(A Luddite is someone who opposes technological change, particularly in the context of automation and industrialization, often due to concerns about job loss and the impact on traditional work methods.)

John Lennox, professor of mathematics at Oxford University, makes the point in his book on AI that his Biblical worldview does not make him a Luddite. Point well taken. As an Aerospace Engineer who also holds a Biblical worldview, I too am not a Luddite. My firm commitment to a Biblical worldview does not make me a Luddite. I use technology all the time but am also attuned to the dangers of its misuse, particularly by immature young people. We would not give a 16 year-old with a brand new learner’s permit, the keys to a brand new Ferrari. I am astonished at the number of kids who cannot read time from an analog clock/watch because they learned to tell time from the digital display on their cell phones. (The fact that they even have a cell phone at a young age is another matter. We might as well give them dynamite to play with.) I suspect an overwhelming number of teenagers cannot perform manual long division because they have been raised with calculators. A real emerging problem with AI is the use by students to unethically use it for writing an assigned essay. Sadly, many kids have been crippled by technology and AI through misuse and lack the critical skills to effectively function in the real-world. The absolute worst place to form one’s worldview is on social media, and that is precisely what happens when a young child repeatedly engages with social media.

The Bible emphasizes personal responsibility in several verses, such as Galatians 6:4-5, which states that each person should bear their own load, and Romans 14:12, which reminds us that we will give an account of ourselves to God. Technology is morally neutral. It’s a tool, but like any other tool, subject to misuse. The greater the potential power inherent in a tool, the greater the damaging consequences for misuse. A flamethrower is much more powerful than a match. Allowing young children to engage in the fantasy world of social media while their worldview is still forming is akin to letting them play with a flamethrower. And then parents wonder what happened when the child eventually burns their life to ashes.