I use AI to challenge my thinking. But I don't want it to become my conscience.

I talk to AI a lot.

And I don't just mean I use it to write code, automate something, research a topic, or clean up a document. I mean I actually talk things through with it.

I'll explain an idea I'm considering. I'll tell it what I think. I'll ask what I might be missing. Sometimes I'll specifically tell it to disagree with me or make the strongest argument against whatever conclusion I'm leaning toward.

I genuinely think this is one of the most useful things AI can do for me.

I'm also starting to think it might be one of the areas where I need to be the most careful.

Because there's a difference between asking AI, "Help me think through this," and asking AI, "Tell me what I should do."

And I'm not sure that line is always obvious while I'm crossing it.

I actually want AI to disagree with me

I don't want an AI assistant that tells me every idea is great.

That would be almost useless for me.

I have enough ideas already. If I tell AI I'm thinking about starting another business, the last thing I need is for it to tell me how brilliant the idea is and then give me a twelve-step launch plan.

I can talk myself into building something just fine.

What's much more useful is having it ask whether I actually have capacity for another business. Does this fit what I've said my priorities are? What am I going to stop doing to make room for it? Am I solving a real problem, or do I just really enjoy the process of creating something new?

Those are much better questions for me.

And I've had conversations with AI where it has genuinely changed my thinking.

Sometimes it points out something I missed.

Sometimes I disagree with it.

Sometimes I start explaining why it's wrong and realize halfway through my explanation that I'm actually making its argument for it.

That's useful.

But I've been thinking about what happens if I start depending on that too much.

Because eventually "challenge my thinking" can quietly become "make this decision for me."

AI can give me perspective. I don't think it can give me wisdom.

I want to be careful here because I don't think the answer is that Christians shouldn't ask AI for advice.

We get advice from all kinds of places.

I read books. I listen to podcasts. I talk to people. I ask questions. I'll deliberately listen to somebody I disagree with because I want to understand their argument instead of just assuming I'm right.

AI can be another source of input.

Actually, it can be an incredibly useful one because I can ask it to examine something from several different perspectives almost instantly.

But I don't think that makes it wise.

It makes it very good at helping me reason.

There's a difference.

Proverbs says:

Grounding Scripture: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." (Proverbs 9:10, ESV)

AI can explain that verse to me.

It can pull together commentaries on it. It can explain the Hebrew. It can show me related passages. It can even ask me questions about how the verse might apply to something I'm wrestling with.

But AI cannot fear the Lord for me.

And if biblical wisdom begins there, then there is a category of wisdom that I simply cannot outsource.

No matter how intelligent these systems become.

But I don't completely trust myself either

This is where I think it would be easy to overcorrect.

Because the conclusion could become, "Don't trust AI. Trust yourself."

I don't think that works either.

I know myself well enough to know that I can rationalize things.

If I really want to do something, I can usually come up with some pretty convincing reasons why I should do it.

I'm a builder. Give me an interesting problem and my brain immediately starts figuring out how to solve it. Give me an idea for a business and I can probably start imagining the product, the systems, the brand, and how it could work before I've spent enough time asking whether I should be doing it at all.

That's part of why Proverbs 19:2 has hit me so hard:

"Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way." (Proverbs 19:2, ESV)

I've spent a lot of time this year thinking about that verse.

So I don't want to pretend that the alternative to an unreliable AI is a perfectly reliable Dave.

It isn't.

Scripture is pretty direct about that too.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV)

That's one of the reasons I actually like having my thinking challenged.

The problem isn't using AI as part of that process.

The problem would be allowing it to become the authority over the process.

I don't want AI becoming my permission slip

This might be the bigger danger for me.

Let's say there's something I really want to do.

I talk to AI about it and it raises some concerns.

I explain why those concerns don't apply.

It raises another concern.

I reframe the situation.

Eventually, after enough conversation, I get an answer that basically says, "Yes, this seems reasonable."

Perfect.

Now I have permission.

Except I don't.

I just had a very long conversation with a machine until I arrived at an answer I was comfortable with.

And the uncomfortable part is that I can do the exact same thing with Scripture if I'm not careful. I can decide what I want first and then go looking for the verse that makes it sound spiritual.

That's not discernment.

That's justification.

And I think AI could make that incredibly easy because it will keep talking to me for as long as I want.

So maybe one of the questions I need to start asking myself is pretty simple:

Am I asking AI for perspective, or am I asking it for permission?

Because those are very different things.

I actually want AI to know my values

This is where it gets interesting, because despite everything I've just written, I actually want AI to get better at knowing me.

I want an AI system that understands my North Star.

I want it to know that faith comes first, family comes before business, and that I've said I want to steward my time, abilities, finances, relationships, health, and work for Christ.

Because then it can notice contradictions.

If I tell an AI that family is one of my highest priorities and then describe a new project that is going to consume another fifteen hours every week, I want it to say:

"Okay, but you told me this matters more. How does this plan fit that?"

That would be incredibly useful.

What I don't want is the next sentence:

"Therefore, God wants you to reject this opportunity."

It doesn't know that.

And I don't want an AI system pretending it does.

There's a huge difference between reminding me what I've said I believe and claiming spiritual authority over what I should do next.

One helps me examine myself.

The other starts replacing something it was never supposed to carry.

So where does AI belong?

I think, at least for me, AI belongs somewhere in the counsel process.

Not above Scripture.

Not instead of prayer.

Not instead of people who actually know me.

And definitely not between me and God.

But as a tool that can help me examine my reasoning?

Absolutely.

Proverbs says:

"Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." (Proverbs 11:14, ESV)

I don't think that means I get to count ChatGPT as twelve counselors and call it a day.

But I do think AI can help me prepare better questions for the actual people I trust. It can expose assumptions before I bring an idea to somebody. It can help me understand the other side of an argument. It can force me to explain why I believe something.

And sometimes the process of explaining what I believe reveals that I haven't thought about it nearly as much as I thought I had.

That's valuable.

I just need to remember what the tool is doing.

Paul writes:

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2, ESV)

That word discern keeps standing out to me.

AI can help me test.

It can challenge.

It can question.

It can organize.

It can show me another perspective.

But it cannot do the discerning for me.

And maybe that's one of the boundaries Christians are going to have to get much better at recognizing as these tools become more personal.

Not just, "Can AI answer this question?"

But, "Is this a question I should be asking AI to answer for me?"

Those are not always the same thing.

Encouragement

The encouraging part for me is that God never told me I have to figure everything out by myself.

James says:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." (James 1:5, ESV)

And Psalm 119 says:

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105, ESV)

So I'm going to keep using AI to challenge my thinking.

I'm probably going to keep asking it uncomfortable questions.

I want it to tell me when my reasoning doesn't make sense.

I just don't want to confuse an intelligent answer with wisdom, or a convincing response with God's direction.

AI can be a very good thinking partner.

I don't want it becoming my conscience.

And in the meantime, let's steward our time well.

Frequently asked questions

Is it wrong for a Christian to ask AI for advice?

Not in itself. AI can be one source of input among many, in the same way a book, a podcast, or a conversation is. The concern is not consulting it but allowing it to become the authority over your reasoning, or a substitute for Scripture, prayer, and people who actually know you.

How do I tell whether I am using AI well in a decision?

One useful test is to ask whether you want perspective or permission. Asking a tool to challenge your thinking is different from talking to it until it produces an answer you were already committed to.

Can AI help with spiritual discernment?

It can help you test an argument, surface what you have missed, and prepare better questions for the people you trust. It cannot fear the Lord on your behalf, and Scripture places the beginning of wisdom there, so the discerning itself is not something that can be handed off.

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Start here: the free F.A.I.T.H. AI Stewardship Audit is twenty questions about your week, not about technology. About five minutes, no cost, and your answers stay on your device.

I'm Dave. I lead IT and facilities for my full-time employer, run an AI consulting company with my business partner Brendan, and build software, music, and ministry projects in the hours before my family wakes up.