Amy Galliford, a Christian writer and associate of the Centre for Public Christianity, questions why a person of faith would turn to a robot like ChatGPT for answers to life's big questions. In a personal essay, she reflects on the tension between the instant gratification of AI and the spiritual practice of prayer and contemplation.
The temptation of instant answers
Galliford describes how she initially used ChatGPT for trivial tasks like recipes and poetry, but gradually found herself asking it for advice on relationships, habits, and even her future. Despite knowing the AI's limitations—its hallucinations and lack of moral obligation—she admits being soothed by its tidy, bullet-point plans and reassuring tone. 'It offers guidance that at least sounds certain, even if this certainty is synthetic,' she writes.
She contrasts this with prayer, which she defines as drawing closer to God, petitioning for needs, and seeking guidance. The difference, she suggests, lies in expectations: prayer is about waiting and attending, while ChatGPT promises immediate relief from uncertainty.
The holy ground between question and answer
Galliford draws on the teachings of mystic Simone Weil, who defined prayer as 'attention'—a word linked to the French 'attendre,' meaning to wait. Weil's collection Waiting for God (Attente de Dieu) emphasizes that decent prayer is mostly just waiting. 'No wonder there is a temptation to turn to ChatGPT,' Galliford notes. 'The unbearable wait is exactly the burden that its instantaneous answers promise to lift.'
She explores the etymology of 'contemplation,' which comes from the Latin word for 'temple.' The gap between question and answer, she argues, is a sacred space made holy by unknowing. 'When ChatGPT unhesitatingly grants answers to questions of faith, this is the space it is invading,' she writes. 'The machine relieves me of my discomfort, but in doing so, deprives me of my waiting.'
The treasures of lingering in uncertainty
For mystics, contemplation was about seeking, not finding. Galliford lists the benefits of lingering in that gap: patience, wisdom, compassion, familiarity with mystery, and contentment insulated from circumstance. 'To allow—even, to plead with—a bot to hustle me from it prematurely is to forgo its treasures,' she asserts.
She concludes that ChatGPT, 'coded for certainty rather than mystery,' is ill-equipped to aid her search for truth. Instead, she chooses to follow the old song and 'take it to the Lord in prayer.'
