Christianity in the Age of AI:
An Appeal for Wise Leadership

The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
The White House

Dear Mr. President,

You are the American president responsible for leading our country and the world through the greatest scientific breakthrough since the Industrial Revolution, maybe of all time — the age of Artificial Intelligence.

Amidst everything else you are achieving, you are the AI President, having ascended again to the presidency exactly as this technology has reached its own ascendancy. As people of faith, we believe you are the world’s leader now by Divine Providence to also guide AI.

As you know, the world is grappling with a new reality because of the pace of the development of this technology, which represents an opportunity of great promise but also of potential peril especially as we approach artificial general intelligence.

Hundreds of AI researchers and industry leaders have signed bold statements warning that this technology could also potentially lead to massive human suffering. Our friend Elon Musk has long warned of such scenarios, and Bill Gates recently predicted that AI will cause mass unemployment. Sam Altman of OpenAI has even suggested it is plausible that AI ends the world “but along the way, we’ll see lots of great companies.” Pope Leo XIV has said that one of the reasons why he chose his name is because Pope Leo XIII led during the Industrial Revolution and he will lead during the Age of Intelligence.

We are evangelicals, and other Christians, who support technological innovation. We are pro-science. In our ministries around the world, we often visit hospitals and universities that were the first in their respective countries, started by Christian scientists, teachers, and researchers. We also use the very latest technology to reach countless millions online globally.

We are also pro-economic prosperity, and economic leadership for America and our friends. We do not want to see the AI revolution slowing, but we want to see the AI revolution accelerating responsibly.

We write to suggest you convene an advisory council, or otherwise delegate authority to an existing agency or council, which would convene leaders who will pay attention especially not only to what AI CAN do but also what it SHOULD do. We also hope that the US is doing everything necessary to ensure nefarious actors are unable to use AI to harm our way of life. All of these efforts should involve people of faith, ethicists, and others whose primary motivating concern is not commercial but about the best outcomes for human beings.

To be clear: we are not encouraging the United States, and our friends, to do anything but win the AI race. There is no alternative. We must win.

However, we are advising that this victory simply must not be a victory at any cost. As people of faith, we believe we should rapidly develop powerful AI tools that help cure diseases and solve practical problems, but not autonomous smarter-than-human machines that nobody knows how to control.

The spiritual implications of creating intelligence that may one day surpass human capabilities raises profound theological and ethical questions that must be thoughtfully considered with wisdom. One does not have to be religious to recognize religion as a type of compounding wisdom over the centuries, and virtually all religious traditions warn against a world where work is no longer necessary or where human beings can live their lives without any guardrails.

We believe the Lord has positioned you, Mr. President, for “such a time as this,” and nothing is more important than managing the Age of Intelligence.

We stand ready to support your efforts to guide our nation through this unprecedented technological frontier. We believe America can lead the world in beneficial AI innovation, responsibly. Principles, rooted in our shared values, must inform our approach to AI development as we work together to make America great and to make our shared world safe.

Respectfully and with Admiration, always —