As the world seems to be increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence, the question of what it means to be human has never been more pressing. Are we on the brink of a post-human world? What does connection mean to Christians as technology replaces human relationships? AI continues to evolve and permeate every aspect of our lives, making it crucial to explore how we can retain our humanity in the face of such rapid change – and this week’s episode of The Good Faith Podcast discusses that exact topic.

Author and friend of the podcast Andy Crouch joins Curtis to talk about the dangers and possibilities of advancing artificial intelligence. While these advancements can offer convenience, like any significant technological innovation of the last century, they often come at the cost of genuine connection. This conversation challenges listeners to exert authority over AI, advocating for a more intentional approach to technology that highlights authentic human interaction.

In a world that prioritizes convenience and simplicity over empathy and effort, Christians today have a vital responsibility to foster human connection even when it’s difficult, and to set the standard for what AI can and should do in the coming years. By embracing human dignity, cultivating discernment, and engaging with the larger culture, believers can witness to their faith in a way that enriches both their lives and the world around them.

This excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.

Curtis Chang: If you’re somebody that’s not in technology, working on this and experiencing this seemingly exponential curve of accelerating capabilities, how should we live? How do we live in this lull period or the calm before the storm? Do we just wait? Do we just ignore it, pretend ‘I’ll worry about it when it hits me’ kind of thing?

Andy Crouch: I think there’s a lot we should be doing right now. And it’s the same things we should be doing before the wave of any technological innovation, and should have done if you could look back with perfect hindsight to very consequential technologies like the automobile. I think of essentially air conditioning, the interstates, and the telephone as the anchor technologies of the 20th century. And in retrospect, we could have adopted each of them more thoughtfully.

But what we think about when we think about the next phase, there are these highly generalizable language -based, image -based models that are coming. What should we be doing right now before we’re using them in everyday life? I think we should be asking, what is it to be human? And what do I want to double down on that I believe matters most for being human? And how do I adopt technology in the future that helps me be more human, not less? And insist on technology that helps me be more human, not less.

And if we don’t form a point of view on that and act collectively on it, the vanguard who are operating primarily out of commercial and profit motives, not out of a comprehensive account of human flourishing, are going to decide how these technologies get deployed. So what ordinary people dream of is what ordinary people can be sold and therefore what will make a profit. And so you kind of have to work on your dreams.