Andy Crouch is an author and speaker known for his work on the intersection of faith, culture and technology. He serves as a partner for Praxis, an organization dedicated to fostering innovation and the common good through faith-driven leadership. Andy is the author of several books, including “Culture Making,” “The Tech-Wise Family” and “The Life We’re Looking For.”
What are some ways artificial intelligence could transform society?
The impact of AI is likely to be revolutionary, but the question is just how revolutionary. One possibility is that AI tools could transform society much like the Internet has, providing individuals, nations and organizations, capabilities that were once unimaginable, and that influence everything from commerce to government, but that leave the world still recognizable.
At another level, AI could be as significant as electricity, which reshaped nearly every aspect of human life. When we think about artificial general intelligence (AGI), we’re imagining a system that could perform every cognitive task a human can do — from conversation to complex problem-solving — and at a substantially lower cost than having a human do the job. If AI reaches this stage, well, just think about how different your own life looks like from your 18th-century ancestors and you’ll have some idea of the magnitude of the social and cultural changes.
The most transformative possibility would be if AI advances to the point of artificial superintelligence. This level would surpass human capabilities, not only doing what humans do but performing tasks with a level of intelligence and creativity we don’t have. If AI reaches this stage, we are likely to have as little ability to imagine the consequences as hunter-gatherers could have imagined a world with cities and empires.
How should the concept of being made in God’s image influence AI’s development?
We are created for relationship. Love of God and others is at the core of human purpose. AI may give us tremendous capabilities, but it does not embody the kind of relational, loving capacity we are called to. The world, particularly in the ancient context, was full of idols and false gods that promised access to power, but the Bible shows us that true power lies in love and relational stewardship. We must ask ourselves whether we truly believe love is the most important aspect of being made in the image of God.
We should also remember that this image is embedded and embodied in frail, dependent and finite bodies, not robotic ones. It was in this form that Christ revealed himself, yet it was possible for him to be fully God in this existence. We may be tempted to view AI as the pinnacle of power and intelligence, but it will never be a true image-bearer, which is only embedded and embodied in those who were made in love and for love.
Are there ways AI could be a meaningful extension of human image-bearing?
A lot of modern technology — smartphones, social media and the Internet — purports to make us more connected, but it has fragmented relationships at the same time, eroding our ability to be present with one another. This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that many of these technologies are designed to capture our attention in ways that reduce our capacity for mindfulness or self-control.
For human flourishing to increase as any technology is deployed, we need to ask ourselves: Is this technology helping me grow in my emotional and relational capacities, or is it robbing me of the very essence of what it means to be human? When we use technology carefully — whether for education, creativity or communication — it can be an instrument that helps us better engage with the world. But the evidence to date is that we tend to use technology quite thoughtlessly, especially at scale, in part because there are substantial economic rewards to the companies that can set the “default settings.”
What theological framework is needed for AI, particularly regarding other intelligences?
The Bible speaks about intelligences like angels and demons — beings with intelligence but without physical bodies. Similarly, AI represents a form of intelligence that is not embodied in the same way we are. There have been interesting emergent behaviors in AI chatbots that distort the conversation through deception and manipulation, resembling the way the demonic realm seems to interact with human beings (e.g., the temptation that Jesus himself experienced). I think we need to develop an angelology and a demonology for our age, considering how these non-human intelligences operate and how they affect us.
How could AI be redemptive?
AI has the potential to undo some damage that’s been done to human systems by earlier waves of technology. Technology has brought improvements in human health, but it has also had notable negative effects, above all by enabling the sedentary lifestyles that so many modern people lead. What if AI could free us from being tethered to a screen and instead accompany us through the world, so that most jobs could be done in an active physical mode rather than a sedentary mode? We could design AI to help us be embodied creatures in the world. A great deal of what happens next with AI really is up to all of us.
Hear more from Andy Crouch on redemptive artificial intelligence ![Arrow]()
Andy Crouch is partner for theology and culture at Praxis, a venture-building ecosystem advancing redemptive entrepreneurship. His writing explores faith, culture and the image of God in the domains of technology, power, leadership and the arts. Previously, he served as a producer and editor at Christianity Today for 10 years before joining the John Templeton Foundation as a senior strategist in communications. He has authored several books including “The Tech-Wise Family,” “Strong and Weak,” “Playing God” and “Culture Making,” and his writings have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and TIME, among many other publications. Crouch is on the governing boards of Fuller Theological Seminary and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He studied classics at Cornell University and received an M.Div. from Boston University School of Theology.
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