Don’t allow the artificial to overwhelm the eternal, Elder David A. Bednar encourages

Coming before Tuesday’s bruising U.S. election that has citizens anxious and scared, with international observers wringing their hands, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared an encouraging message Sunday in a worldwide devotional at the BYU-Idaho campus in Rexburg, Idaho.
The apostle began by highlighting the faith’s optimism for the long-term future — calling this a “remarkable season” in “the building up of Zion” — which he said the prophet Joseph Smith called “a cause that has interested the people of God in every age” and a theme upon which they “dwelt with peculiar delight.”
More than just a future hope, Elder Bednar underscored Joseph Smith’s declaration that “prophets, priests and kings” have “looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day.”
Men and women have the opportunity, the early prophet continued, to “participate in and help to roll forward the Latter-day glory,” involving a uniting of “heavenly” and “earthly” disciples to bring about the “salvation of the human family” and “destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness” and “the renovation of the earth.”
Also speaking, Sister Susan Bednar talked of being moved by how often she hears questions from young adults “based on fear, lack of confidence and trust” — going on to explore how any of us can “replace fear with Christlike love and faith” by amplifying Isaiah’s words: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed.”
“Jesus walks with you and me on our journey through life more than we will recognize.”
In a modern society heavy with anomie, despair and meaninglessness, it’s hard to imagine a more countercultural set of messages.
Elder Bednar addressed the seriousness of challenges currently faced by youth and adults alike.
“The special season in which we live is now and will continue to be filled with stunning spiritual developments and happenings,” Elder Bednar said, drawing attention to a “miraculous progression of innovations and inventions that have enabled and accelerated God’s work of salvation and exaltation” — from trains to telegraphs all the way to internet and “an almost endless list of technologies and tools that bless our lives.”
These “scientific discoveries that stagger the imagination,” as President David O. McKay anticipated in 1966, include “discoveries latent with such potent power, either for the blessing or the destruction of human beings” — prophesying about our now-present age “fraught with limitless perils, as well as untold possibilities”
Elder Bednar himself had warned 15 years ago in an address at Brigham Young University–Idaho about the “potentially stifling, suffocating, suppressing and constraining impact of some kinds of cyberspace interactions and experiences upon our souls.” Now he asked students the same questions posed previously:
“Does the use of various technologies and media invite or impede the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in your life? Does the time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve in meaningful ways?”
Elder Bednar cautioned about AI technology “meticulously designed” to “offer engaging and addictive experiences” while mimicking nurturing companionship — an “allure” that is “further heightened by their 24/7 availability and the absence of the complexities often found in authentic human relationships.”
This can “wreak havoc in previously safe relationships” as “a person may find comfort and solace in a virtual companion” and “counterfeit emotional intimacy may displace real-life emotional intimacy,” Elder Bednar continued.
“Some individuals may fall into this trap without realizing it is a violation of the exclusive commitment to a spouse because a virtual companion is not ‘real’ and does not count as another person.”
He spoke plainly: An AI-generated companion “does not like you. It does not care. It really does not know if you exist or not. … It is only a mathematical algorithm … a set of computer equations that will treat you as an object to be acted upon, if you let it.”
In addition to being commanded to “love one another,” Elder Bednar cited God’s entreaty to Enoch that the would would “choose me, their Father.”
“We have not been blessed with moral agency to do whatever we want whenever we will,” the apostle continued. “Rather, according to the father’s plan, we have received moral agency to seek after and act in accordance with eternal truth” — including to “love one another and to choose God.”
Consistently, he referred to Principles for Church Use of Artificial Intelligence, which encourages the use of artificial intelligence in the faith “to support and not supplant connection between God and His children.”
“Artificial intelligence cannot simulate, imitate, or replace the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives,” Elder Bednar elaborated. “No matter how sophisticated and elegant AI technology ultimately may become, it simply can never bear witness of the Father and the Son, reveal the truth of all things, or sanctify those who have repented and become baptized,” the apostle taught.
“Because AI is cloaked in the credibility and promises of scientific progress,” he added, “we might naively be seduced into surrendering our precious moral agency to a technology that can only ‘think telestial.’”
Alongside its many potential benefits, AI can “distract us from the eternal truths and righteous work necessary for spiritual growth,” Elder Bednar taught. Only through “purposeful, unselfish” work — “rendered in the spirit of the true love of Christ” — can any of us become “worthy instruments in the hands of the Lord,” the apostle cited President Ezra Taft Benson as teaching, along with the following from President Thomas S. Monson:
“God left the world unfinished for (men and women) to work (their) skill upon. He left the electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth. He left the rivers unbridged and the forests unfelled and the cities unbuilt. God gives to (us) the challenge of raw materials, not the ease of finished things. He leaves the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and the problems unsolved, that (we) might know the joys and glories of creation.”
At a time of life where “divine capacities to create and work” can especially be developed and refined, Elder Bednar cautioned that “overreliance on AI technology will cause us to become spiritually slothful and shallow.”
Rather than grow spiritually through careful preparation of lessons, Elder Bednar pointed to how easy it can be to use AI to generate a sacrament meeting talk or Sunday School lesson. “A simple command spoken into your digital device, wait a few seconds or minutes, and you have what you need.”
“But do you really have what you need?”
Earlier this year at a BYU devotional, Elder Bednar exhorted students, “Please do not allow the supposed accuracy, speed, and ease of modern technologies to entice you to avoid or circumvent the righteous work that invites into your life the blessings you will need. My beloved brothers and sisters, there are no spiritual shortcuts or quick-fixes.”
While acknowledging the benefits of AI in assisting in “gathering information, critiquing our thinking, (or) evaluating our writing style,” the apostle said this weekend that he personally doesn’t use technology like this to “generate or draft my talks, articles, or content for other projects” — which he believes must arise through “my diligent effort, my creative work, and, most importantly, my seeking to be open to inspiration from the Holy Ghost.”
Even if this technology can assist us in generating “fabulous content” for a presentation or talk, “the objective is not merely producing or presenting impressive content,” he added. “Rather, it is working and becoming what God intends and yearns for us to become.”
“My dear brothers and sisters, please always remember — we should not sell our spiritual birthright of ‘know(ing) the joys and glories of creation’ for a mess of technological ‘pottage.’”
Even with these significant cautions, Elder Bednar made clear that “all of these advancements are part of the Lord hastening his work in the latter days” — citing Brigham Young’s declaration in 1862, “Every discovery in science and art, that is really true and useful to mankind, has been given by direct revelation from God, though but few acknowledge it. It has been given with a view to prepare the way for the ultimate triumph of truth, and the redemption of the earth from the power of sin and Satan.”
“We should take advantage of all these great discoveries, the accumulated wisdom of ages, and give to our children the benefit of every branch of useful knowledge, to prepare them to step forward and efficiently do their part in the great work.”