Is AI Discipling Us?

The danger is not simply that artificial intelligence may be wrong. The danger is that we may become so accustomed to immediate answers that we lose our ability to seek God, endure uncertainty and grow in the tension of waiting. Let me begin with the necessary disclaimer. I use artificial intelligence. I find it fascinating. I believe it can be helpful. I believe it will become even more useful as people learn how to use it responsibly, creatively and honestly. AI can help us organize thoughts, explore an idea, locate information, prepare questions and find language for something we have struggled to express. It can make certain resources more accessible to people who may never have had access to a coach, teacher, researcher or creative partner. That matters. So this is not an anti-AI article. It is an argument for putting AI in its proper place. Because I am becoming increasingly convinced that the greatest spiritual danger of artificial intelligence may not be that it gives us the wrong answer. The greater danger may be that it gives us an answer too quickly. An answer before we have prayed. An answer before we have listened. An answer before we have searched Scripture. An answer before we have wrestled with our motives. An answer before we have sought wise counsel. An answer before God has finished using the question to form something inside us. AI can give us information almost instantly. But God does not always work instantly. Sometimes God answers immediately. Sometimes He makes His direction unmistakably clear. But throughout Scripture, God also allows time between the prayer and the answer, the promise and the fulfillment, the calling and the commissioning. And that space is not alway empty. Sometimes the waiting is where the formation happens. AI may help us find an answer. But only God can form wisdom in us through the process of seeking Him. Compliance is not comprehension A recent research project called DigitalCoach compared how human experts and leading AI models coached people through computer tasks. The researchers found that AI models gave more direct instructions than human coaches. However, they offered fewer explanations, fewer diagnoses of what had gone wrong and fewer questions checking whether the learner actually understood what they were doing. When people worked with the AI coaches, they were more likely to passively follow directions without engaging deeply in the learning process. That finding stopped me. Because there is a significant difference between being able to follow instructions and actually knowing what you are doing. You can tell someone where to click. You can tell them what sentence to write. You can provide the Scripture, the business strategy, the apology, the prayer or the five-step plan for fixing their life. And the person may successfully complete the immediate task. But do they understand why it worked? Would they recognize when the same advice does not apply in a different situation? Could they identify the mistake if something went wrong? Have they developed wisdom? Have they sought God? Or have they simply learned to return to the machine for the next instruction? There is a name for what concerns me here: Compliance without comprehension. The person gets through the task, but the person does not necessarily grow. And when we apply that pattern to spiritual life, the concern becomes even more serious. Biblical wisdom is not merely the possession of correct information. Wisdom is the God-given ability to understand what is true, recognize what is happening and respond faithfully. Scripture tells us: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God.”— James 1:5 James does not tell us merely to locate an answer. He tells us to ask God. That request implies relationship. It requires trust. It positions us as dependent upon Someone greater than ourselves. AI may retrieve biblical information. It may summarize multiple interpretations. It may help us organize our questions. But it cannot replace the posture of seeking wisdom from God. God is not a search engine We live in a world that increasingly treats every question as a problem to be resolved immediately. We search. We scroll. We prompt. We expect a response. And when the answer does not come quickly, we assume that something is malfunctioning. But God is not malfunctioning when He does not answer immediately. God is not a search engine. He is not obligated to provide an instant response in the format we requested. He is a Father. He is a Shepherd. He is Lord. He may answer our question directly. He may redirect our attention. He may expose a deeper question underneath the one we asked. He may use Scripture, prayer, circumstances and other people. He may say yes. He may say no. He may tell us to wait. And sometimes He allows us to remain in the tension long enough for us to discover whether we actually want His wisdom or merely His approval. Proverbs teaches: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”— Proverbs 3:5 That verse is often quoted as reassurance, but it is also an invitation to surrender. Do not lean exclusively on what you can currently understand. Do not treat your perspective as complete. Do not assume that the fastest conclusion is the wisest one. “In all your ways submit to him,” the passage continues, “and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6). Submission takes more than information. It requires us to place our judgment, desires, fears and timing before God. There is growth in the tension Waiting is uncomfortable because it exposes what immediate answers allow us to avoid. When we do not know what to do, we discover how badly we want control. When direction is unclear, we discover what we are tempted to manipulate. When God seems quiet, we discover where our trust is actually located. When the answer is delayed, we encounter our impatience, anxiety, pride and fear. Those discoveries can be painful. But they can also be formative. Psalm 27 ends with David speaking directly to his own soul: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”— Psalm 27:14 Waiting is not presented as passive resignation. It takes strength. It requires courage. The waiting itself becomes an act of faith. Isaiah similarly describes those who wait for, hope in or trust in the Lord as people whose strength is renewed (Isaiah 40:31). The promise is not merely that waiting will eventually end. The promise is that God can do something within us while we wait. Romans 5 says that suffering produces perseverance, character and hope (Romans 5:3–5). James tells believers that the testing of faith produces perseverance and that perseverance must finish its work so that we may become mature and complete (James 1:2–4). These passages reveal a pattern: God does not only care about getting us out of tension. God uses tension to develop us. There are qualities of faith that cannot be formed through immediate resolution. Patience cannot be developed without delay. Trust cannot be developed without uncertainty. Perseverance cannot be developed without resistance. Discernment cannot be developed if every answer is handed to us before we have learned how to listen. Discernment grows through practice Hebrews describes mature believers as those who have trained themselves through constant use to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:14). That language matters. Discernment is trained. It develops through practice. It grows as we study Scripture, pray, obey, make decisions, learn from mistakes, receive correction and observe the fruit of our choices. Discernment is not simply knowing a collection of Bible verses. It is learning to recognize what aligns with God’s character, God’s Word and the work of His Spirit. That development takes time. An AI system can list biblical principles about a decision. It can offer possible interpretations. It may even identify relevant passages that we overlooked. But if we consistently allow it to reach conclusions for us, we may bypass the very practices through which discernment develop… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wehavetoshare.substack.com/subscribe