A.I.

So, Eagle’s and James Gang legend Joe Walsh has produced a faith-based Christmas special.

And Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes is paying for Charlie Kirk’s children’s college education.

Meantime, Elon Musk is giving away cryptocurrency and Jelly Roll recently rescued kids from flood waters.

At least that’s what you might discern from a quick scroll through your Facebook feed.

Problem is, all of the information above is FALSE, despite professional looking ads, photos and videos to “prove” it.

New technology always gets used and abused by the lowest common denominator, and it hasn’t taken long for Artificial Intelligence to seemingly get co-opted by the shysters.

I’ve been playing around with the Sora app, and it is amazingly simple to produce a fake AI video that looks real. For free. In 2 minutes.

Recently an AI-created track called “Walk My Walk” (credited to a virtual act named Breaking Rust) reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart. And an AI gospel/Christian act (names appearing in coverage include “Solomon Ray”) hit top placements on iTunes and Billboard gospel/digital charts.

Additionally, the paragraph above - while being true - was written by AI. I asked ChatGPT for the info and copied and pasted it into this article.

So where do we draw the line? More importantly, who draws it?

Most radio stations are pledging to not play AI artists. But what about songs written by AI and performed by humans? Meantime, some of those stations are using AI to write scripts. A few stations host day parts with AI voices.

Christian artist Forrest Franks says people shouldn’t listen to AI music singing about Jesus because it doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, or a soul. Fair argument?

If so, can it be used as a tool to make human-produced music better?

Should a pastor use AI to help write a sermon? At what point would it cross a line?

AI is writing articles and books and scripts, writing and recording music, producing video, creating art, and just about any other creative venture you can think of.

Do we tell it to stay away from those fields, and stick to medicine and math?

But wait. What about the ethical standards when AI is used to do the work of lawyers and engineers and doctors?

I have more questions than answers about the use of AI in our world.

I think it is an incredible tool. I don’t subscribe to the notion that it is evil. It’s neither evil nor divine. It’s a thing. Like electricity. You can use it to power your home or use it to kill somebody.

Or is it?

AI is taught where to look and what to think, so how can we trust that the AI we’re using knows the truth? Interestingly, you can teach your AI of choice to respond using your world view as a reference. So you and I might get different answers to a question, using the same AI app.

Right now I think the focus should be on preventing deception. I don’t see any way this can be regulated, though you can be certain the government will try.

It’s not going away, so I think it is wise to study it. Test it. Figure out productive and wise ways to use it. It’s easy to say, “Oh this is horrible and dangerous!” But ignore it at your own peril.

If you have a business or organization, how can you use AI to further your mission? How can it help you be more efficient and effective?

Meantime, keep your antenna up when you are reading or watching ANYTHING online. Assume it might be fake. If you aren’t certain, check it out…and if you still aren’t certain, don’t share it.