Rarely do I have such a strong negative emotive, spiritual or gut reaction as I had this week. There are occasions when you see, hear or experience something and at a very deep level you know it is wrong. Sometimes you can say that because it is something that contradicts scripture, sometimes it is something that is clearly destructive, and sometimes it is the awareness that what you have just witnessed is dangerous and reflects incredible evil.
For me this happened last week when I read reports coming out of German about a church service that was planned and led by artificial intelligence (AI). At a gathering of protestant Christians in Germany the Sunday Service was the result of the processes of AI. A theology student basically told an AI program to do the service. AI came up with Psalms, hymns and a sermon. On this Sunday morning a screen was set up and four different avatars conducted the entire service. I haven’t yet found the text of the sermon but the outline was something to the effect of 1) leave the past behind, 2) focus on the challenges of the present, 3) overcome the fear of death, 4) Never losing trusting in Jesus. While not horrific in itself, it sounds somewhat sophomoric.
There are so many things wrong with this I hardly know where to begin. I am a luddite and am generally not positively disposed to the newest things. But my concern is not there. Without the content of the sermon text I can’t offer much of an evaluation, but the confrontation of the word of God needs to be driven by the Spirit, not by algorithms. But my concern is not there. The removal of the human element from worship is clearly problematic. But my concern is not there.
My biggest problem was actually with the criticism of the AI service by those who attended. The critics of the attendees tended to focus around the presentation. ONe attendee put it this way: “There was no heart and no soul. The avatars showed no emotions, had no body language and were talking so fast and monotonously that it was very hard for me to concentrate on what they said.”
What if AI developed so that it could produce what appeared to be heart and soul? What if the engineers were able to write in better inflection and pacing of delivery? Could the video be enhanced so that the avatars could express body language that was consistent with what was being said? If these things were accomplished would a worship service from AI be acceptable?
This AI experiment expresses the problem with much of the worship of the church in the 21st century. It began with the seeker sensitive/driven movement in which churches were attempting to attract crowds, as distinct from making disciples, by becoming relevant, contemporary and relatable. It has evolved to the point that some churches have become little more than entertainment venues. In an effort to attract an audience many churches focus on pleasing people. (For an example you may find this interesting: https://youtu.be/TgcmH9Gwfu0 ). An AI church could be the next expression of personalized and self-serving worship.
There is a singular problem: we have made worship about us, our likes, dislikes, taste and preferences. Jesus said in Luke 12:5 “But I will warn you whom to fear; fear the one who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell; yes I tell you fear Him.”
When worship becomes an expression of our wants, it is no longer worship, it is entertainment. May we come to worship the One who will be our judge, who has the authority to send us to hell, but in His mercy and grace rescues us. That will cause two things in our lives: one we will in gratitude love Him and desire to please Him, second we will be challenged to die to ourselves. If we are left in fear of God and loving Him and dying to self, then it is worship.
No comments:
Post a Comment