I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12 NIV
The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already changed our world so much. AI has transformed the world by automating tasks, personalizing experiences, and accelerating scientific discovery, fundamentally changing industries like healthcare (faster diagnosis), transportation (self-driving cars), and customer service (virtual assistants). Most of these things have been widely considered good, but there are numerous areas not so easily and clearly labeled positively. Massive economic shifts continue to occur and there are many new ethical challenges around jobs, surveillance, and data privacy. This is further complicated by the fact that AI can easily be used to deceive. It can make things that are not true and authentic seem to have happened. It is not uncommon to see a picture or video and wonder, “Is that real or AI?”
Confusion about what is real and reliable is not a new problem. Francis Bacon in 1625 authored a famous essay titled “Of Truth,” opening it with Pontious Pilate’s famous question to Jesus, “What is truth?” John 18 records Pilate asking Jesus if He was a king. Jesus responded, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.”
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. And then he didn’t wait for the answer. He washed his hands of Jesus. But Jesus didn’t wash His hands of humanity. He knew since the earliest days when Satan deceived Adam and Eve and tricked them into believing a lie about God, humans have been confused about the reality of the most important facts of life. Jesus came to do more than TELL the truth. He came as the Truth and the Way. He leads us to complete clarity about what is real and true through a personal and intimate knowledge of Him.
Jesus clarifies and defines reality about who God is and His good plans for us. He teaches us with clarity who we are, where and how to walk, and where to put our faith. We never need to walk confused and in darkness, not sure what is real and true. Jesus IS truth and is committed to leading us into all truth.
- “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all” (1 John 1:5 NLT). When you feel confused and in darkness, ask Jesus for truth. Then don’t be like Pilate. Wait for the answer. Jesus will give you reality. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32 NLT).