrying out His desires is an active process, one where He is the primary influence in any given moment. This means that whatever guidance the Spirit may have given you yesterday isn’t necessarily going to be the same today. Listening to and following the Spirit’s guidance is a spiritual dynamic, not an academic one. While He uses the immutable Word to convict us, we mustn’t believe for a moment that AI can somehow supplant His filling us daily.

And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
- Mark 13:11

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
- John 14:26

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
- John 16:12-15

So, I guess we owe this irritating little AI a bit of gratitude for inspiring this week’s blog! It seems there really is a silver lining in every cloud. This has been a great reminder for us to remember whom it is we need to listen to, especially when it comes to spiritual truths. AI, though improving exponentially at approximating human thinking, will never be a substitute for God the Holy Spirit. As “intelligent” as it becomes, it’ll always be infinitely dumber than God.

Now, if I can just figure out how to shut this darn thing off!!!

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins