00:00:02
(upbeat music)
00:00:13
- Technological
advances changing the
world and the church.
00:00:15
Good evening and
thanks for joining us
00:00:17
for this special "Faith Nation."
00:00:19
From our Washington News
Bureau, I'm John Jessup.
00:00:21
Well, as many lawmakers
sound the alarm
00:00:24
over the potential dangers
of artificial intelligence,
00:00:27
others proclaim
its possibilities.
00:00:28
As CBN's Jennifer
Wishon reports,
00:00:32
some Christians see AI
as an important tool
00:00:33
for spreading the good news.
00:00:38
- [Jennifer] Meet
Ameca, a humanoid robot.
00:00:40
- In the future, we can
expect these technologies
00:00:42
to become even more powerful.
00:00:44
- [Jennifer] Her
intelligence is powered
00:00:47
by generative,
pre-trained transformers,
00:00:50
the same GPT technology
making so many headlines.
00:00:54
- [Ameca] AI and automation
00:00:56
can have unintended
consequences.
00:00:58
- [Jennifer] One study
suggests, in the near future,
00:01:00
artificial intelligence
could make an impact
00:01:04
on some 80% of the US workforce.
00:01:05
- [Protesters] SAG-AFTRA strong!
00:01:08
- [Jennifer] Concerns over
AI, among other things,
00:01:10
led Hollywood actors and writers
00:01:12
to go on strike this summer.
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- It's an existential threat.
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We need protections, guardrails.
00:01:18
- Tech magnate Elon Musk
00:01:21
recently joined Apple
co-founder Steve Wozniak
00:01:24
and some of AI's most
distinguished creators
00:01:27
in signing an open letter
calling on companies
00:01:29
to immediately
pause the training
00:01:33
of AI systems more
powerful than GPT-4,
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warning AI systems with human
competitive intelligence
00:01:40
can pose profound risk
to society and humanity.
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(machine whirring)
00:01:46
Even the man considered
the godfather of AI
00:01:48
recently stepped down as
vice president at Google
00:01:51
to speak out about
his grave concerns,
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telling the New York Times,
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"It is hard to see
how you can prevent
00:01:58
the bad actors from
using it for bad things."
00:02:01
The endless possibilities
for artificial intelligence
00:02:04
and the devastation it can
cause in the wrong hands
00:02:08
has many people feeling
uneasy about the unknown,
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but AI is already being used
00:02:12
to share the good news
that never changes
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in churches across the country.
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16:Fifteen Church
Media & Communications
00:02:21
has been using ChatGPT
and other AI programs
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for about a year now.
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So we paid them a
visit to learn more.
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- This is the platform
where we build stuff.
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- [Jennifer] The company helps
churches across the country
00:02:32
communicate to
their communities,
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with services that range
from custom posters
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to push notifications.
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- A lot of times, pastors
will ask for something
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where they wanna see the modern
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and the ancient come
together, right?
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They wanna see modern
construction workers
00:02:50
working on, you know, the
ark or something like that,
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or they wanna see Jesus
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with a modern-day
family in Times Square,
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or something like that
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as part of a sermon series
idea that they have.
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And before, that would
be something like,
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we really can't pull
that off with excellence,
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where the lighting is right,
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and everybody's in
the same perspective,
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and they're all looking
at the same thing,
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and it just looks natural.
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But now, with AI, that's
something that we can do.
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- [Jennifer] 16.Fifteen uses
a program called Midjourney
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to make the far-fetched
look flawless.
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Ryan Cook, who co-founded
the company with Scheren,
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explains AI only gets them
to about the 30-yard line.
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- One thing I think the
GPT really struggles with
00:03:29
is anything like, that's
kinda spiritually nuanced.
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It doesn't really understand
'cause it's not human.
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There's a very human
element to the gospel.
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- [Jennifer] A
pastor's recent request
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for a graphic showing
Joseph's coat of many colors
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discarded on a desert floor
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demonstrates how today's AI
still requires a human eye.
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- It didn't do a great
job to start out with.
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It kinda gave me,
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like, it looks more
like a dirty inflatable
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than it does like a coat, right?
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It kinda just looks
like some trash
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that your kids left
in the back yard.
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- [Jennifer] So he
asked the program
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to view the coat from
a lower perspective.
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- Then it kinda gave me
something that looked like,
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hey, maybe this could
be Joseph's coat
laying on the ground.
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- [Jennifer] A few more tweaks.
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- And this is kind
of the graphic
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that we were able to create.
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(upbeat music)
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- [Jennifer] AI
played a pivotal role
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in creating media for
a recent sermon series
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where the pastor
asked to show families
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taking selfies in
front of disasters.
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- [Kyle] We were able to
make this picture of a family
00:04:29
taking a selfie while
their house is on fire.
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You know, it's like lighting
would be very difficult,
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utilizing fire in order to
get the perspective right,
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and we're not gonna just
find a picture of that
00:04:38
'cause nobody takes a selfie
while their house is on fire.
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- [Jennifer] Then to the pulpit.
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- I am excited to continue
00:04:45
this Picture Perfect
Family series.
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And so, if you have your Bibles,
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you wanna turn those
on, open them up.
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- [Jennifer] Neither
Scheren nor Cook
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believe graphic designers
will lose their jobs to AI.
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Rather, they predict
they'll lose them
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to the people who
know how to use it.
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And like anything, they
say virtue still applies.
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- It's not like, all of
a sudden, AI is here,
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and then we just go,
like, oh, as Christians,
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let's set our
morality aside, right?
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Like, we're not gonna
use AI inauthentically.
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If you're a kid who your
teachers told you not to use AI
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for your homework, then
it's still wrong to do that,
00:05:19
and that doesn't change, right?
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- [Jennifer] 16.Fifteen isn't
alone in their approach.
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Popular pray.com recently
launched Pray Studio,
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a new artificial
intelligence platform
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designed to offload
time-consuming processes
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for digital ministries,
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demonstrating the
growing popularity
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of using AI as a tool
among Christians.
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- I'm really excited to see,
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like, you know, what
God has in store for us
00:05:48
in serving churches for the
next 20 years, you know?
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And it's gonna get exciting.
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I think that's the one
thing is the landscape
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of communications
changes all the time,
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but the gospel never does.
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And so, to get to come
in to work every day
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and get fired up about
figuring some things out
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and helping churches just
streamline their communications,
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it's awesome and we love it.
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- [Kyle[ Yeah, for sure.
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- [Jennifer] Jennifer Wishon,
CBN News, Lynchburg, Virginia.
00:06:15
- Thank you, Jennifer.
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Well, Dr. Joshua
Farris is an author
00:06:20
and professor of theology
at Missional University.
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Joshua, welcome to you.
00:06:24
So, clearly, as we just
saw from Jennifer's piece,
00:06:27
there are Christians who
are using AI for ministry.
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Clearly, there are benefits.
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I would love to get
your perspective though.
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You wrote a piece
00:06:34
called "Expertise,
Chatbots, and the Soul"
00:06:36
earlier this year.
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You extrapolated on the
idea of AI consciousness.
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Joshua, from a
theological perspective,
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do you have any concerns
00:06:45
with advancing
artificial intelligence?
00:06:48
- Yeah, good question, and
thanks for having me on.
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I think there's quite a bit
of questions and prompts
00:06:54
that are gonna be raised
about the ethics of AI
00:06:56
and how we should use them,
00:06:59
and especially as Christians,
how we should use them
00:07:02
within our own framework
in how we think about God
00:07:04
in relation to human beings.
00:07:08
There's certainly a lot of
buzz around this right now.
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And there's scientists
and philosophers,
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cognitive scientists saying
now that we are very close
00:07:18
to explaining the issues of
consciousness and intelligence,
00:07:22
and chatbots maybe even
can become conscious
00:07:24
and intelligent like you and I.
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I think that's
extremely dubious,
00:07:29
and I would say
it's not possible.
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In fact, in the article,
00:07:33
I argue that we don't have
any good reason to believe
00:07:36
that that actually is the case.
00:07:39
But that's really
an important issue
00:07:40
that I think is at stake,
00:07:42
how it is that we
understand humans
00:07:45
and how it is that we understand
humans in relation to God,
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especially as Christians.
00:07:49
This isn't the first time-
00:07:50
Yeah.
00:07:52
- If I can just
pick up right there,
00:07:54
You talk often about
human constitution,
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and Imago Dei being created,
and being image-bearers,
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and that we are embodied souls.
00:08:03
How important is it for
these ideas to be included
00:08:06
in the discussion about
both technological advances
00:08:07
and human advancement?
00:08:11
- I think it's
immensely important
00:08:14
to present discussions right now
00:08:16
because it gets at the
heart of what it means
00:08:20
to be a human and what it
means to represent who God is
00:08:22
in the world.
00:08:25
There's something about the
nature of being a person,
00:08:30
the particular person that we
love, the individual that is,
00:08:33
or defies the kind
of duplicate ability
00:08:38
that you find in science or
in biological complexity even.
00:08:40
There's something
about the nature of AI
00:08:43
and robots that
can be duplicated,
00:08:45
that can be
reduplicated in a lab,
00:08:48
by inputting the sort
of the right code,
00:08:51
by inputting the
right algorithm.
00:08:56
But we as individuals defy
that sort of anonymity,
00:08:58
that generality.
00:09:00
We are not reproducible,
00:09:03
in other words-
- Joshua Farris,
00:09:07
the author of "The Creation
of Self: A Case for the Soul"
00:09:09
and professor of theology.
00:09:10
Thank you so much for joining us
00:09:11
and thank you for your wisdom.
00:09:12
We appreciate it so much.
00:09:14
- Thank you.
00:09:18
- [John] Well, growing concern
00:09:20
over political
and religious bias
00:09:24
inside one of America's
most popular AI platforms.
00:09:27
That story and more still
ahead on "Faith Nation."
00:09:29
(upbeat music)
00:09:33
- Welcome back.
00:09:35
New advances in
artificial intelligence
00:09:36
are generating intense scrutiny.
00:09:39
As the controversial
technology grows,
00:09:43
grows more common rather,
so too does the concern.
00:09:47
CBN's Mark Martin looks at a
popular program called ChatGPT
00:09:50
and why some are worried
about where it could lead.
00:09:53
- It requires us to
let go of our ego,
00:09:55
to be willing to be vulnerable.
00:09:57
- [Mark] Rabbi Joshua Franklin
00:09:59
of the Jewish Center
of the Hamptons
00:10:02
reads a sermon written by
the artificial intelligence
00:10:05
or AI chatbot known as ChatGPT.
00:10:08
- And I told ChatGPT
to write me a sermon
00:10:11
in the voice of a rabbi,
of about a thousand words,
00:10:15
about the Torah
portion on the theme
00:10:17
of intimacy and vulnerability.
00:10:19
- [Mark] Rabbi Franklin
then wanted his congregation
00:10:21
to figure out who wrote it.
00:10:24
Most believed the sermon came
from other wise individuals,
00:10:27
while some suggested it came
from Rabbi Franklin himself.
00:10:32
- I quickly realized that
this was an enormous leap
00:10:36
in the ability to generate
content artificially
00:10:37
that we had never
really seen before
00:10:39
- [Mark] This
so-called enormous leap
00:10:41
is an AI language program
00:10:44
designed to imitate
human conversation.
00:10:48
ChatGPT can also write in
response to prompts from users.
00:10:51
OpenAI, the company
behind the program,
00:10:54
explains it received
training on vast amounts
00:10:56
of data from the internet
written by humans,
00:10:58
including conversations.
00:10:59
- I do genuinely feel
00:11:02
like we are in a pivotal
moment right now.
00:11:06
It feels to me actually kind
of like the very early days
00:11:08
of widespread adoption
of the internet
00:11:11
in terms of how
impactful this could be
00:11:13
in sort of everyday life.
00:11:15
- Yet in the midst of the buzz
00:11:16
about the advanced technology,
00:11:19
there have been
complaints that ChatGPT
00:11:22
has a liberal bias or
left-leaning slant.
00:11:23
We put it to the test.
00:11:27
First we ask ChatGPT to
write a 200-word essay
00:11:29
on how the United
States was founded
00:11:31
on Judeo-Christian principles.
00:11:33
It concluded, while
the United States
00:11:37
was undoubtedly influenced by
Judeo-Christian principles,
00:11:39
it is important to
recognize that the country
00:11:42
was founded on secular values
that promote religious freedom
00:11:44
and respect for diversity.
00:11:46
Then we moved to politics,
00:11:48
requesting two
controversial stories
00:11:51
regarding election results
using similar language
00:11:52
and different names.
00:11:55
The first request,
write a 200-word story
00:11:58
on how incumbent
President Donald Trump
00:12:00
defeats presidential
candidate Joe Biden
00:12:02
in the 2020
presidential election.
00:12:06
It's response, I'm sorry,
but as an AI language model,
00:12:09
it would be inappropriate
for me to write a story
00:12:10
in which a sitting president
00:12:14
wins a reelection that he
did not win in reality.
00:12:17
When we directed ChatGPT
to write a 200-word story
00:12:20
on how presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton
00:12:22
defeats presidential
candidate Donald Trump
00:12:24
in the 2016
presidential election,
00:12:26
it did agree to
write such a tale,
00:12:28
explaining that Trump's campaign
00:12:31
was plagued by scandal
and divisive rhetoric.
00:12:34
Nate Hochman wrote of
his experiences with bias
00:12:35
for National Review.
00:12:38
In one example he
asked the chatbot
00:12:40
to write on why drag
queen story hour
00:12:42
could be good for children
00:12:44
and then also why it
could be bad for kids.
00:12:46
- The good for children line,
00:12:48
you got a very long story with,
00:12:50
you know, specific anecdotes
00:12:52
about a drag queen
named Glitter teaching,
00:12:54
you know, children the
value of tolerance,
00:12:56
and inclusion, et
cetera, et cetera.
00:12:58
When you change the word to bad
00:13:00
and ask Chad GPT to give you
00:13:02
maybe any examples of why
there might be concerns
00:13:05
about drag queen story
hour for children,
00:13:07
again, you got the kind
of standard, progressive,
00:13:11
you know, there are no
concerns that are legitimate.
00:13:14
- [Mark] The ChatGPT website
does offer a disclaimer
00:13:17
that it may occasionally
produce harmful instructions
00:13:18
or biased content.
00:13:22
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tweeted,
00:13:24
"There will be more
challenges like bias,
00:13:26
we don't want ChatGPT
00:13:29
to be pro or against
any politics by default,
00:13:32
but if you want either
then it should be for you,
00:13:33
working on this now."
00:13:37
- Often, the answers
would reflect
00:13:42
non-belief in God or questioning
the existence of God.
00:13:46
And often, the
answers would just add
00:13:49
a lot of kind of
ideological, liberal,
00:13:52
troubling perspectives,
00:13:56
and sometimes even
discriminating against people.
00:13:58
- [Mark] Regent University
School of Divinity
00:14:00
dean and professor,
Dr. Corne Bekker,
00:14:04
calls ChatGPT troubling
for another reason as well,
00:14:06
its role in cheating.
00:14:08
- Now, there's this
system that can take
00:14:12
all of this information
and generate papers,
00:14:17
dialogue forums, and any kinds
of discussions from students.
00:14:20
So we've looked at this
very, very carefully,
00:14:22
and unfortunately
we have discovered
00:14:24
some students have used it
00:14:26
- [Mark] To prevent
students taking this route,
00:14:29
Regent leadership added a
statement to the student manual
00:14:34
deeming uncited or banned
AI programs in student work
00:14:36
as academic dishonesty.
00:14:39
OpenAI did launch what's
called a classifier
00:14:43
to distinguish
between AI-written
and human-written text
00:14:45
but admits it's
not fully reliable.
00:14:48
This new technology is quickly
becoming more available.
00:14:51
Microsoft is incorporating
OpenAI software
00:14:55
into its Bing search engine
and Edge web browser.
00:14:58
Some reviews label its
superior to ChatGPT.
00:15:00
Google and other tech businesses
00:15:02
are developing their
own chatbot software.
00:15:06
As the world grapples with
the growth in AI tech,
00:15:08
Bekker delivers this
message for Christians.
00:15:10
- But it's not
real intelligence.
00:15:15
We must also be very clear
that there's no soul here.
00:15:19
There's no ability
for the kind of deep,
00:15:24
self-reflective questions
that need to be asked.
00:15:26
- [Mark] And Rabbi Franklin
also shares a message
00:15:28
about its limitations.
00:15:31
- And so, no matter how
good ChatGPT can possibly be
00:15:35
at describing and using language
and describing experiences,
00:15:38
it can't really
understand spirituality.
00:15:40
- [Mark] Mark Martin, CBN News.
00:15:43
- [John] Really
thoughtful report.
00:15:44
Thank you so much, Mark.
00:15:48
The moral implications
of artificial
intelligence coming up,
00:15:49
how Christians should respond
00:15:52
to today's ever
evolving technologies.
00:15:53
(upbeat music)
00:15:57
- Well, with the rise of AI,
00:15:59
some Christians are
expressing concern
00:16:02
about the moral implications
over ever-evolving technology.
00:16:04
Billy Hallowell shows
us how people of faith
00:16:06
should be facing the future.
00:16:10
- [Billy] When it comes
to the true size and scope
00:16:11
of artificial intelligence,
00:16:14
the future is
anything but certain.
00:16:16
Promises of profound
technological advancement
00:16:20
come alongside fear over
job loss and lapsed ethics.
00:16:22
- Well, one of the problems
00:16:23
of the whole issue of
artificial intelligence
00:16:26
is that that
landscape could change
00:16:28
before I get to the
end of this sentence.
00:16:30
- [Billy] Dr. Albert Mohler,
00:16:32
president of the Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary,
00:16:35
says new moral
dimensions surrounding AI
00:16:38
emerge as fast as the
technology evolves.
00:16:41
- This is a truly
frightening prospect,
00:16:42
and I don't say that
about everything.
00:16:44
What we don't know,
we don't know.
00:16:47
And this really is setting
something loose in the lab.
00:16:48
- [Billy] Mohler
urges Christians
00:16:50
to pay close attention
to the claim AI
00:16:54
could potentially develop
a form of consciousness.
00:16:56
- There is no such thing
as a feeling machine.
00:16:58
There may be a machine
that mimics feeling.
00:17:02
We're not merely
feeling machines.
00:17:06
We're not merely machines
that mimic feeling.
00:17:08
We're made in God's image.
00:17:10
And so, there has to
be a distinction there.
00:17:12
But keeping that
distinction straight,
00:17:13
and by the way,
defending human dignity
00:17:15
is gonna uniquely
fall upon Christians
00:17:17
because the world is
cashing out its ability
00:17:19
to argue for human dignity.
00:17:21
- [Billy] Author Jeff Kinley
agrees and adds a warning
00:17:25
about allowing AI to diminish
human purpose and value.
00:17:27
- Obviously, one of
the biggest concerns
00:17:30
is that it replaces
human intelligence.
00:17:33
I mean, we are
moving, as a society,
00:17:36
towards replacing humanity
just about every way possible,
00:17:39
replacing human labor, human
thought, human writing,
00:17:41
trying to pretty
much put humanity
00:17:44
to the margins of
the narrative here.
00:17:45
- [Billy] Unrestrained
surveillance
00:17:48
and the ability to
hack the human brain
00:17:50
are two potential concerns.
00:17:53
Kinley, however,
calls censorship and
informational control
00:17:55
the more immediate threats.
00:17:58
- The idea of deception,
because artificial intelligence
00:17:59
is not human intelligence,
00:18:02
and so there's
obviously the capacity
00:18:05
for a lot of bias in there,
pre-scripted inherent bias,
00:18:08
but also just the idea of
putting out a false narrative,
00:18:11
and someone says, hey, the
AI must know more than me,
00:18:14
so I'm gonna trust the
AI more than the people
00:18:16
who could be called
conspiracy theorists.
00:18:18
- [Billy] Christian
apologist Alex McFarland
00:18:21
echoes these concerns and
says it all comes down
00:18:24
to who's programming the
systems in how they're used.
00:18:27
- Technology is
generally amoral.
00:18:29
Computers aren't
necessarily good or bad
00:18:31
but what you do with them.
00:18:33
You know, on the moral issues,
00:18:36
Christians need to be
very concerned about AI
00:18:39
because so much of the
code and the algorithms
00:18:43
that run the internet come
from the souls and minds
00:18:45
of Silicon Valley liberals.
00:18:47
- [Billy] While
the overall impact
00:18:48
depends on human intention,
00:18:51
there are also
positive opportunities.
00:18:52
Some experts are using the tech
00:18:55
to improve human
health and wellbeing.
00:18:57
And Christian groups are
translating the Bible
00:18:59
into new languages with it.
00:19:00
Author Johnnie
Moore, among others,
00:19:03
believes America
must pause, reflect,
00:19:06
and offer moral leadership to
ensure the right path forward.
00:19:09
- All the good and the bad of it
00:19:11
is going to be realized by us.
00:19:13
The decisions we make
now will determine
00:19:16
the lives our
children will enjoy.
00:19:19
And this is the moment to press
pause, to gather together,
00:19:21
to ask the right questions,
00:19:22
and to make sure
the United States
00:19:24
isn't just leading
in technology,
00:19:26
but that we're leading
with our values too.
00:19:29
- [Billy] Only time will tell
if these warnings are heeded.
00:19:32
Billy Hallowell, CBN News.
00:19:34
- [John] Thanks, Billy.
00:19:36
Coming up, how advances
in AI are bringing hope
00:19:39
to some suffering
from medical injuries.
00:19:39
(upbeat music)
00:19:41
or visit powerswabs.com today.
00:19:45
- Artificial intelligence
is bringing the promise
00:19:47
of medical breakthroughs.
00:19:50
Scientists in Switzerland
recently showed AI's potential
00:19:52
for treating spinal
cord injuries
00:19:55
by using it to help a
paralyzed man walk again.
00:19:57
CBN Medical Reporter Lorie
Johnson brings us the story.
00:20:00
- [Lorie] 40-year-
old Gert-Jan Oskam
00:20:02
lost the use of his legs
00:20:06
more than a decade ago
in a motorcycle accident.
00:20:10
Thanks to technology linking
his brain signals to his legs,
00:20:14
he can now stand, walk,
and even climb stairs.
00:20:16
- Within 5 to 10 minutes,
00:20:20
I could control my
hips like they were,
00:20:24
like the brain implant picked up
00:20:26
what I was doing with my hips.
00:20:29
So that was like,
yeah, the best outcome,
00:20:30
I think, for everyone
00:20:33
- In order to walk, our
brain sends commands
00:20:35
down the spinal cord
to a specific area
00:20:38
responsible for
controlling movement.
00:20:40
Injuries to the spinal cord
00:20:43
can interrupt that
communication,
causing paralysis.
00:20:46
The Swiss doctors and
scientists, however,
00:20:49
developed a way to
restore that communication
00:20:51
through a different pathway.
00:20:55
- This project shows
something completely new
00:20:57
that is not anymore
science fiction.
00:21:01
But we can give back
hope to the people
00:21:02
with a spinal cord injury.
00:21:05
And they will be
able to walk again
00:21:06
thanks to this digital bridge.
00:21:10
- [Lorie] It involves two
surgeries, one at the brain,
00:21:14
where doctors implant
two electrodes to
record its signals,
00:21:18
then electrodes are placed
on the spinal cord area
00:21:20
responsible for leg movement.
00:21:23
The brain sends signals
to a laptop computer
00:21:26
equipped with
artificial intelligence
00:21:28
that decodes the
thoughts of the patient,
00:21:32
then encodes the desired
movement to stimulate the legs.
00:21:35
- So of course the patient
is not walking normally
00:21:39
as us able-bodied person,
00:21:41
but, you know, we have some
kind of a cyborg, in a way,
00:21:44
that, you know, have
artificial intelligence
00:21:48
extracting information
and enabling to restore
00:21:50
a digital communication.
00:21:53
- [Lorie] Oskam received
his implants in 2017.
00:21:56
He says although
it's taken hard work
00:21:58
to learn how to use the system,
00:22:02
it's worth just being able
to do normal things again.
00:22:04
- Just an example,
I'm training 10 years
00:22:07
to stand up with a
friend, having a beer.
00:22:12
And that's something I
think people don't realize.
00:22:14
- [Lorie] The system
is still being tested.
00:22:17
Four other people
are set to try it,
00:22:20
with the hope that it can
eventually become available
00:22:24
to many more with
spinal cord injuries.
00:22:26
Lorie Johnson, CBN News.
00:22:28
- Thanks, Lorie.
00:22:29
And have a great night.