By Tyler McKenzie
In a day when our legislature is so polarized that it seems everything is split down party lines … In a day when reaching across the aisle will ruin your reelection bid … In a day when it seems congress is so deadlocked that the judiciary is doing their job for them … last week the House passed a bill 409 to 2! What!?
The bill was called the “Take it Down Act.” It breezed through the Senate in February co-sponsored by (get this) Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). What!? First Lady Melania Trump has spoken out in favor of the act. It awaits the President’s signature, and it is expected that he will sign it.
This sort of bipartisan support is rare. What is this bill about? The “Take It Down Act” would basically criminalize the nonconsensual publishing of fake pornographic images generated by artificial intelligence. Welcome to 2025! Sadly, this is a thing. These images are also known as “deepfakes,” and they have become very popular. Taylor Swift was the most recognizable victim in 2024 when sexually explicit deepfakes of her were disseminated on social media. But it’s not just celebrities who are being violated, there are numerous stories of teenagers (usually young girls) who have been harmed. Time Magazine reports that the Take It Down Act was “born out of the suffering—and then activism—of a handful of teenagers” whose classmates used AI software to fabricate nude images of them. The young ladies mentioned in the article were Elliston Berry (a 14-year old from Texas) and Francesca Mani (a 15-year old from New Jersey). Could you imagine if this happened to your teenage daughter?
The bill would require platforms to remove the content within 48 hours of being served notice. This is the first major bill attacking the harms that have come from AI. These sorts of harms will only increase in their sophistication and indecency in coming days. In my opinion, we are going to need more regulatory legislation from congress, not less. We have learned the hard way that waiting to regulate burgeoning technology is not a good option. Over the past fifteen years, the paired technologies of the smart phone and social media have devastated us (especially our youth) in ways we still don’t know the extent of. We need to regulate on the front end and introduce new technologies in slow and controlled ways.
As Christians, this should matter to us. Communal shalom and human flourishing are a critical part of our work. It’s noteworthy that in his first formal address, Pope Leo XIV cited AI as the new frontier for justice in our modern times. As AI advances, I would like to suggest a few framing thoughts as we think through whether or not new innovations should be supported, rejected, or moderated.
Advancing the Mandate of Eden
Here’s the guiding question—Does the technology advance the mandate of Eden or the mutiny of Babel? In the Garden of Eden, humanity was given a divine mandate to rule, reign, subdue, and develop this world. Technology can be tools in support of this worshipful mission. At the Tower of Babel, humanity used technology to reach for the heavens and usurp God. Technology can be used to support this shadow mission as well. This guiding question is its own book, but you get the idea. It serves as a moral grid for evaluating the ends of any tech.
Upholding a Trustworthy Witness
Clear and compassionate truth-telling, without spin or catastrophizing, will be fresh wind in a toxic desert of deepfakes and manipulation. It’s incredible how good AI has gotten at creating realistic-looking images. I was stunned when fake images flooded the internet after Hurricane Helene devastated Asheville, North Carolina. There was an image of a crying girl in a life-vest holding a wet puppy on a boat in her flooded town. It was shared over and over by people I follow. If you look closely, you can usually spot a fake, but AI is getting better. Trust is eroding. Verification fatigue is setting in. We are entering into a post-trust era where it will be hard to tell what is real and what isn’t. The world will not always like what we have to say as Christians, but at the very least let’s make sure they can trust that what we are saying is honest and heartfelt.
Resisting Spiritual Deformation
In the immediate, my biggest concern about AI is the loss of data privacy … but not for the reasons you might think. Most of us don’t like the idea of someone peeping over our shoulder and accessing our personal information. It is harrowing the amount of data collection that is happening today. These online platforms know what you click, what you repost, where you linger, what you share, what you message, etc. Through your credit cards, they know what your grocery store habits are, what your favorite brands are, and even psychological traits like impulsivity. Privacy is an illusion.
But the problem is more than just, “Mind your business, Big Data!” The real problem is the manipulation of our hearts and minds. It’s an issue of spiritual deformation. The more you know about someone, the more you can predict their behavior. The more you can predict their behavior, the more you can control it. Sophisticated algorithms have already proven how good they are at profiling us and suggesting what we might want to click next. Imagine the sort of manipulation possible after decades of your data being harvested combined with the ability of AI to process millions of datapoints in seconds.
The next phase of this could be channeling the power of AI through relationships. The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, recently pointed out that most Americans are lonely and don’t have nearly enough friends. His solution? AI friendships. AI can use its superintelligence to learn you better than any human could and serve you better than any human could. However, it’s hard for me to believe that this sort of ex-carnational connection will do anything other than make us more self-absorbed. The power of relationship is its call to self-sacrifice for another in love. How exactly would one exercise cross-shaped love for AI? At the end of the day, we must become a community of counter-cultural resistance here. The simple solution would be more time in face-to-face interaction rather than face-to-screen formation. The good news of AI is that I believe it will drive people to real relationships. This is something the church should have readily available.
You Tell Me
There is so much more to say about AI. I’m curious what you think. What are your big concerns about AI? I would love for you to share in the comments below.
Tyler McKenzie serves as lead pastor at Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
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