A Scripture Reflection by Anne Herfurth
For this Scripture reflection, I decided to take on a really simple and straightforward topic: Artificial Intelligence. In my work as a professor in a technical major, I am constantly reminded of the fast-paced nature of AI developments. As a researcher, I am fascinated by the impacts of this technology on our interpersonal relationships and ways of doing work. As a teacher, I am always working with students to navigate the job market and to ensure they have the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver value through their work over and above what AI can provide. But, lucky for all of us, there will be no further technical talk here. Instead, I am going to share some of the things I have been thinking about lately as it relates to our work, productivity, value, and worth in this age of increasing technological advancement.
A term I find myself using often with my students is “adding value.” In the business context, I will stand by the need for our work to add value to the project or organization we are a part of. However, on a human level, when we are forced to reckon with how we add value, it can be easy to let fear and comparison creep in. I know all too well the feeling of dread that I can get when it comes time for my performance to be measured. I worry if my efforts will be deemed good enough, and by extension, if I will be deemed good enough.
Through his word, God offers us consistent reminders that he made us with care and intention, and we are loved because we are his. Psalm 139:13-14 tells us, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
God makes it abundantly clear that we are loved. He also makes it abundantly clear that this love is not a result of anything we do. The Bible is full of people, starting at the very beginning with Adam and Eve, who mess up in a myriad of ways (certainly not always adding value). And yet, God behaves in a way that doesn’t make much sense in the context of keeping score or measuring performance. “You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love his children – with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love” (Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd Jones). He loves his people when we don’t deserve it, to the point of sending his Son to live a perfect life and die on the cross for our sins so that we can be reconciled to him. Not because we earned it, but because we are his.
So, back to AI. These days, the job market for new grads (and really anyone) can feel pretty scary. As AI continues to advance, it can do more and more of the work we humans were once the only ones capable of doing. I wonder if AI is our latest reminder that we are actually not capable of everything ourselves. It can function as a mirror we hold up that reminds us that, if our worth is in our ability to do tasks, we can be made worthless through others doing it better. If our worth and our value is tied to what we can do or what we can produce, then that is a pretty terrifying thought. However, in his infinite mercies, God offers us the promise that our worth and our value are actually based in whose we are, not what we do. And because we were fearfully and wonderfully made by the creator of the universe, there is nothing that can take that value away from us.
I say all of this with full acknowledgement that AI comes with real impact to our lives. I am not trying to gloss over the layoffs it may have triggered, or the societal implications it may carry in the future. I certainly do not say all of this with any practical answers to what this means for us as we use (or choose not to use) AI for the tasks set before us. Instead, I offer this reminder that my heart so desperately needs to hear, that, amidst all of the fear and change that surrounds the recent developments in AI, God’s love for us is unchanging, and that is where our true value can be found