What Does the Bible Say About AI?

Chris Cuomo thought he was sharing a video of a congresswoman making shocking remarks on the House floor. The clip looked real. It sounded real. And it spread quickly online.

But it wasn’t real at all. It was a deepfake, generated by artificial intelligence. Despite a watermark labeling it parody, even an experienced news anchor was fooled. You can read about it here.

Moments like this remind us that AI is no longer a futuristic idea. It’s here. We encounter it every day. When we unlock our phones with FaceID. When Netflix suggests our next show. When social media tailors ads to our interests.

These systems may feel invisible. But they’re shaping what we see, what we think, and even what we trust.

The pace is staggering. Moore’s Law, the observation that computing power doubles about every two years while costs shrink, explains why today’s smartphones are more powerful than the computers that guided astronauts to the moon.

This acceleration is driving AI into every corner of life. It stirs excitement. It stirs fear. John Lennox notes that science often advances faster than our wisdom to guide it, which means Christians must ask not just what we can build, but whether we should (Lennox, 2084).

So how should Christians respond? 

The Bible doesn’t mention AI. But it gives us the categories we need, truth, wisdom, identity, and hope. Before we can apply those categories, though, we need to step back and ask a deeper question: what is technology itself, and how does God relate to it?

To frame this discussion, here’s where we’re headed:

1. What Is Technology and How Does God Relate to It?
2. AI and the Image of God
3. Technology as a Gift to Steward
4. Truth in a World of Machines
5. The Temptation to Be God
6. Christ Is Still King
7. Discernment, Not Fear

This roadmap helps us keep our bearings. With so much noise about AI, it’s easy to get lost in speculation. But the Bible calls us to clarity and wisdom. With that in mind, let’s begin where all theology should: with God as Creator and Lord over all things, including technology.

What Is Technology and How Does God Relate to It?

Before we can ask what the Bible says about AI, we need to understand what technology itself is. At its core, technology is simply the application of knowledge to create useful things that solve problems and amplify our abilities. A shovel makes digging easier. A home provides shelter. A smartphone connects us across the world.

Technology has always been part of human life. From the Garden of Eden, God called Adam and Eve to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). This creation mandate means we were made not only to live in the world but also to shape it with the tools we create. Fish were made to swim, birds to fly, and human beings to make. That is part of reflecting God’s image.

Yet technology exists in a fallen world. Like everything touched by sin, it is not neutral. It can serve God’s purposes or become an idol. We see this in Genesis 11, when the people of Babel used bitumen, a building technology, to make a tower that would replace dependence on God. Technology that could have been used to glorify the Creator was instead wielded in defiance of Him.

Still, God is never threatened by human innovation. Isaiah 54 reminds us that God not only creates human creators but also governs their creations and the outcomes of their work. Every discovery, from fire to rockets to AI, remains under His control.

Tony Reinke explains this well: technology is never outside God’s providence. He is the origin of our creativity, the governor of our inventions, and the One who ensures that no tool, no matter how powerful, escapes His sovereignty (God, Technology, and the Christian Life).

This perspective grounds our approach. We cannot reject technology outright, nor can we embrace it without discernment. Instead, we must use it with wisdom, seeking to glorify God, love our neighbor, and resist its pull toward idolatry.

To respond faithfully, we need more than caution, we need a framework. A way to see AI not just as a tool, but through the lens of truth, wisdom, identity, and hope.

Think of this like building a compass. Technology moves fast, and without clear direction we risk drifting with every new innovation. Scripture doesn’t give us step-by-step instructions for AI, but it does give us timeless categories to guide our thinking. These categories help us see beyond the hype, weigh what’s good, and guard against what’s harmful.

With that compass in hand, let’s walk through five biblical truths that shape how Christians can engage with AI.

1. AI and the Image of God

Genesis 1:26–27 tells us that human beings are made in the image of God. This gives every person dignity and worth that no machine can replicate.

We are moral creatures who can choose good or evil. We are accountable for our choices. Machines bear no guilt. Responsibility always belongs to the people who design, train, and deploy them.

AI can predict patterns. But it cannot reason like a person. True reason flows from the soul. Machines have none.

They can imitate thought but cannot know truth. Nor can they share in our personhood. Humans are body and soul, material and immaterial.

Implants may help us. But they do not become us. AI may mimic emotion. But it is not alive.

AI can look like a counterfeit of God’s creation, an imitation of intelligence that lacks spirit, conscience, and eternity. Jason Thacker stresses this distinction: only humans bear God’s image, with moral agency and eternal destiny. Machines may mimic, but they can never carry the breath of God (Thacker, The Age of AI).

Psalm 104 reminds us that technology can bring glory to God. The psalmist praises God not only for the sea and its creatures but also for ships, the work of human hands.

Like ships, AI can display the creativity of God’s image-bearers. But it can also be used to exploit, distort, or destroy. Our task is to use it in ways that honor the Creator, not ourselves.

2. Technology as a Gift to Steward

From the beginning, humans have used tools to cultivate creation. Technology is part of God’s design.

But tools are never neutral. They don’t just serve us, they shape us. Derek Schuurman explains that technologies reflect human values and in turn shape human behavior, which is why discernment and stewardship are essential (Schuurman, Shaping a Digital World).

AI is a clear example. In medicine, it can help doctors detect disease. In agriculture, it can improve yield. In the church, it can speed translation work or help pastors and missionaries access resources more easily.

Used wisely, AI can relieve burdens. It can extend faithful teaching further than ever before.

But there are dangers. Work itself will change as automation reshapes jobs. Christians must help one another preserve the dignity of labor.

Privacy is another concern. Convenience often comes at the cost of intimacy. If AI assistants ingest everything about us, how do we guard consent?

And stewardship also means asking deeper questions: What kind of people will this tool make us? What desires will it feed? What virtues might it erode?

The question is not just whether a tool works. It is whether it helps us glorify God and love our neighbor.

That means we must approach AI with caution. It can assist ministry. But it cannot replace the pastor, the teacher, or the embodied presence of God’s people with one another.

3. Truth in a World of Machines

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Truth is personal and unchanging in Him.

AI complicates this because it produces content that looks true, even when it isn’t. Generative models don’t “know” anything. They predict what is most likely to come next in a sequence. That means they can sound confident while producing false or misleading information.

The problem goes deeper with deepfakes and synthetic media (AI-generated images, video, or audio that mimic real people or events). These can create images or videos that are indistinguishable from reality. A flood of convincing falsehoods could erode trust in news, leaders, and even one another. Over time, our grasp of what is real could weaken.

Part of the challenge is that we live in an age drowning in information. More headlines, more posts, more alerts. But more information is not the same as more wisdom. In fact, it often has the opposite effect. Endless inputs scatter our attention, leaving us restless and impulsive, unable to reflect deeply. We may know more facts but grow less wise.

Scripture reminds us that wisdom begins with fearing the Lord (Prov. 1:7). Information may flood our minds, but only God’s Word can form us into people who discern truth from lies.

Another reason AI-driven information is complicated is that much of our digital environment blurs the line between fact, opinion, and authority. Anyone can post content online. Algorithms amplify what is popular or relevant, not necessarily what is true. Consensus-driven platforms like Wikipedia show how today’s majority view can replace time-tested truth. Search engines surface results designed for clicks, not accuracy.

This environment trains us to treat all voices as equal, yet Scripture calls us to honor real authority and expertise (Rom. 13:1). Wisdom means not giving every claim the same weight, but seeking out reliable voices rooted in truth.

The Bible tells us that God’s Word is pure and reliable (Psalm 12:6). Unlike shifting headlines or algorithmic predictions, Scripture does not change. Christians must remain rooted in this truth even as falsehoods become more convincing than ever.

4. The Temptation to Be God

The temptation in the garden was simple: “You will be like God” (Gen. 3:5). That temptation is still with us.

Many people see AI as a path toward transcending human limits. Some imagine merging man and machine through neural implants. Others dream of downloading consciousness to escape death.

These visions confuse Creator and creature. Helpful aids can serve the love of neighbors. But promises of immortality belong to God alone. John Lennox warns that dreams of uploading consciousness or merging humanity with machines echo humanity’s oldest temptation, to become gods without God (Lennox, 2084).

Even without such lofty dreams, AI carries dangers. A father of two in Ireland asked ChatGPT about painful throat symptoms. The AI told him cancer was “highly unlikely.” Weeks later, doctors diagnosed him with stage-four esophageal cancer. 

In some cases, AI tools have surfaced rare conditions that were missed by doctors, helping shorten what patients call a diagnostic odyssey. (For example, Vanderbilt’s LLM study reported AI identifying conditions that had eluded prior clinical review.)

That is the deeper danger. 

When we look to AI not just for help but for hope, we risk turning tools into saviors. The line between using technology and trusting it can blur quickly. What begins as medical advice or convenience can grow into misplaced faith. Scripture warns us that when we worship what we make, our thinking becomes futile (Rom. 1:21–23). Yet even then, God is not threatened. Isaiah 54 reminds us that every tool is under His rule. AI may expose our limits, but it will never escape His sovereignty.

5. Christ Is Still King

Colossians 1:17 tells us, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” That includes algorithms and AI.

AI can be a force-multiplier for mission. With careful oversight, it can accelerate Bible translation. It can support theological training. It can extend faithful teaching.

But the test is always the same. Does a tool help us love God and serve others? Or are we drawn to it simply because it is new or impressive?

When considering AI, we must ask simple but searching questions. Does this help me obey Christ? Does it honor truth? Does it protect human dignity? Is it truly the right tool, or is a simpler way better? Who is accountable for its outcomes?

These questions keep us anchored in mission rather than novelty.

We don’t need to panic about the future. AI may be powerful. But it is not ultimate. Christ reigns over all creation, including the tools we invent. Jason Thacker reminds us that no matter how advanced AI becomes, it will never threaten Christ’s lordship (Thacker, The Age of AI).

Discernment, Not Fear

AI may generate words that sound true, images that look real, and voices that feel human. It may fool news anchors and even guide doctors astray. But no algorithm can counterfeit the truth of Christ.

Scripture reminds us that only God creates life. Only humans bear His image. Only Christ rules over all things, including our inventions.

So as AI grows more powerful, we do not live in fear. We live with discernment. We guard the vulnerable. And we anchor ourselves in the One who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

The gospel, not our code, will shape how we live, work, and trust. AI may change the tools in our hands. But it cannot change the God who holds all things together, even in the digital age.