This is the second in a four-part series by Dr. Dave Mulder titled, A Better Imagination for AI. In “Rethinking Our Tech Stories,” Dave challenged the narratives we have crafted around AI. This second post suggests a framework for stewarding the tool of AI.
When my family bought a new home a few years ago, the bank gave us a housewarming gift: a Roomba. I was thrilled. If you’ve ever watched reruns of The Jetsons, you might understand why. I didn’t just imagine a vacuum—I imagined Rosie the Robot, the Jetsons’ futuristic maid, who did all the chores while the family relaxed in mid-century-space-age bliss.
Finally! I thought. The future is here.
Robot servants. Automated living. No more crumbs under the table after dinner.
Reality? Well … let’s just say Rosie hasn’t arrived yet.
Our Roomba regularly wedged itself halfway under the couch and spun its little motor until the battery died. There were corners it couldn’t reach. Once it dramatically attempted a dive down the basement stairs. Today, my robot helper lives in a box in our storage room. The dream of chore-free home life is dead.
Andy Crouch calls this phenomenon the “boring robots” effect: new technology amazes us … until we actually try to live with it. We imagine magic; we get maintenance.
As Christian educators, we may be feeling this disillusionment with AI. The first time we try a tool like ChatGPT, we think, Wow … this is incredible. The twentieth time, we think, Why are my students using this to avoid writing? Why did it hallucinate three nonexistent journal articles and insist they were real? Why does every essay now sound like it was written by a very polite robot?
We wanted Rosie the Robot. We got spell-check with illusions of grandeur.
So … what do Christian educators do when the future arrives—not as wonder, but as work?
Created for work—not for replacement
It turns out, my desire for a robot maid wasn’t just about convenience. It was about escaping work. Scripture tells a different story:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15
Work isn’t a curse; it’s part of our original design! We are created to cultivate, to shape, to steward, to build. And here’s the thing: God created us with the creative, innovative potential to develop tools that can help us with the work we are created to do. These tools we can create are gifts—extensions of our creativity, ways we cooperate with God in cultivating His world.
But the tools don’t replace our calling. AI might make some tasks easier, but it cannot replace the holy, human work of teaching or the sacred, formational work of learning.
We don’t need an imagination shaped by Silicon Valley hype or dystopian anxiety. We need a Christian imagination, one grounded in God’s vision for human flourishing.
From anxiety to playful stewardship
Let’s be honest: most educators feel two big emotions about AI:
- Worry (Will this ruin learning? Replace me?)
- Weariness (Another thing I’m supposed to master?)
But Scripture never calls us to lead from fear or exhaustion. Instead, we are called to wisdom and wonder—and yes, even play. My friend and colleague, theologian Justin Bailey, says that play is not childishness: play is creativity in a world saturated with possibility. Play is what image-bearers do when we trust that God is God, and we don’t have to be.
But the tools don’t replace our calling. AI might make some tasks easier, but it cannot replace the holy, human work of teaching or the sacred, formational work of learning.
What if we would adopt a posture of what I call “playful practice” when it comes to AI?
Play allows us to most completely tap into our creative nature—the way God truly created us to be. Practice makes perfect, right? A more honest, authentic frame might be, “Practice makes permanent.” What I’m really suggesting is that a faithful, creative, curious practice might lead us to develop habits that can make us more effective educators.
Christian imagination in an AI age
I think the world is telling a pretty narrow AI story that is an either-or dichotomy: AI will replace us—or save us, and only time will tell which one it will be.
But the gospel tells a bigger, truer story, one that can more fully capture the nuance of what it means to live faithfully in this beautiful-but-broken world. The Big Story of Scripture—creation, fall, redemption, and restoration—can support a better imagination for our work as educators in the age of AI:
- Creation—Humans are called to cultivate, to create, and to enjoy the goodness of this world.
- Fall—Technology can distract, distort, dehumanize because it, too, is twisted and tarnished by sin.
- Redemption—Christ’s salvage operation restores all things, and even our work can take on a renewed purpose and meaning.
- Restoration—God does not need us, but he loves us and bids us to join in the work of renewing all things, not escaping work but redirecting it towards restoration.
We need to remember that AI doesn’t get to tell us who we are. God does! We’re invited to work toward the restoration of all things. We are image-bearers called to steward creation, form souls, and build His kingdom.
Let’s be real: no boring robot can do that.
Let’s not fear AI. But let’s also not worship it. Let’s not outsource our calling to a machine.
Instead, let’s imaginatively, faithfully, playfully steward creation as we work towards the restoration of all things.
Let’s let AI do the boring robot work … so that we can do the good, God-delighting, human work:
- Love our students to the best of our ability
- Teach with passion and purpose
- Disciple future leaders in formative practices
- Challenge kingdom-builders to live and think creatively
- Cultivate wisdom and virtue and practicing these in the real world
- Encourage image-bearers to grow into who God created them to be
This approach will allow us to keep our focus on cultivating beautiful, flourishing, deeply human schools for the glory of God and the good of our students!
