A Brave New Artificial World

When I was in high school, I was the sports editor for our yearbook. I wrote stories about all the sports happening at North Mesquite High School, home of the Stallions. I’m old enough to remember when all the layouts and submissions were done by hand until my senior year.

My yearbook teacher, Mr. Ron Taylor, walked in on the first day of my senior year and announced that we would now submit everything through something called the World Wide Web. It was dial-up, and it was painfully slow. I remember my first submission well—it was taking forever, and I audibly said, “This internet thing will never catch on.” If I ever ran for office, that statement would certainly haunt me.

Back in the early 90s, the tech boom was just beginning, at least in the small Texas town of Mesquite. As teenagers, we still used the pay phones that were everywhere to call home or friends. If your home had two phone lines, you were considered wealthy. Technology hadn’t yet made its way into every part of our world.

Three decades later, technology is everywhere. It is ubiquitous. We cannot escape it. From doorbell cameras to robots, drone deliveries, and AI assistants, the genie is not going back into the bottle. The future is here.

Yet with all these advances, it seems humanity has not actually “evolved.” The promises that technology would usher in a more peaceful civilization now feel hollow. Still, we continue to chase innovation—often without considering the consequences. The technocrats in Silicon Valley tend to ask, “Can we do this?” But I believe that is the wrong question.

Let me explain. Last week on X.com, I came across a post from Calum Worthy, who runs a tech company called 2Wai. His post was… unique.

(Video link: Calum Worthy on X)

While the idea of an AI “grandma” may seem novel, the question should not be “Can we make this?” but rather “Should we make this?” The former is about achievement; the latter is about ethics. And I’m not convinced we are paying attention to the ethical side.

AI is a remarkable tool when used properly, but it is dangerous without moral restraints. It blurs the line between reality and fiction, and when those lines blur, society loses its moorings. We can no longer rely on truth or objectivity, and we risk becoming shallow thinkers—prone to emotional reactions rather than reasoned responses.

In the video mentioned above, AI even has the potential to replace human connection. If I can talk to “grandma from the grave” any time I want, then I never have to engage with the real world. Yet the Genesis account and the formation of the early church point to a core human truth: we need one another. A dog, a robot, or an AI grandma will never replace what we ultimately need—real human beings.

Furthermore, AI may eventually rob humanity of its God-given purpose: work. Before the fall in Genesis 3, God assigned Adam meaningful tasks. He was to work the garden, name the animals, and steward the earth. AI offers a vision of life where robots do the tasks God intended for humans. A life without meaningful work is aimless, and aimlessness leads to sin. Work gives us purpose. It is hardwired into us. Without it—and I am convinced AI will strip many of meaningful work—people will wither.

Now, lest I sound like my seventeen-year-old self, AI does have a rightful place in society. I use AI. It helped edit this blog. It helps generate questions for my sermon devotionals. Rachel uses an AI scribe for her work. AI can be incredibly beneficial—but it cannot replace human connection, purpose, or reality itself. As we venture into this new frontier, we must do so with sober minds, grounded ethics, and a commitment to remain human in an increasingly artificial world.