ChatGOD
A.I. has entered the Church, plus here's my favorite worship song right now.
I led an AI-written worship song a couple Sundays ago.
Wait….. let me go back.
Artificial Intelligence freaks me out.
In fact, I think it’s a smart bet to say that it freaks most people out, to some varying degree. It’s new, it’s evolving rapidly, and it could even threaten our entire way of living and kill us all. Crazy, right? So yeah, anyone that isn’t at least a tiny bit worried about where we’re going with this is probably, well, lying or sadistic.
It’s also super exciting, but for the sake of this post let’s all just be really scared right now.
So anyway, One of the scariest scenes that AI could show up in, at least in my mind, is the Church. I’m not talking about budgeting and member management and utility stuff. I’m talking about the spiritual side. I’m talking care notes. worship music. sermons.
Pretty spooky to think about. Next time I’m in the hospital, when Pastor Larry sends me a sweet note of encouragement, is it him or is it ChatGPT? What if the next Phil Wickham song is written by Jasper? Since this is a new frontier, the hard limits and boundaries haven’t been set yet, and an area that I believe should be the first with fences up is spirituality.
A few weeks ago I was reading the story of Joseph and his fancy-shmancy coat. That same week, I was also experimenting with some AI prompts. So naturally, my messy mind melded the two, and I started dreaming (pun intended). The following is the journey my mind took…
“What man means for evil, God can use for good.
God can use anything. How amazing.
I wonder how God will use AI?
I wonder if I should have it write my next song.
Wait, I wonder….
Hang on, stop that! Such a dangerous thought to even have, Ross. First, lazy. Second, God inspired?
Wait….. Could it be God inspired?
No, God uses us and gives it to us. right? He uses us because He loves us and we’re made in His image….
*stares blankly for a while*
Yeah because why go through all of that trouble with Jonah if He could have just sent the whale to Nineveh?
But…
…I mean… God can use anything. writing on the wall from Daniel comes to mind…
I suppose whatever man uses, whether good or evil, can be used for good (full circle with Joseph now)….. But this is pretty scary.
I wonder… If I prompt ChatGPT to write a worship chorus, and then sing it, I’ll have an answer. I’ll know when it happens. I’ve led worship enough to recognize His joy when we worship. He’ll tell me.”
So a couple Sundays ago, I head out to play a simple chorus during offering. Our offering system is very uniform and fast so I normally sing a modern original arrangement of the Gloria Patri that lasts around a minute, and then we’re done. But this time, I pulled out my phone.
That morning, I had asked ChatGPT to write an Easter song, beginning with His sorrowful death. the song was to be in the style of Phil Wickham (PhilGPT) and would end with the triumphant resurrection of Christ. I hit enter, and watched as some semi-okay lyrics rolled out, followed by some mediocre repetition of a bridge with no rhythmic style. It was pretty disappointing, but reassuring at the same time. However, I still needed to test my theory. So, I changed the prompt slightly and hit ‘enter’ again.
I did this maybe 6 times before I finally got a chorus that I liked enough to keep, changed a couple words, and boom:
Hallelujah, He is risen
The grave could not hold Him down
Christ is risen, come and see
The Risen One has claimed the victory.
I sang it to a melody I wrote in the rehearsal room 15 minutes before, and had Jonathan throw a pad on with the root note.
What I saw was, well, exactly what you’d expect. God used it. People worshipped authentically.
But the moment I started singing it, I realized that I was testing the wrong group. You see, of course God is going to be in the worship of the congregation if they’re here to worship. God didn’t need me. What I should have been asking was: Is this anointed? And, how does this effect the Worship Leader?
Calling this stuff intelligent seems like a stretch. It’s not. It’s just reforming and spitting out stuff that’s already been done. There are limits, because we made it.
God made us. and while there are limits to what we can do alone, we have a promise that AI doesn’t have. Also, God desires relationship with us… What sort of relationship building happened when I “wrote” that chorus using AI? When I write my songs, I usually feel a deep connection to Christ in the process. This doesn’t allow for that.
So while AI is fun, and even though God can use anything for His glory, AI is a bad idea when it comes to teaching, spiritual formation and praise. It takes relationship out of the equation and reduces what could be an anointed gift into a recycled potato. Maybe use it to help your youth pastor with the budget instead. Regardless, be careful. God is trying to use you and your Spirit and your brain for a reason. Don’t delegate.
Kingdom Kids (Shane and Shane’s Kid Min group) released a song some time back called “Know You As You Are”. It’s phenomenal. Solid theology, easy to sing, easy to remember, and will be stuck in your head for days. Also, it’s not just for kids. We led it in service this morning and it was great. Adults need the basics, too.
I’m still exhausted. Things didn’t slow down after Easter, but I’m loving it. So many things are happening right now and even more is coming soon. Thanks for joining me on the ride.
-Roscoe
Love your brain and heart!