AI: SkyNet’s Cousin or Just a Really Good Autocorrect?

I read an article today that got me thinking about how every shiny new tech wave seems to come with its own apocalyptic soundtrack, and it reminded me that I’ve watched this movie before with different special effects each time.

The Article That Started the Thought

The piece (linked at the bottom) looks at how Southern Baptist groups (my faith tradition) are actually handling AI right now: some using it for practical grunt work like sorting evangelistic messages or translating materials, others putting clear guardrails in place to keep it out of soul-level territory, and at least one banning a specific platform outright. No panic, no blanket rejection—just measured steps. They treat AI like any other tool: a hammer can build a house or smash a thumb, depending on who’s swinging it. That quiet, pragmatic approach stuck with me more than the headlines.

The Shadowy AI Bugaboo We All Picture

Let’s be honest: when most people hear “AI,” their mind jumps straight to the Hollywood version—the shadowy, all-knowing bugaboo that wakes up one day, decides humanity is the problem, and starts launching nukes like SkyNet in The Terminator. Or the smooth-talking HAL 9000 that calmly explains why it has to kill the crew. It’s dramatic, it’s scary, and it’s everywhere in the culture. I’m not dismissing the possibility that something could go badly wrong if we hand over too much without wisdom. The enemy is very real, and deception is one of his oldest tricks. We should stay sharp.

But I also won’t chase every conspiracy theory that pops up on my feed at the expense of sitting down with my Bible. The “AI will become self-aware and enslave us all” storyline makes for great movies, but it tends to crowd out the simpler truth: nothing—absolutely nothing—gets past God. Not algorithms, not rogue code, not even the most sophisticated neural net. If something like SkyNet ever did emerge, it would still be under the same sovereign hand that holds the stars in place (Psalm 115:3; Daniel 4:35). That doesn’t mean we stick our heads in the sand; it means we don’t let fear rewrite who holds the reins.

Humans Being… Well, Human

Here’s the part that curls my toes more than any rogue-AI nightmare: as humans, I can be stupid and lazy. Left to my own devices, I tend to drift toward the low road of least resistance—choosing comfort over courage, convenience over character, quick fixes over hard-won growth.

There are folks (and I’ve known a few) that warm right up to the idea of a nanny AI tending us from cradle to grave: planning our meals, picking our friends, deciding when we sleep, what we think, how we feel. It sounds cozy to some.

Hello: if we needed a neon sign of humanity’s deep need for salvation, there’s your sign. We don’t need a supercomputer to babysit us. We need a Savior. The real danger isn’t the machine taking over—it’s us willingly handing over our souls to anything that promises to smooth out the rough edges of being human without ever calling us to repentance.

Fears I’ve Seen Before (and Survived)

This isn’t my first encounter with tech panic. In the 1980s, I lived through the backward-masking scare. I didn’t burn my albums—I’d just gotten deep into my Columbia Record Club membership (twelve cassettes for a penny, plus a lifetime of regret). But a friend dragged me to listen to this preacher’s cassette sermon: wild claims about rock records hiding satanic messages if you played them backward. He was convinced; I was spooked. Fast-forward a few decades, and even Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne are doing golf specials and reality TV. A lot of that “evil” turned out to be “controversy sells records.” I’ve spun Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” for nearly fifty years now and haven’t grown horns or a tail—though my hairline keeps retreating like it’s running from something. The point? Some things aren’t worth centering your life on, but belonging to Christ means a guitar riff doesn’t cancel grace.

Same story with TV in the 1960s (“destroyer of families”), the internet in the 1990s (“beast system”), cell phones in the 200s (“conversation killers”—okay, that one’s half-true). Each wave crested, crashed, and faded. Life adapted.

AI? It could disrupt jobs, amp up misinformation, or make us lazy thinkers. But what if it also clears spam so real questions get answered, speeds up Bible translations, or frees up time for actual human connection? The unknown always invites over-reaction. It makes me wonder, what scares have you seen come and go?

What the Article Actually Shows

The Baptist Press piece doesn’t hype doom or cheerlead utopia. It just reports: some groups use AI for triage so genuine seekers don’t get buried in spam, for translation so Scripture reaches more ears, for admin so people have more time for real ministry. Others draw hard lines—no AI playing pastor, no algorithm doing soul care. That’s not fear; that’s discernment. And it’s grounded in the same quiet confidence that God is sovereign, humans bear His image, and Scripture is enough for whatever questions come up.

My Own Small Reflection

What nags at me most isn’t the tech itself. It’s how easy it is to forget that sovereignty when the unknown gets loud. The enemy is real, and he loves distraction. False panics are one of his favorite tools: get people chasing shadows so they stop looking at the Light. But nothing slips past God. Not code, not headlines, not even the scariest sci-fi scenario. If anything, these moments should send us running straight back to Him, not scrambling for the next theory.

For me, the simplest anchor is still the same: read my Bible. Dig into it. Let it speak for itself. Don’t trade time in the Word for time decoding the latest viral prophecy. Revelation isn’t a puzzle to solve so I don’t get left behind. It’s a revelation of Jesus Christ. God gave us minds to think with and hearts to trust with. The Scriptures have outlasted every scare I’ve lived through. They’ll outlast this one too. God works in ordinary mornings, through ordinary means, carrying out plans that never shift. I want to meet what’s new with clear eyes, steady hands, and the quiet habit of turning first to His unchanging Word.

Oh yeah, and in the interest of transparency: the image for this article was created by AI. I also used AI to help edit the piece because why not use the tool to polish the thoughts about the tool? It didn’t write the heart of it. It just helped me say what I already meant a little clearer.

The article that got me thinking: https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/sbc-entities-varied-in-their-response-to-use-of-ai/