When AI Can Do Your Job, What Does That Mean for Human Purpose?

[Ben Light] Hey Chat GPT, could you give me a list of jobs that are not going to be taken over by AI?

For students that are starting university this fall, or even those of you that are deep in your own careers, you've likely heard a lot about artificial intelligence, how it's been improving and becoming more effective at what it does. Each subsequent release seems to increase its ability to write in a more human fashion, to generate more realistic images, video, and music, and to process data faster and more accurately than ever before. As such, there's been some serious concerns raised by many relating to what the world is going to look like as AI continues to develop.

Recently, we saw that seven out of 10 Americans find their fulfillment in their careers. For many people today, they've defined who they are, their personal worth, and foundational identity on what they do.

What happens if that career is replaced by AI? What does this mean for certain segments of society when AI becomes developed enough that it's capable of doing what we currently employ or contract people to do perhaps faster and more efficiently?

University of Melbourne recently published an article that outlined a variety of anxieties people have about AI: loss of control, misinformation and manipulation, economic and identity disruption, loss of authenticity, just to name a few.

So what does it mean for your purpose if all these things come to pass?

AI is not inherently good or inherently evil. Doesn't have character or conscience. Like many human tools, it can be used for helpful purposes or harmful ones depending on the motives and the action of the people using it. Medical professionals, for example, can use artificial intelligence to crunch the necessary numbers and chemical formulas to help treat and cure serious diseases, while criminals can use artificial intelligence to create deep fakes of a loved one to con the elderly out of their money. AI itself isn't the problem. The issue is how human beings choose to use it.

In its latest iterations, there are a lot of things that AI is capable of, and the handwriting is on the wall for certain jobs. But for everything that AI can do, there's a lot of really important things that it cannot do. There's a number of things you simply cannot outsource to AI. And what that means for you and me is that even in this age of artificial intelligence, humanity is still relevant.

AI is not capable of love. AI is not human. Despite its ability to appear human, at its core, it is imitating human experiences based on the vastness of its knowledge base and its ability to scrub information from the internet at speeds that are almost unfathomable. But what that means is that artificial intelligence, even though it might state words that sound like love, is just a hollow imitation of that most profound of human experiences.

God has called humanity to become a part of His family. And within this incredible purpose, mankind finds meaning. This incredible act of redemption began in love. John 3:16, one of the most well-known scriptures in the Bible, describes how it was God's great love for the world that provided a path forward for humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. John writes, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

This incredible promise and opportunity was predicated on love. Can AI understand love? It can search descriptions of love, organize words about love, and produce language that sounds loving, but it can't experience godly love. It can't believe, obey, repent, worship, or build a relationship with God. It can't receive the love God offers. And it cannot sacrificially give that love to others.

Apostle John records Christ's words to His disciples on the evening of His final Passover as He left instructions for His disciples that have been passed down to His followers today through their writings. "A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." As followers of Jesus Christ, we are admonished to love one another as Christ has loved us.

How has Christ loved us? He gave his life for you and for me. That is something AI cannot understand that someone else had to die so that we might live. It can read what others wrote about this. It can combine those things. But truly understanding it, it's not possible. And additionally, because the love of God is outward facing and expressed through acts of sacrificial service to others, it is incapable of those things.

Artificial intelligence is not made in the image of God. You are. It will never replace us spiritually when it comes to the incredible purpose that God has called humanity to.

Job 32:8 says, "There is a spirit in man and the breath of the almighty gives him understanding." Scripture reveals human beings have a spiritual component that gives us a unique mind and a capacity unlike the animals. It is part of what makes human life distinct. It's part of what makes humanity capable of responding to God's love and calling.

John outlines His plan in his first epistle. Says, "Behold, what manner of love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God. And it's not yet been revealed what we will be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

Humanity has been given an opportunity to come to God as children. This has not been offered to animals, to machines, or to even the angels. It has been offered to you. That's how much God loves His creation. AI may change jobs. It may change industries. It may change the way people learn, work, and communicate. But it cannot change why you were born.

You were not created just to produce content, to complete tasks, or to compete with machines.

You were created in the image of God, called to reflect His character, offered the incredible destiny of becoming His child in His eternal family.

AI may imitate intelligence. It may imitate emotion. It may even imitate human conversation. But it cannot love God. It cannot receive His spirit. It cannot repent, overcome, serve from the heart or inherit the Kingdom of God. You can. And that is why humanity will never be rendered obsolete.

For more on this topic, read "The Rise of AI: Is There Hope for Mankind?" And be sure to subscribe and follow Beyond Today for more truth from the Bible.