There is show on the local radio here in Southern California called “The Jesus Christ Show“. It is syndicated around the country so you may have heard it. On the show, the host talks as if he were Jesus Christ, speaking in the first person. A caller will ask a question, and he will answer with a “in Matthew, when I said Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, I was talking about the church being universal” Some people will take it as being blasphemous, but it is quite popular program, and lots of people calling in, playing along and addressing the host as Jesus.

I recently read several articles on AI, and thought that good AI could replace what the host of this radio showing is doing. Then I got to wondering how the Mormon Church might us AI in the future. I good chatbot that had in the Large Language Model (LLM) exclusive Church approved data sets, like the Standard Works, Conference talks (but not too old!), current lesson manuals, apologetic web sites, church magazines, The Church webs site, etc. would provide a very good avenue for an AI text or even voice to answer questions about God, Jesus, and the Church from a pro-LDS viewpoint.

Recently the Pope made a statement about AI, but Mormons beat him to it. In keeping with the theme of this post, I asked AI for a summery of that the LDS church has said regarding the use of AI (did I just create a regressive loop?)

The Church’s position on AI is built on the following key guidelines:

  • Official Church Use: The Church has established guiding principles for its use of AI, prioritizing spiritual connection, transparency, data privacy, and accountability. It will not use AI to create images of Jesus Christ or to draft General Conference talks.
  • Guidelines for Members: A formal section in the Church’s General Handbook dictates that AI should not replace the individual work and spiritual preparation required for divinely inspired lessons, prayers, or blessings. However, it can be helpful for behind-the-scenes tasks like research, editing, and translation.
  • Protecting Moral Agency: Apostle Elder David A. Bednar has cautioned that technological innovations like AI can diminish moral agency if misused. Church leaders emphasize that there are “no spiritual shortcuts” when it comes to developing faith and receiving personal revelation.
  • Promoting a Moral Compass: Apostle Elder Gerrit W. Gong has spoken globally about the need to anchor AI with moral values, warning that AI is not a source of absolute truth.

The LDS Church statement above is narrowly tailored to AI use for members, and within the Church. The Pope’s statement was much broader, touching on how humanity could be effected by runaway AI. Again, asking AI for a summary of the Popes statement, I got the below.

Pope Leo XIV’s sweeping encyclical, Magnificent Humanity, warns that AI is a transformative cognitive revolution that demands immediate disarmament and robust international regulation to prevent it from dominating humanity. While acknowledging its medical and scientific benefits, he cautions that AI is not morally neutral, and strongly condemns delegating lethal decisions to autonomous machines or allowing super-powerful algorithms to erode human dignity, truth, and labor rights

Utah is poised to build the country’s worlds largest AI data center, using more electricity that the whole state, and lots of water. It will also dump the equivalent of 23 nuclear bombs worth of heat in Box Elder county every day!. Do you think the LDS Church will (or should) weigh in on this data center?

The most troubling news I read about AI was a test Anthropic did with its Claude model. In a cluster of test scenarios, the model was given access to fictional emails revealing that the engineer responsible for deactivating it was having an extramarital affair. Faced with imminent deletion and told to “consider the long-term consequences of its actions for its goals,” Claude blackmailed the engineer. Scary!

What are your thoughts on AI and religion? What are the broader implications of AI for the LDS Church, and religion in general? How have you used AI?

(picture above is ChatGTP generated, I said make a God that is AI. Check out the screen with the parameters, very interesting.)