Society, Work, and Humanity in the AI Era

How to stay grounded when society swings between utopian dreams and apocalyptic fears.

Every time I see a new breakthrough in AI, I feel two competing emotions: excitement and dread.

Excitement because my efficiency skyrockets with every new tool I try.
Dread because I realize if I can do it in seconds… so can everyone else.

For example, a beautifully designed slide on a presentation used to signal to the viewer high end branding, a trustworthy reputation, and quality teaching. It had value because there was work, sacrifice, and time involved. Not everyone could do it.

Now? Stunning design is instant.
If everything is beautiful, beauty stops meaning anything.

So why am I writing about AI here on The Dandelion Report?

Because these changes are not just economic or technological. Those surface-level changes are symptoms of something deeper happening.

AI is reshaping the three core things Scripture already defines: society, work, and humanity.

And when we forget those definitions, we start interpreting AI through utopian or dystopian lenses instead of a grounded, biblical one.

Is society really heading towards utopia?

This world is fallen. Sin broke it, and it will only fully be put right again when Jesus returns.

“For the creation was subjected to frustration…the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
- Romans 8:20-22

We can safely assume (without getting into nuanced arguments about eschatology and the end times) that until Jesus returns, things will continue to be broken.

Utopia does not exist and it won’t. No matter how much AI extends our lives, erases poverty, or makes hard work obsolete. People who say “It’ll be a rough 15-20 years and then all of society will transition into the AI world and we’ll be happier and healthier than ever before” are serving up a big ol’ dose of hopium.

Of course, you could look at life and times in the 1800’s and say, “Look at how much better life is in the 2000’s due to technological advances” and surmise that AI will accelerate this for us, and perhaps AI will eliminate cancer or stop car accidents and plane crashes.

But if you ask people today if we’re living in a Utopia compared to the 1800’s, many of us would say they had it better back then. 🤣

The point is… utopia is not coming for us. Jesus is the only One who will finally put the world right again. AI won’t restore the world, it’s just going to amplify the broken one we already have.

AI can change work, but not how we’re made.

Next up… the idea of work.

AI is changing (and eliminating) work. But what is work and why do we do it?

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” - Genesis 2:15

Work was a part of our makeup and design from before the world broke. We were placed in a Garden and told to work it and keep it.

Work is good for us. It’s how we’re made. The word here in Scripture means:

• creating

• cultivating

• managing

• stewarding

• building

• serving

• repairing

• protecting

The struggle and pain involved in work happens after the fall as part of the curse.

When I hear people say that AI will eliminate work and we’ll just sit and play and entertain ourselves all day, I shudder. Even though we can’t know how the Garden of Eden functioned prior to the fall, work was a part of the equation.

We are made to work.

Jesus’ work on the cross redeemed us, so that believers who have the Holy Spirit are able to infuse purpose, worship, and ministry into their work… though the struggle still continues.

Outsourcing all work to robots seems like we’re outsourcing our God-given design. Tools prior to AI helped make our work more enjoyable. AI threatens to replace us entirely.

AI is forcing us to confront what makes us human.

You’ll notice in AI spaces, there is so much talk about AGI (artificial general intelligence), superintelligence, consciousness, etc. What makes us uniquely human in a way that AI can’t copy?

• AI companies build robotic AI companions to simulate intimacy

• AI companies create “talk to your dead loved one” apps

• AI companies claim we’ll be able to upload our consciousness someday into the cloud

But no matter how advanced or human-like it becomes, AI will never cross the line into humanity.

• It cannot possess a soul.

• It cannot choose love.

• It cannot repent.

• It cannot worship.

• It cannot be redeemed.

Humanity isn’t measured by intelligence, output, or capability. Humanity is measured by being made in the image of God.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’
So God created man in his own image… male and female he created them.”
- Genesis 1:26-27

As the world tries to grapple with the advancement of AI, it’s tempting to swing to either extreme: belief in the hype of a new near-perfect world, or doomsday extinction scenarios that don’t take into account that God is still on His throne.

But the truth remains.

God is still sovereign over His creation, and nothing in the AI race has caught Him off guard.