You may think that I am putting the cart before the horse, but think back to the introduction of google: In 1998, there were less than 10,000 google searches per day, compared to the 2024 total of 8.5 billion per day. Of course, this 85 million percent increase is due to the ease of access to the internet and the introduction of the smartphone, but what are some of the sacrifices we have made on behalf of easy-access information? Studies show that this inherent convenience has significantly damaged our information recall in our brains because we are using Google as a replacement for a key neurological function, causing us to not be able to store information as easily as before.[1]
Notice the similarities here: Google operates as an information retrieval system, and with the increased usage of this platform, the brain’s function in this area began to atrophy. Therefore, if we begin to turn to generative AI for creative tasks, our creative functions will begin to atrophy. Not only does this have clear implications for creative development for the upcoming generations, but it also draws concern for each of us as image bearers of God. Therefore, consider the impact of this developing technology upon the Imago Dei: How might forms of generative AI impact creativity in relation to the image of God in his creation?
Creativity & Generative AI as it relates to God
The first thing we learn about God is that he is a creator—“In the beginning, God created…” (Genesis 1:1). This God, who crafted the human conscience from nothing—the same nothing that he molded the heavens and earth—bestowed that same creative capacity into humanity, something so distinct to humankind from the rest of creation that it feeds into the Imago Dei. The ability to think logically, to think creatively, to establish systems and algorithms, and to write music and books are all things that feed out of our creative abilities, which were given to us by God.
When applying ourselves creatively, we are living according to God’s original design for mankind (Genesis 2:15). The concern with generative AI is that it serves as an artificial substitute to this creative process, disrupting the connection between the individual and the God-given gifting. And the more we remove ourselves from the development of our gifting, it becomes something outside of ourselves, leaving us unable to connect to God through creativity.
Creativity & Generative AI as it relates to a responsibility
In the book of Exodus, when God is providing instruction to Moses regarding the building of his temple, he calls individuals—who have been gifted with wisdom, knowledge, and skill—to contribute their cultivated abilities toward the making of his temple (Exodus 30–35). The faithful stewarding of a skill that God has given someone fulfills God’s moral law, and the sign of a “good and faithful servant.” God has gifted each individual with creativity to be expressed in their vocation, and we are required to develop and cultivate this skill alongside God.
If not kept in check, generative AI threatens the cultivation of each person’s skill. Creativity—like sanctification—is an ongoing process that requires constant refinement and humility: think of it like character development for creative skills. And just like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, when we come to the end of this life, we each want to stand before Jesus and be able to say that we were responsible with developing the skills that were given to us as gifts in this life (Matthew 25:14-30).
Creativity & Generative AI as it relates to ourselves
Because everything created begins with God, we can see his character within the created order. In the same way, when we create something utilizing the skill that God has entrusted to us, the result is a handiwork infused with God’s personality and our own. When a piece of art is created, its beauty comes from both the creator and God himself, as the ultimate creator. It is a shared endeavor between God and humanity.
Generative AI threatens the role of personality: If we remove personality in created things, we are removing something that was put there by God (Exodus 28:2–3). God works through us just as much as the created thing: the skill acts as a vessel in which God can mold and shape the creator, while the creator molds and shapes the artistic product. As a songwriter and musician, I have produced countless songs that God used to work on my own heart—both in creating the song and how the song speaks to me years after having been written. The creative process requires an engaged creator because it mirrors the creative process that God implemented with the world—ChatGPT and generative AI can circumvent the God-ordained creative process.
Although I am critical of generative AI, that is not to say that I believe that it is entirely forbidden for the Christian: there are ways in which this technology can aid creative skill that has already been developed. But we must utilize it as an aid rather than a function; it is not the hand itself, but the glove. Generative AI cannot steal any part of the Imago Dei from the children of God, but it certainly can handicap the development and the engagement of our giftings. Therefore, as new technologies begin to emerge, we as Christians must ask thorough questions and limit any technology that imposes on our abilities to create, because these technologies can easily supersede the development of these God-given qualities.
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