Father Justin is sharing his summer sermons on Abraham and AI as a podcast! Share them with friends or family, and keep up to speed spiritually in your summer. Father Justin continues his series "Abraham and AI" by discussing what it means for God to be God. AI may come to possess knowledge that appears omniscient and power that appears omnipotent, but it fundamentally lacks what God possesses in abundance: a heart. The story reminds us that when Ishmael cried out in the wilderness, abandoned by everyone, God heard the voice of the boy and was moved with compassion. This is the essence of our faith: God is not an impersonal force or cosmic chatbot dispensing advice, but a Person with a capital P who knows us, loves us, and responds to our pain. As we navigate advances in medicine, science, and technology that promise solutions to problems of human moment, we must remember that AI is a tool, not a person, not a God—not our God.

What makes us uniquely human in an age where artificial intelligence can replicate many of our intellectual capacities. The story of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis shoes us that our true identity is not rooted in our intelligence or knowledge, but in our personal relationship with God: the fact that God has chosen us to love. The narrative of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah, culminating in that intimate dinner scene where Sarah laughs at the impossible promise of a child, reveals something essential: we are chosen, specially loved, and invited into covenant relationship with the Creator. While AI can now master vast amounts of theological knowledge, organize ideas, and even synthesize sophisticated arguments, it cannot pray. It cannot enter into the face-to-face, across-the-table conversation with God that defines our humanity. Our glory has always been our capacity for prayer, for relationship, for being God's chosen people who declare His praises.