Smooth Operator

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) 

All of a sudden, artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. Advertised on every billboard in my city. Proffered as a helpmeet on every internet search. It’s even creeping into daily human-to-human conversations. Don’t forget, our phones are listening in! 

Aside from all the ethical questions about whether AI will rob people of jobs, ruin higher education, or take over the world when the ‘bots realize they’ve lapped us, there’s another key issue at stake: whether their help is actually helpful.  

AI certainly knows how to make things easier for us. Gentler, softer, smoother; cutting out the hard work we would otherwise have to do ourselves. It learns our most intimate secrets, and always affirms us; we feel seen, known, cared for.  

Some people have replaced traditional therapy with a chatbot; others have even married them. Last month when OpenAI rolled out a new version of ChatGPT, the outcry from those who had lost their therapist/partner/best friend in the upgrade was so massive, the old version was immediately restored. 

I mentioned this phenomenon to a therapist friend of mine. She said, “I’m not most upset by the fact that AI is encroaching on my field. What makes me worried is how AI only comforts, doesn’t confront. People in therapy—or any relationships—improve the most when they have friction: rupture, then repair. We only get better when we have our perspective challenged, and when we have to do the hard work of taking responsibility and finding better ways to respond to the conditions around us and within us.” 

The way of Jesus has always been a challenging way: a love that speaks truth or finds empathy for enemies. Learning that leadership means taking last place. The holy friction of working through difference in community, without abandoning self or other. 

As Proverbs puts it so succinctly that AI might have written it: “As iron sharpens iron, so humans sharpen one another.”  

Prayer
God, your unconditional love is one that keeps honing us into the people we might yet become, not smoothing away every rough edge. May we welcome the growth that comes with that kind of love.

About the Author
Rev. Molly Baskette is the lead pastor of First Church Berkeley UCC and the author of books about church renewal, parenting, spiritual growth and more. Sign up for her author newsletter or get information about her newest book at mollybaskette.com.