While writing about the damage and dangers of Digital Technology, I got to thinking about the gaps that exist between four related but very different sources of information: Artificial Intelligence (AI), human intelligence, human wisdom, and biblical wisdom. In this article, we will demonstrate two things: First, these sources of information can be aligned on a spectrum to represent their depth of meaning, potential for good, and power for transformation; and therefore, their ultimate value. Second, a scrupulous consideration of their relative values should guide the appropriate investment of our time and attention toward each one.
Those of you who follow my writing have likely picked up on my love-hate relationship with AI. I’ve argued strenuously against the commonly held belief in the amorality of Digital Technology. In its current form and use (e.g., social media platforms on cell phones), we are only just beginning to understand its agentic and destructive capabilities – particularly in adolescents, teenagers, and young adults. An entire generation (i.e., GenZ) has been characterized by the detrimental effects Digital Technology is having on their psychological, physical, and spiritual health (Haidt, 2024). AI will take the destructive capabilities of Digital Technology to an exponentially higher level.
- Studies have shown that AI used for hiring, lending, or criminal justice can embed racial or gender bias, because the data reflects past injustice (O’Neil, 2016).
- Bostrom (2014) and Russell (2019) describe scenarios where systems pursue a goal (like maximizing engagement or making profit) and unintentionally create harmful side effects — for example, fueling polarization, addiction, or misinformation.
- Sherry Turkle (2011) and Cal Newport (2019) show how digital technologies can fragment attention, shallow our relationships, and reduce capacity for solitude and deep reflection.
- AI-generated voices and faces can be used to impersonate leaders, spread political lies, or manipulate markets (Chesney & Citron, 2019).
- In a recent MIT study on the negative effects of LLM use, Nataliya Kosmyna warns that developing brains—especially in educational settings—may be at high risk, saying, “I am afraid in 6–8 months, there will be some policymaker who decides, ‘let’s do GPT kindergarten.’ I think that would be absolutely bad and detrimental.”
- Since 2010, depression among teen girls has risen 145%; teen boys, 161%. For college students, depression has increased 106%; anxiety, 134%. For young adolescent girls (ages 10-14), emergency room visits for self-harm has increased 188%; suicide rates, 167%. (Haidt, 2024)
These findings, and more like them, point to one critical and missing ingredient: wisdom. In fifteen short years (of social media platforms on smart phones), humankind has proven it lacks the wisdom to safely implement agentic Digital Technology.
On the other hand, AI is not going away. We are now trapped in a global arms race to see which corporations and nations will dominate the world and their societies with the technology. The once fantastical promises of AI are being delivered at amazing and accelerating speed. Those who refuse to leverage AI wisely will find themselves handicapped against their competition. Even those of us not required to compete for a living should learn to leverage augmenting AI functionality in a responsible way. For example, the Large Language Models (LLMs) we use have significantly improved my research capabilities, allowing us to better edify and equip our readers (as you will experience in this article).
With few exceptions, mankind has leveraged technology with the necessary proportional wisdom: fire constrained and extinguishers handy; helmets for cyclists; age limits for driving and firearm use; certifications for life-threatening professions; etc. The most glaring exception is atomic power. Hopefully, we will never forget the quarter of a million people killed by it in WWII, and the threat of nuclear holocaust we now live under because of it. Experts compare the race to AI dominance with that of the nuclear arms race, noting that caution has been similarly thrown into the wind.
Tragically, the AI arms race has disincentivized corporations and governments from implementing guardrails and safeguards. In this environment, citizens cannot depend on the wisdom and ethics of their leaders to protect our families, friends, neighbors, and fellowships. Those of us with eyes to see and ears to hear must assume responsibility for the future health and thriving of our children. Understanding the differences between artificial intelligence, human intelligence, human wisdom, and biblical wisdom is a good and necessary starting point.
A Conversation with Copilot
As I mentioned above, research is one of the augmenting strengths of AI. With the right prompting technique and careful validation of its responses, AI can do in minutes what once took researchers weeks or months to accomplish. The following represents one such example.
Please note that this conversation has been proofed and edited for readability; and the references have been verified (using another LLM). As with everything we publish or teach – using AI or not – we strongly recommend that the reader read in the teaching presence of the Holy Spirit. He alone can guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
My Prompt to Copilot: Answer as a high school teacher educating her students on the differences between human intelligence, artificial intelligence, and human wisdom. Citing several AI, philosophy, and cognitive science experts, include an explanation of the dangers broad AI adoption imposes without comparable human wisdom. Then, explain how biblical wisdom takes this to another level. Be sure to include APA in-text citations and bibliography.
Copilot Response: You’re asking a really important question, and I’m glad you are. Let’s walk through it like we would in a good, honest class discussion.
Human intelligence, artificial intelligence, and human wisdom
When psychologists and cognitive scientists talk about human intelligence, they usually mean our ability to learn, reason, solve problems, and adapt to new situations. Key ideas:
- General intelligence: We can flexibly use what we know in many different situations, not just one narrow task (Spearman, 1904).
- Multiple abilities: Things like verbal skills, spatial reasoning, memory, emotional understanding, social awareness, and creativity all contribute to human intelligence (Gardner, 1983).
- Embodied and social: We learn through our bodies, relationships, culture, and stories, not just from logic in our heads (Varela, Thompson, & Rosch, 1991).
Human intelligence is deeply connected to our bodies, emotions, histories, and relationships. It isn’t just thinking fast, testing well, or having a high IQ – it is shaped by everything from family and culture to trauma and love.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is different. It means machines performing tasks that, if a human did them, we’d call them “intelligent” — like recognizing images, understanding language, or playing complex games (Russell & Norvig, 2021). Key ideas:
- Narrow AI: Today’s systems are very good at specific tasks (translation, recommendation, image recognition), but they do not have general understanding or consciousness (Marcus & Davis, 2019).
- Pattern recognition: Most modern AI, especially LLMs, works by detecting patterns in huge datasets, not by “understanding” the way humans do (Domingos, 2015).
- No inner life: AI doesn’t have desires, experiences, or a moral conscience. It doesn’t “care” about truth or goodness; it simply optimizes for objectives we give it (Floridi, 2014).
Alan Turing (1950) asked whether a machine could “think,” but even he recognized that passing a conversation test doesn’t mean the machine truly understands in a human way.
Wisdom goes beyond intelligence. A person can be very smart — get perfect test scores, do advanced math — and still make destructive, foolish, or selfish choices. Wisdom is about using knowledge rightly, in alignment with what is good, true, and life-giving. Philosophers and psychologists describe wisdom with elements like:
- Moral judgment: The ability to discern right from wrong and choose the good (Aristotle, trans. 2000).
- Perspective and humility: Seeing things from multiple viewpoints, aware of one’s own limits (Baltes & Staudinger, 2000).
- Practical know-how: Knowing how to act well in complex, real-life situations, not just in theory (Polanyi, 1966; Sternberg, 1990).
- Care for others: A wise person considers the common good, not just personal gain (Vervaeke, 2019).
In summary, intelligence answers, “What can we do?” Wisdom answers, “What should we do?” and “Who are we becoming when we do it?” AI sits entirely in the intelligence bucket, far removed from human intelligence, and nowhere near our understanding of human wisdom.
Why broad AI adoption is dangerous without comparable human wisdom
Note: I pulled the highlights from this section into the introduction above.
Why AI itself cannot supply the wisdom we need
It’s tempting to think, “We’ll just use AI to help us get wiser.” But wisdom is not something we can simply outsource to algorithms.
- No moral responsibility: AI does not bear moral guilt or moral praise; humans do. Responsibility sits with designers, deployers, and users (Russell, 2019).
- No lived experience: Wisdom grows from suffering, relationships, humility, and long-term character formation. A system that predicts text has none of that (Vervaeke, 2019).
- Value alignment is a human problem: The “value alignment problem” in AI — making machines act according to human values — is hard partly because humans disagree deeply about those values (Russell, 2019; Bostrom, 2014).
So, if human wisdom does not grow at least as fast as AI capability, the gap becomes a danger zone. We get supercharged tools guided by underdeveloped hearts and minds. That mismatch is where many experts see the greatest risk.
How biblical wisdom takes this to another level
So far, we’ve talked about human wisdom in a general, philosophical sense. Scripture goes deeper. Biblical wisdom is not just practical smarts or good judgment; it’s rooted in relationship with God.
1. The foundation: “The fear of the Lord”
The Bible defines the starting point of wisdom very clearly: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom… (Proverbs 9:10, NIV).” In this context, “fear” means terror, reverent awe, respect, and piety before a holy God(Outline of Biblical Usage, BlueLetterBible.com). Furthermore, Biblical wisdom answers questions that philosophy alone cannot settle:
- Who defines good and evil?
- What is a human being for?
- What kind of world has God made — and what is our responsibility in it?
Without this foundation, we tend to make ourselves or our technologies the final authority, which Scripture calls idolatry (Romans 1:21–25).
2. Wisdom as character formed in love
Biblical wisdom is not just head knowledge; it is deeply moral and relational. Proverbs constantly connects wisdom with qualities like humility, honesty, self-control, generosity, justice, and care for the poor (Proverbs 1–9). James describes heavenly wisdom as “pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17, NIV).
In other words, biblical wisdom is Christlike character in action. It calls us to ask not just “What works?” but “Does this honor God and equip me to love my neighbor (Matthew 22:37–40)?” When we evaluate AI through that lens, the questions change:
- Does this system reflect love of neighbor or exploitation of neighbor?
- Does it serve truth or confusion?
- Does it protect the vulnerable or profit from their weakness?
3. Discernment of powers and idols
The Bible also warns that humans are tempted to trust in our own creations instead of God. Idols in Scripture are human-made things we treat as ultimate sources of security or meaning (Isaiah 44:9–20). Paul writes that people “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images” and “worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:23, 25, NIV).
Modern idols are often not statues; they can be systems, technologies, markets, or even data. When we treat AI as the ultimate solver of human problems, we risk turning it into a kind of functional god — something we look to for salvation, control, or identity. On the other hand, Biblical wisdom exposes these false gods, calls us back to worship the Creator, not the creation, and teaches us to see technologies as tools, not masters.
4. Human dignity and limits
Biblical wisdom also gives a clear vision of human dignity and human limits. Humans are made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26–27), which gives each person inherent worth that no algorithm can measure or replace. At the same time, Scripture insists we are finite and fallen, prone to sin, pride, and self-deception (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23).
This is crucial in our consideration of AI and its uses. Human dignity means we must never treat people as mere data points, products, or targets — even if AI can. Human fallenness means we should be very cautious about giving massive power to systems designed by sinful, limited people. Biblical wisdom urges humility, caution, and accountability in building and using powerful technologies.
5. Christ as the ultimate wisdom of God
Finally, the New Testament makes two relevant and radical claims:
- Jesus Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24, NIV).
- In Jesus, wisdom is revealed not as raw power or cleverness, but as self-giving love, including His ultimate self-sacrificing love on the Cross (1 Corinthians 1:18–31).
That means the ultimate measure for how we use any power – including AI – must be challenged with rigorous biblical scrutiny: Does the implementation and use of AI move societies in the direction of Christlike love, justice, humility, and reconciliation?
AI might help us work faster and more powerfully, all the while harming humankind with ever-increasing speed and force. In this regard, biblical wisdom says:
- Power is not neutral.
- True wisdom is cruciform — shaped like the self-giving love of Christ, not the self-exalting pride of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9; Philippians 2:5–11).
End of Conversation
Conclusion
It is hard to imagine that a system based on the prediction of next words can do the things we experience using AI. It is easy to become awestruck by its capabilities; capabilities that have surprised even its most optimistic proponents. Furthermore, we and our children are growing up in a world where AI will be normal – like electricity and the internet. AI intelligence can extend our abilities, and it warrants some measure of our attention, but not at the expense of our own intelligence.
AI barely lights a candle to the splendor of the richness of human intelligence; and much less that of human wisdom. Human intelligence built these systems. There is not enough compute power and energy in the world to enable AI to mimic human intelligence – and mimic is all it can aspire to do. Consequently, the value we ascribe to the development of human intelligence should exceed that of AI by multiple factors. In practical terms, we should be investing hours on our intellectual development for every minute we invest in our LLM’s.
Human wisdom, with its morality, humility, practicality, and care, further highlights the capacity and capability of humans beyond that of mere artificial intelligence. That assumes, of course, that we acquire those virtues in our formation and exercise them in our relationships and endeavors. Certainly, the world will be a better place in those places where leaders and followers augment their intelligence with wisdom before considering augmentation with AI.
Only human wisdom, and ultimately biblical wisdom in Christ, can guide us to use this power in ways that lead to life rather than destruction. We must force ourselves and our leaders to consider the depth of meaning, potential for good, and power for transformation offered by biblical wisdom.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. John 14:26
Biblical wisdom is the wisdom of God: eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and available to His sons and daughters. The beginning of biblical wisdom is the fear of the LORD and faith in His provision.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
The world has forever needed the wisdom of the LORD; and no less now than ever before.
God bless you with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in you, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.
Have a strong day in the Lord,
Rob
#iamjustthepen
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