Q&A with Matt Ferris '11: Exploring AI, Faith, and Community in a Rapidly Changing World

Q. How might AI tools impact Christian spiritual formation?

A. Much of the language around AI focuses on efficiency, but we need to ask: Efficiency to what end? So that I can make space for more work? 

What does that do to our souls? 

On the other hand, if we seek efficiency with the more mundane tasks in order to make space for things we value (for me, something like sharing a meal with students or friends) there is merit in that. Doing so actually creates space for Christian formation.

Christian formation can't be rushed, and I don't think it can be efficient in ways we would sometimes like. We can't expedite spiritual maturity, or generate some quick trick to be closer with Jesus. We also can't mature in absence of community, which technology sometimes circumvents.

AI is like any other tool: It can be a really helpful tool, and then it can also be this thing that keeps reinforcing the need for efficiency and isolation. 

I think we need to resist that drive in the faith side of our lives.

 

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Q. What practices help resist the culture of hurry?

A. Dallas Willard was famous for saying that hurry is the biggest opponent to the spiritual life. So what practices can you engage in that directly challenge that hurry?

Do you spend any time in solitude? Do you spend any time going on a walk with no one and no goal? What does it look like to be bored and slow your life down on purpose?

If you can get your body to do that and be used to not being stimulated all the time, that will spill over into your spiritual life and help you slow down to spend time with God.

Even just practicing Sabbath is incredibly counter cultural and difficult to do. When something like just resting is difficult, it makes me step back and think; this is a warning sign that I probably need to make a change.

 

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Q. How can Christians use AI without losing sight of their dependence on God and others?

A.  I think we need to ask ourselves good questions: What is the goal behind using a tool to do something faster?

In my context, if I’m using AI to streamline tasks so that I can spend more time talking with and discipling students, that is a wise use. I'm being more efficient in order to create space for the deeper things of life.

However, if it just makes the hamster wheel spin faster, if I’m just doing it so I can fit even more work into my life, then I don't think it’s a value-add.

There is this huge temptation to use technology to become more insular: To do even more by myself instead of walking down the hall and asking a colleague.  To process alone instead of taking time to speak with a friend about my life. Just spending time around a dinner table talking about life and faith and family and whatever is coming up in your daily life? That is worth its weight in gold, because it's even more rare than it was even 20 or 30 years ago. 

We are already tempted to live into this facade that we can go through life alone. Handled unwisely, AI can feed that temptation.

 

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Q. How can Christian educators integrate AI in ways that support spiritual growth?

A. Theology resources can be cost-prohibitive—especially if you’re trying to explore diverse writers from a variety of cultures. Something like AI offers an opportunity to provide streamlined access to theology resources in a cost-efficient way.

Any time we can provide spiritual material to more people for free, that can be great. The ability for AI to analyze and summarize resources so you start with the broad ideas can be very helpful, and as the technology advances we continually get better results. I’ve been surprised at the helpful materials students have been able to find using ChatGPT to do their searches as opposed to Google.

On the flipside, there is still a tendency for AI to give results that are an average of everything out there, or to stick to responses that fall within the middle percentage of interpretations and views.

I think that one of the best parts about theology and community, or even just Bible study in community, is that you get different perspectives. And you have to wrestle with that. Also, the Spirit talks to people in different ways: Maybe you all read the same passage, but different things stood out to each of you. Sharing those things has value. Wrestling together with hard passages or different perspectives helps us exercise critical thinking.

So AI presents both opportunities and dangers. 

 

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Q. Can AI enhance biblical literacy and engagement with Scripture?

A.  AI is a fantastic brainstorming tool. I’ve often heard the term “thought partner.” It can sometimes get us outside of our own bias or bubble, and add to the breadth of what we can learn about God.

Out of curiosity, I recently gave ChatGPT the prompt: you are a pastor that specializes in small groups. Write me a small group guide for Ephesians. Honestly I was amazed by what it created. I could see how it would really encourage discussion. As a brainstorming partner, it can make you think about things in a different way.

Conversely, it can also skew us away from seeking these things more organically or from the process of stumbling around. 

In grad school, I did a lot of work with emerging generations and faith. One of the main things that came out of Barna and Pew research was that people need to wrestle with their faith. Just giving someone the “right answers” does not stick. 

People who have just been force fed the right answers often don't stick with faith or they have to wrestle with it later all over again. 

So if you're looking at ChatGPT or Gemini as this answer box, even if it does give you a good answer, that's not likely going to be satisfying in the long term. There's something about wrestling with something and wrestling alongside other people that is just so beneficial, even if it's uncomfortable.

 

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Q. Why does struggling through faith—or even schoolwork—still matter?

A. Used well, AI doesn't get rid of struggle; it provides you with more ideas and opportunities to explore. Used poorly, it can be a way to avoid struggle. 

In reality, you might not be avoiding struggle, but simply deferring struggle to a later date. Yes it might help you with that assignment and you don’t need to stay up until 2 AM, but in reality you never learned that material. What will happen later when you need to apply that information?

Or for those beyond school age: Yes, it maybe gave you a really clean-cut thing that you can submit to your boss, but it didn't foster any growth.

I'm just as guilty as anyone: I don't like being uncomfortable. I want to avoid it all the time. But the reality is, struggle produces growth. There's a reason why Paul calls that out (Romans 5:3-4). He experienced it. Looking back on his life, he recognized that his growth towards Jesus came out of times where he was forced to struggle.

Each of us has a choice: we can use AI to enhance growth or to avoid it.

 

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What’s the value of real human relationships in an AI-driven world?

A. I would imagine people go to AI for the things we normally gain from relationships because AI feels safe. We crave safety and fear of rejection.

Being vulnerable means opening yourself up to the potential for pain. This person could reject me, they could be mean to me.

Although there's risk to vulnerability, there is a huge reward when we support each other. There is warmth, love, and even the meeting of tangible needs.

That's like the beautiful thing of the church in the book of Acts: it wasn't just that you went to church and worshiped together for an hour. You ate meals together. If you needed something, you asked and your church community would provide. You might say, “I just had a baby! I need a crib,” and someone in your community would help with that.

That stuff is really convicting to me, that's what the church can look like. And for obvious reasons, nothing on your computer or your phone can do that.