Okay, so I've been a big fan of ChatGPT since Holly first introduced the concept! I have used it for small medical questions, resume adjustments, workout routines, meal planning, refining my vitamins, brainstorming, proofreading, generative writing, therapy session planning, marketing ideas, fun caricatures, online dating questions, and more. In many areas, it's been a helpful tool... but lately, I am very intentionally leaning away from it and leaning harder into my walk with God. As a single woman struggling to find a man with aligned values and intelligence, it's pretty easy to start turning to AI for quick validation and in-depth relational wisdom... when we absolutely need to be going to Jesus and/or friends and family for those things! John Eldredge wrote a newsletter about the dangers of that very thing, when we create a counterfeit sense of intimacy with something that is:
A) Not real or as safe/secure as we hope
B) Not infallible or consistently trustworthy
C) Not aligned with His purpose for me
So all that to say, I've deleted past chats and taken it off of my phone. I was convicted about using it for school when I started the PhD program (HERE). I did not touch it once throughout Dr. Burkhart's leadership class, spending hours studying articles and writing papers. I worked very hard, and I was proud of my papers and presentations, and it paid off! Dr. Burkhart was proud of my work, too... he was incredibly supportive and became an esteemed mentor for whatever I may pursue in the future with CCU!
I believe the same positive outcome will be true as I step away from using AI for relational coaching and make a very sincere effort to turn to Jesus and friends and family and therapists for the things I've been seeking faster answers to online.
The "last straw" for me was when I asked ChatGPT to give me an example of conflict and resolution in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of the Narnia books. It told me that Lucy uses a magic spell to create light when their ship sails into darkness... that seemed strange to me, much more like Harry Potter than C.S. Lewis, and Kyndal doubted the accuracy, as well.... so I asked ChatGPT if that was absolutely accurate about the book, and it said no - in the book, Lucy prays to Aslan, and He leads them back to light. Ummmmm, nope. Massive difference, and I was taken aback by how very quickly and decisively it wrote God out of the story and created powerful people who did not need His help (without mentioning that it changed anything at all). Took the app off my phone that day.
So going along with my renewal theme, I am sincerely seeking God and His leading and wisdom!
The answers may come slower and less clearly,
but I know I can trust His heart and His Word.
God is real, safe, secure, infallible, and consistently trustworthy!
And He has a plan and purpose for our lives that only He can clarify.
Let's be incredibly careful to guard our hearts
and keep Him at the center of our story!!
❤ ❤ ❤
