A Real Mixed Bag
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is inescapable. Ministry, non-profit, church, and business leaders are bombarded with pitches for how artificial intelligence will transform their organizations. There are a variety of AI sermon generators. A conference on AI and philanthropy was held earlier this year in Switzerland. The United Methodist Church held a workshop on Advanced AI for Ministry. There is a “Generative AI training video library for pastors.”
One wonders how much of the content of these resources was generated by artificial intelligence.
Evangelical Christians have mostly yet to form strong attitudes about AI. The new report Evangelical Thinking: Views on Artificial Intelligence digs into how over 1,000 American evangelical Protestants view AI.
Optimism…and Fear
Evangelicals tend to believe AI will have a positive impact on medical care, along with both productivity and efficiency in the workplace. At the same time, a majority feel artificial intelligence will negatively impact the number of available jobs.
They are split over whether AI will have a positive or negative impact on public safety, the US economy, and human creativity. Evangelicals are also divided over how AI will impact the Christian faith overall, as well as people’s ability to study and understand the Bible.
Out of the nine ways we explored how artificial intelligence may impact our lives, 76% of evangelicals predict at least one positive outcome from AI. However, 78% also predict at least one negative outcome.
The more informed evangelicals are about AI, the more likely they are to predict positive impacts. But nearly six out of ten who feel tremendously informed on the subject still predict at least one negative impact in these nine areas.
While most believers feel some positive developments will come from AI, seven out of ten admit to being concerned about the future because of AI. The same proportion flatly state AI is dangerous.
The one thing evangelicals agree on is that it’s the use of artificial intelligence which concerns them. They feel AI is a tool that, like any other tool, can be used for both good and evil (85%).
There’s a lot more detail and nuance in the full report. Evangelical Thinking is free by request – just e-mail ron@greymatterresearch.com.
Still Developing Their Perspectives
One thing limiting many evangelicals is they simply are not that informed about AI. While almost all have heard of AI, only one out of five feels well informed on the subject. Just 22% of evangelicals have formed strong opinions about how AI is being used today. How they feel about the use of AI in the future is similar.
When we ask evangelicals where artificial intelligence will have positive or negative impacts, most people predict only some positive or negative impact. Fewer see strong impact. Others have no idea what to expect, or don’t believe AI will impact our lives.
For example, in the area of public safety, 9% predict strong positive impact, but 28% predict some positive impact. Similarly, 14% believe AI will have strong negative impact, while 18% see some negative impact. Twelve percent feel AI will have no real impact in this area, while 19% are not sure. So in total, 23% feel AI will strongly impact public safety, while twice as many (46%) predict only some impact in this area.
Get the New Report
Learn all the details in our new report Evangelical Thinking: Views on Artificial Intelligence, from Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts. It’s a study of 1,039 evangelical Protestant adults. (For a free copy of Evangelical Thinking, simply e-mail ron@greymatterresearch.com.)
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