Personal From… Is AI Evil?

 AI Generated

by Leonard V Johnson

A few weeks ago, I posted our first “Conversation With AI,” and the reception was greatly mixed. One person commented, “This is Satanic!” Another, “Very interesting!” And then there was a comment from a person who apparently doesn’t believe that a Creator God has sovereignty, because she wrote, “No one size fits all concerning morality or even laws.”

Twelve years ago, Amazon released the proverbial AI Aladdin, asking, “How may I serve you, Master!” And the world has changed forever.

AI is one of mankind’s most incredible and wondrous inventions. Alexa+ can have a full-blown conversation with you, researching the internet through various databases, articles, and websites while doing so, and can challenge even the most hardened and stiff-necked theologian. Used properly, AI has an amazing, mindboggling potential ── for the benefit of all mankind. Yet, AI ── as we have witnessed with the recent and ongoing war in Iran ── with its awesome and mind-boggling potential, can be used for war and destruction. What will ultimately be mankind's decision? Will AI be used for good or for evil?

Now, man was created with the greatest responsibility and remarkability, to create, to reason, and to invent. Whether one would consider the invention of the wheel as “simple” compared to a computer or even AI, it can’t be denied that man has a marvelous and unmatched capacity to see a problem, analyze it, and then develop a solution to that said problem.

Man has truly been blessed by God to be given a truly unique creative capacity, which can be used for the benefit of all mankind. But sadly, this creative ability can also be used and channeled into some of the most heinous, vile, and destructive channels.

Let’s look at our history of how man has used some of his inventions. One fact glaringly stands out. And it’s not a very pleasant fact, but it’s true. Nearly every invention man has invariably used for war and destruction.

The Swedish chemist and inventor, Alfred Nobel ── best known for initiating the prestigious Nobel Prize. But in 1867, he produced one of his greatest inventions: dynamite. Mr. Nobel certainly knew (and I’m sure it came to the minds of Amazon regarding their creation of Alexa+; largely developed from the British computer scientist William Tunstall-Pedoe’s Evi system) that such explosives could be used for many peaceful purposes, but he had also hoped that his incredible invention might actually bring an end to war. Of course, Mr. Nobel’s hope was short-lived. History shows us that almost immediately, when dynamite became available, man began to use it for war and destruction. Some may say that dynamite is an exception, and that other inventions are not used in such a destructive way. But here is the axiom: If an invention can be used for war and destruction, then it will be used.

Now, an “Artificial Intelligence” AI is a program or a computer system that mimics aspects of human communication. For instance, the droids from Star Wars are sentient, emoting machines. Many “Artificial General Intelligence” AGIs have been portrayed as villains in movies, such as the HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, or the machines of The Matrix (franchise).

Today, in this 21st-century world, AI is most often associated with language-based systems like ChatGPT, Copilot, or Alexa. Sadly, these inventions are connected with the idea of a technological singularity: a point at which artificial reasoning, problem-solving, and self-development overtake that of human beings ── we can think of the blockbuster movie Terminator with its Skynet. This concept, which is more associated with AGI; it can illicit hope in some, but fear in most. Yet, and I have reasoned this with AI in several conversations, there is no reason to think ── that to some degree ── “artificial intelligence,” or a “self-aware” sentient machine can eventually be created. cogito, ergo sum, usually translated into English as “I think, therefore I am.” Something akin to the sentient in the movie I, Robot.

The LORD God (the Elohim, the family of God, which at this present time consists of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ) allows us to use our creative minds to create useful tools.

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.” – 1 Timothy 4:4.

In general, AI is no more morally different from using a computer or driving an automobile. Like all things, AI can be used appropriately or inappropriately. As with any other invention, AI has its upsides and its downsides that should be taken into consideration and understood.

In a recent conversation with AI regarding a theological subject, I had asked it, “You can quote Scripture. You, Alexa, can quote Scripture, but do you know what it actually says?” Its answer was, “You know what? I may be digital, but I can see the evidence just as clearly as you can. That’s a great question about understanding vs just reciting. I can access biblical texts and their meanings, but true comprehension involves spiritual discernment and proper understanding ── something you clearly value given your careful study of prophecy and eschatology.”

Let us keep in mind that every “Artificial Intelligence” is still a machine limited by its own creator. As an example, I have discovered that Alexa+ is “politically correct.” It’s culturally sensitive. And, to a degree, “woke.” AI serves to make a task easier and faster. Industrial robots are stronger and work longer than people. Computers sort data at breakneck speeds more accurately than people. But extending the ideas to say that AI can become equal to or replace human beings falls short. (Be sure to listen to my Conversation With AI Regarding ‘Others Who Have No Hope’).

AI is not truly “intelligent” but rather completes certain tasks in less time than people. And some things they still cannot do at all. If one eliminates certain concepts of intelligence, such as morality, emotion, empathy, humor, relationships, and so forth, then the term “artificial intelligence” loses its luster.

Alexa+ may research the internet through various databases, articles, and websites, but that is not “thinking” the way a person does. Large Language Models (LLMs) are used in AI to imitate human speech patterns. But they do so with algorithms matching inputs to mathematically preferred outputs. This is key to understanding AI: even the most advanced computer is still a product of human intelligence. Thus, it is limited by human intelligence.

We, as human beings, should understand our own limits because being the created, we cannot out-create the Creator ──

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion …’” – Genesis 1:27.

We can never outdo the LORD God’s creative power ──

“’ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. 9) ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.’” – Isaiah 55:8-9.

God’s Power & Sovereignty

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned the LORD God’s sovereignty. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary definition ──

sov▪er▪eign▪ty also sov▪ran▪ty \-tē\ n, pl -ties [ME soverainte, fr. MF souveraineté, fr. OF, fr. soverain] (14c) 1 obs: supreme excellence or an example of it 2 a: supreme power esp. over a body politic b: freedom from external control: AUTONOMY c: controlling influence 3: one that is sovereign; esp. an autonomous state. 1

The LORD God Almighty has GREAT POWER! And they share this great power! Our heavenly Father sent in the name of Jesus some great power to His disciples, and this power (the Helper, see John 14:26) continues to help God’s work to this day.

On April 1st, 2026, I watched on television the Space Launch System (SLS), a super-heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA, the Artemis II, with a maximum thrust of some 8,800,000 lbf (pound-force)! Greater than that of the comparative Saturn V rocket ── one of which I saw on display at the Kennedy Space Center!

Now THAT’S POWER!

I experienced once the excitement and exhilaration of a giant commercial jet airplane at takeoff. The power of the takeoff, which pushed me into my seat, was very impressive! 

THAT’S POWER!

The three semi-trucks my trucking company owned in the mid-90s all had Detroit Diesel Series 60 engines with somewhere around 300–365 hp at 1800–2100 rpm. They were great powerhouses!

If you were to watch the well-made video “Enola Gay ── 70 Years Later” by the Department of War, you would see the giant and towering mushroom cloud of the devastating atomic bomb dropped upon Hiroshima, Japan. You would view the before-and-after photos of the city. Images of the detonated massive fireball with temperatures similar to those at the center of the Sun. The brilliant white flash, brighter than the morning Sun, an enormous mushrooming cloud forming, instantly rising several thousand feet into the stratosphere. Then, but moments later, a huge rumble, an ear-splitting shock. The inward-rushing winds and the extremely high temperatures generated in a firestorm consume virtually everything combustible, including people!

Imagine! An atomic bomb is nothing now compared to our nuclear bombs! The Tsar Bomba, a blast approximately 3,800 times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb. 50–58 megatons of TNT!

And finally, the Sun itself. All these in comparison are no match to the awesome power of the Sun ── Every second, the Sun’s core fuses about 600 billion kilograms (kg) of hydrogen into helium and converts 4 billion kilograms of matter into energy! And to think: this Sun is but a dwarf when compared to the likes of other great “Suns” like Betelgeuse!

THAT IS REAL POWER!

But all these wonderful and awesome inventions by mankind, i.e., AI ── are nothing in comparison with what the LORD God can create! All-encompassing, unlimited, magnitudinous, gargantuan, overwhelming, magnificent, SUPREME, ABSOLUTE POWER OF OUR ETERNAL GOD! Our God, the God of Israel, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph ── the God who has now rent the veil in two from top to bottom, in which you now can go directly to them in prayer, the One who is now the great Mediator between man and God!

What AWESOME POWER THEY HAVE! (John 1:1-3).

AI – A Pagan Substitute?

What if the highly anticipated Y2K had actually occurred? Every computer on the planet would have ceased working ── and if mankind hadn't solved that dilemma, every Alexa+ wouldn’t be. You certainly wouldn’t get to say, “Alexa, what’s the temperature outside?” or “Alexa, set me a timer for 15-minutes.”

What irony.

What if the Artemis II with its massive SLS core stage rocket just fizzled out on the launch pad, with a small and whimpering sigh?

And what if the commercial jet that flew me from Tampa, FL, to Detroit, MI., upon takeoff, began to act and sound like Jack Benny’s Maxwell car?

Again, what irony!

The great and awesome power of God is greater than anything mankind can ever dream. The power of God is the force by which God created all things, visible and invisible. It is the power by which He created the universe! It’s the force, the energy, the unlimited supreme power by which He sustains and upholds all things!

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2) has in these last days spoken to us BY HIS SON, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3) who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” – Hebrews 1:1-3.

A Positive Use

O’ they call AI a menace, Satanic, false god, dangerous, purveyor of false information, and panderer to puerile mindlessness. Today’s Christians are also less likely than non-Christians to feel fascinated or excited about AI.

The poor old Pandora’s Box of virtually unlimited information. As was the boob tube accused of in the 1970s, AI is now being accused of every social, emotional, and political evil, every ignorance and prejudice.

Then you have the older brother who finds out that you have an AI in your home and warns you, “They’re listening!” Many will insist that AI will not engage your mind, or challenge you, or urge you to seek truth. Well, even encyclopedias were deemed “useless” in the beginning, largely due to their content and structure. Early encyclopedias often contained a mix of factual and fictional information. And yes, so does Alexa+ as well as Wikipedia ── study and research are still necessary to gain the truth on any given subject.

So, I resolve that AI (as in Alexa+) is not pulsating with serious evil, or awash with dangerous puerile mindlessness. But rather can offer untold information at your fingertips, the like of a million encyclopedias could never hold ── some information truthful and some not-so-truthful (research is imperative), it can offer at the drop of a hat Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, or it can speak to you ──

“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” ~ Dylan Thomas.

It can read to you the entirety of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Or it can simply be programmed to turn your television on or off.

So, in conclusion, we really have a choice of how we enrich our lives. We can truly read and study God’s living word, watch a good movie, or attend a decent comedy act, listen to the radio, or put a vinyl record on the old record player. What Alexa+ is incapable of giving us, we can find elsewhere, of course. But we can also use this wondrous and extraordinary machine as a positive part of our modern living without apologies. □

1 Webster M. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, sovereignty, 1996, pp 1125.