I have mentioned before that my musical taste is eclectic. One of the artists I have enjoyed immensely is Randy Travis. His style was old school country music in a time when the genre was moving a different direction. I loved his smooth, deep vocals with that distinctive drawl. That beautiful voice was silenced in 2013 when he suffered a stroke.

Earlier this year, he released a new single, “Where That Came From.” No, he did not regain the ability to speak and sing. It was done by AI, Artificial Intelligence. Another artist recorded the song, which was then analyzed by computers using previous recordings of Randy’s voice to create a recording that sounded very much like Mr. Travis himself had sung the song. It was not as artificial as many of the AI impersonations you hear online. It was actually very good. But it was not quite as good as the real thing.

While there are certainly good and beneficial uses for AI, there are also a myriad of ways this technology can be abused. Political ads purport to play a recording of a candidate saying something he or she never said. College students use AI to generate an essay on a topic without doing any research or learning anything. Hackers use AI to steal personal and financial information online.  And because it is developed by humans, there is the potential for bias to an individual’s point of view.

Something we should recognize about Artificial Intelligence should be obvious by the name. It is artificial. It is not genuine, not the real thing. It has the potential to deceive and lead people astray. Consider this: one of the synonyms for “artificial” is “false.”

Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

The Greek word translated here as “watch out” can also mean “beware” or “be careful.” There are things out that there sound good but are in fact not true. They are rather leading you away from the truth.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the real deal. Knowledge of and faith in Him is the intelligence you need. He showed Himself to be genuine by having His actions match His Words. He told us He came to do the will of His Father, and He did that by living without sin and offering Himself to pay for the sins of the world. He enables us to be forgiven, having done all that is required in God’s Law. He is the only way for us to have life. Those who put their faith in Jesus have the certainty of complete forgiveness, life with Him now and life with Him forever. Don’t settle for any artificial substitutes. There is only one real Savior, and it is Jesus.