“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” — 2 Timothy 4:2-4
A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) has been in the news A LOT! Everyone certainly has thoughts and predictions about what it means for our world.
But recently, one article caught my attention. It described A.I. sycophancy. What is that? A.I. sycophancy gives insincere flattery to gain an advantage. At the same time, it’s telling people what they want to hear, or simply being a “yes man.”
A recent study found that A.I. chatbots are 50% more sycophantic than people. In other words, when people ask A.I. chatbots questions, the responses are frequently overly flattering. Furthermore, they tell people what they want to hear, even if it’s a lie! Researchers found that A.I. chatbots may, to a large extent, adjust their responses to agree with the user, even if the information is false.
That’s just people pleasing, which has been around for millennia. But A.I. chatbots definitely do it quite often.
Important To Remember
With the growing popularity of A.I., this should specifically give the Christian a pause. Look again at Paul’s final charge to Timothy. Paul is nearing the end of his life, and this is his exhortation to his spiritual son. People will accumulate teachers who tell them what they want to hear.
For the mature Christian, we need to always remember a few things:
- First, we must make God’s Word our bedrock of truth. What does the Bible teach about a particular subject or topic? We need to fasten the belt of truth around our waist daily so that lies don’t sweep us up.
- Second, when we get counsel (be it from people or A.I. chatbots), we need to ask ourselves, “Am I only listening to opinions I want to hear?” or “Have I surrounded myself with yes men?” May that not be.
Praying for discernment,
Posted in A Word from the Pastor