WHAT YOU’RE ASKING

What is AI?

No one knows…

Okay, that’s a bit dramatic but also kinda true. There isn’t a universal, simple definition of artificial intelligence because AI tools can do a wide range of things. NASA itself has five definitions of AI (see ‘em side by side (by side) here).

Generally speaking, artificial intelligence refers to a computer system or machine that has two characteristics:

• Performing tasks that mimic human reasoning, decision-making, or creativity
• Operating without explicit instructions from a programmer

What do people mean by “generative AI?”
There are two categories of AI: traditional and generative.

Traditional AI is reactive. It follows preset inputs and rules to analyze data and make predictions. Like a telemarketer calling you off a script, traditional AI is prepared for a few different responses but can’t veer out of its lane too much. Picture: email spam filters, computer chess games, your phone’s autocorrect, and Netflix’s recommendation system.

Generative AI is the hot topic on everyone’s mind these days. A key difference is that it can create something new. It’s trained on data, innovates, and builds its knowledge base over time. Picture: the bots you choose to open (ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini) and some that just show up (Google’s AI search summaries, Spotify’s AI DJ, Amazon’s customer review summaries).

Cool, but how does AI work?
Put simply: math.

AI (the generative kind) learns by studying massive amounts of data. Feed it billions of words, and it picks up patterns like what word tends to follow another or what a formal email sounds like.

So, ChatGPT isn’t “thinking”; it’s running the math on what it determines would be statistically most likely to come next… just really quickly. Ask it to tell a joke about the 24th President, and it will combine the structure of jokes it’s “seen” with facts about Grover Cleveland.

Why does AI “hallucinate” things?
Also math.

AI doesn’t “know” things; it just completes patterns. So it will confidently state something totally made up, with no idea that it’s wrong. For example, it recognizes the pattern that research papers have citations at the bottom, so it adds citations. Now, those citations may not be real… but they still complete the pattern. (See other interesting AI fails here.)

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Human beings are created creators, tasked by their maker with cultivating a civilization that pushes forward the common good. Whether you think AI has mostly upsides or overwhelming downsides, worship the Creator, because our cleverest innovations are just a rearranging of His created order.

“Listen and hear my voice. Pay attention and hear what I say. Does the plowman plow every day to plant seed? Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil? When he has leveled its surface, does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, with spelt as their border. His God teaches him order; he instructs him.”
Isaiah 28:23-26 (CSB) (read full passage)

FROM OUR PARTNERS 🤠

A Christian Book for a Tech Age

It’s easy to see nature (sunshine, flowers) as God’s gift and technology as man’s evil invention. But the raw materials behind technology (copper, lithium, uranium) are natural things too, so how should we think about them?

In God, Technology, and the Christian Life, Tony Reinke argues the farmer in his field and the technician handling nuclear fuel rods are both working with creation, just in different capacities. But neither is beyond God’s reach.

God isn’t absent from tech (even AI), and the Bible has plenty to say about using it well. If you’re wondering how to engage the tech/AI conversation, give this one a read.

WHAT YOU’LL ENJOY

Solving today’s mini crossword… can you get it without error? Hehe

A moment for you to breaaaathe....

Coffee that brings joy to kids fighting cancer. TPO reader Alex B. beat bone cancer at 11… and now he’s giving back. He launched Fortika Coffee Company to fund The Alex’s Story Foundation, which hosts events for pediatric cancer patients at the very hospital where he received care. This month, every bag sold goes toward a $25,000 donation to the clinic. Grab a bag o’ joe and join the mission!*

*This is a free promo for a TPO-reader-owned small biz. Have your own small business you want us to know about? Fill out this form!

WHAT YOU’VE BEAN CLICKING…

Top News Resource: A running list of each state’s primary winners.

Top Christian Perspective: A reminder that blessings and curses often come out of the same mouth and that should not be so… Download and save it here.

Top Whipped Cream: This visual of turbulence got the most clicks this week.

WHAT WE’RE RECOMMENDING

What’s Helping Me Think About AI as a Christian
This book by Tony Reinke*

My default posture toward new tech looks a little like this: 🫠 (read: some mixture of overwhelm and skepticism). And with everyone jumping on the AI bandwagon, it can be hard to know how to engage with discernment and faith.

That’s why I love Tony Reinke’s book God, Technology, and the Christian Life. He drew out tech wisdom from Scripture I hadn’t ever considered, painting a compelling picture of God’s sovereignty and wisdom where jumbled impressions had been. It has profoundly shaped my thinking and encouraged me to see God’s hand in every handy innovation.

For wisdom in an ever-upgrading world, read this book.

Steph Juliot | Writer

*From our partners

WHAT WE’RE PRAYING

A Prayer when Artificial Intelligence Is in the News

All Powerful God, from Your mind comes all that we can see and know. We can’t touch, taste, contemplate, or create anything that wasn’t first spoken into blessed existence by Your loving word, or sustained by Your holy wisdom.

O Wise One, turn our creation into redemption. For engineers writing code, may they desire peace over profits. For executives setting vision and direction, may they work for shalom over market shares. For lawmakers setting policies, may they champion long-term dignity over short-term domination. And for all of us tempted to bow to and trust and deify what we’ve built, turn our eyes to Christ, in whom all things hold together and to whom we entrust our prayers.
Amen.

Want more prayers for the headlines? You’re looking for our 5-minute guided prayers with Praying the News (PTN). Sign up here; we’ll text you.

LEARN WITH US

Each week, we do the deep shallow dive so that you don’t have to. We bring what we learn not only to this email, but we sit down and talk about it, too. Check out this week’s episode of TPO Explains... just click on the episode below.