What It Means to Be Human in A.I. World (January 8th, 2025)

Genesis 1-2Brian Lee

7:39

I believe Genesis tells us how to be ready for the emerging world of Artificial Intelligence. It involves the gift of being human.

If machines can write, plan, counsel, even create, and “sound like” us, the question becomes unavoidable. What makes a human being a human being? What prevents computers and AIs from being recognized as sentient beings like humans? Genesis answers these questions with clarity and pastoral warmth. The truth we find in Genesis is not a list of technical policies, but in the person of God. We get to meet God, who is generous, kind, loving, and caring. Let's dig in.

1) We are not cosmic accidents; we are

-bearers of the Creator

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:26–27).

The Bible teaches us that human dignity is not earned by productivity, intelligence, strength, youth, or even usefulness. It is a gift from the Creator. God, in creation, blesses humanity by making us reflect him. The “image” language is not sentimental. It’s covenantal. We are made to represent God’s character in the world and to live before his face.

2) Our work is a gift of calling, not our worth

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Genesis 2:15).

From the beginning, humans are called to work. We are to work, even before sin enters the story. Therefore, unlike some people think, work is not a curse; it’s part of our creaturely purpose. And, Genesis carefully refuses to make work our identity. Adam is not “a worker who sometimes worships.” He is a worshipper who works.

That reframes our anxieties in this AI-driven world.

If AI changes the labor market, education, and creative industries, it will tempt many of us to measure ourselves by competitiveness. Many will ask, “Do I still matter if I’m not needed at my company? If I can be replaced by robots, then what am I worth?"

Genesis answers. You mattered even before you were born. Even before you did anything to become a productive member of society, you mattered because you mattered to God. Our work does not determine our intrinsic worth.

3) We were made for communion with God

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature (Genesis 2:7).

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18).

Genesis 2 shows us something profound. The first problem in the Bible is not sin. Even before sin entered the world, the Bible says it was already "not good" for Adam to be alone. We weren't built to be alone.

This matters because one of the strongest temptations of our age is to replace real presence with simulated and virtual presence. A chatbot can be polite, affirming, available 24/7, and even sound “understanding.” But we should remember that it is an impersonal algorithm. There is no soul in it. Humans have a soul because the Creator breathed the spirit into us. It is a sad commentary on us when the AI can sound more empathetic and understanding than most of us.

And Christians know the story doesn’t end in the Garden of Eden. The ultimate affirmation of embodied personhood is the incarnation.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

God did not save us by sending a pack of data or valuable information. He saved us by becoming one of us, person to person, face to face, flesh and blood.

This means that we, in an AI-shaped world, do not anchor our peace in being irreplaceable at our job site. We are created to anchor our peace in being known by the Creator.

There's way too much information out there, and not enough silence--the quiet stillness before the Creator. We ought to be intentional about being still before God. Let us strive to know God and humbly walk with God.

Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.--Hosea 6:3