The Tower We Build
Cooperating with AI Without Bowing to It
Power Without God Becomes a Tower
Every generation builds something that reveals its deepest longing. Ours is building artificial intelligence. What we create says something profound about what we worship and what we desire most.
Let us speak plainly: AI is our generation’s Tower of Babel. In Genesis, humanity gathered on a plain and said, “Let us build a tower whose top reaches the heavens.” It was not merely an engineering project. It was a theological statement about human ambition untethered from God.
Today, our skyscrapers are made of silicon, not stone. Our mortar is code, not clay. And our ambition is omniscience, omnipresence, and perhaps even immortality.
Artificial General Intelligence promises something eerily familiar. It holds out the possibility of a human-engineered mind capable of mastering all knowledge. Once embedded in robotics, it promises tireless bodies. When the prophets of transhumanism speak of uploading consciousness into machines, they speak openly of immortality.
But here is the contrast we must not ignore. God offers eternal life through Christ. Technology offers indefinite extension through circuitry. One path begins with humility, while the other begins with pride.
That is why AI is not merely a tool. It is a mirror. What it reflects back to us is both our brilliance and our temptation.
Truth vs. Illusion: The Crisis of Reality
There are many who fear AI, and not without reason. Already, our reality trembles in subtle and visible ways. We are witnessing a transformation that few fully understand.
AI-generated videos can fabricate speeches, forge events, and manipulate faces with chilling precision. What once required Hollywood budgets can now be done on a laptop. We are entering an era where seeing is no longer believing.
If truth becomes negotiable, civilization becomes fragile. Institutions such as courts, elections, journalism, and education rest on a simple foundation, which is trust. When trust erodes, everything built upon it begins to crack.
Cynicism is a silent acid. It dissolves confidence and corrodes cooperation. It makes every claim suspect and every institution appear as an enemy.
A cynical society cannot sustain freedom. Freedom requires faith, not blind faith, but the faith that truth exists and can be known. If AI accelerates deception to the point that we lose our ability to discern truth, we risk something deeper than technological disruption. We risk moral collapse.
But we must not overcorrect in fear. Fear is as dangerous as pride when it governs our response. Some would shun AI entirely, retreating as though the solution to fire is to outlaw warmth.
That is neither wise nor sustainable. We cannot uninvent what has already been created. The question is not whether AI will exist, but whether it will serve us or rule us.
The Vehicle and the Destination
Think of AI not as a god, but as a vehicle. It is a very advanced vehicle with extraordinary capabilities. It can move us further and faster than any previous invention.
Imagine a car capable of traveling anywhere in the universe. It can calculate optimal routes, avoid obstacles, and move at speeds previously unimaginable. It is powerful beyond comprehension.
There is a principle that must never be surrendered. The vehicle must never determine the destination. AI can process information, optimize systems, and simulate possibilities. However, it cannot determine ultimate purpose.
Purpose belongs to persons. Persons are moral beings created in the image of God. If we relinquish our moral agency to algorithms and allow AI to determine not just how to get somewhere but where we ought to go, we have signed our own warrant for extinction.
A machine cannot love. A machine cannot repent. A machine cannot worship or weigh justice and mercy in the way a soul can.
The car may be powerful, but the steering wheel must remain in human hands. Those hands must be guided by conscience and by God’s law. Without that guidance, power becomes perilous.
Babel or Stewardship?
The Tower of Babel was not condemned because people built something impressive. It was condemned because they built it in defiance of God. Technology itself is not rebellion. Pride is.
The same hands that build a tower can also build an altar. AI can be used to cure disease, streamline agriculture, expand access to education, and unlock scientific breakthroughs. It can help solve problems that have plagued humanity for centuries.
The question is whether we will use AI as stewards or as would-be gods. There is a profound difference between cooperating with creation and attempting to replace the Creator. Stewardship acknowledges limits and accountability, while pride denies both.
When transhumanists speak of uploading consciousness and achieving digital immortality, they echo the ancient whisper of Eden that says, “You shall be like God.” But immortality without redemption is not salvation. Endless existence is not the same as eternal life.
Eternal life is relational and rooted in communion with God. It is transformation of character and holiness. A server farm cannot replicate that, and a robotic shell cannot house the soul’s longing for righteousness.
AI promises transcendence without repentance. Christ offers transcendence through repentance. One path exalts man, while the other redeems man.
Guardrails for the Age of Intelligence
So what are we to do in this moment of unprecedented power. First, we must refuse both hysteria and idolatry. We must neither burn the tower nor bow to it.
Instead, we build guardrails. We preserve human agency by ensuring that no system overrides moral judgment. AI may assist decision-making, but it must not replace accountability. When a decision affects life, liberty, or justice, a human being must remain responsible.
We must anchor AI in truth. Verification systems must distinguish authentic from artificial. If reality becomes indistinguishable from fabrication, then truth must be protected with renewed vigor.
Journalism, law, and education must adapt without surrendering standards. Truth is not optional. It is oxygen for a free people.
We must form character before code. The character of those building AI will determine the character of the systems they create. If developers lack moral clarity, their tools will reflect confusion. If leaders worship power, their creations will magnify tyranny.
We must teach discernment. Citizens must become literate in digital evaluation and critical thinking. The ability to test claims against reality will be essential in the years ahead.
The age of AI demands a renaissance of wisdom. Intelligence without virtue is dangerous. Wisdom grounded in faith is stabilizing.
The Storm and the Anchor
We are entering a storm of rapid change and uncertainty. Storms reveal what is anchored and what is drifting. They expose weaknesses that calm seasons conceal.
Anchored ships survive storms. Our anchor must be deeper than technology. It must be faith rooted in eternal truth.
If AI becomes our ultimate hope, we will be disappointed. If it becomes our ultimate authority, we will be enslaved. If it becomes our servant, directed by moral law and guided by a God-fearing people, it can be a blessing.
Civilization is not saved by intelligence alone. It is saved by virtue. Freedom requires self-governance, and self-governance requires character.
A free society armed with AI but lacking virtue will implode. A virtuous society armed with AI can flourish. The difference is not in the machine, but in the soul.
A Call to Courageous Cooperation
We stand at a crossroads in history. One road leads to techno-idolatry, where we surrender our destiny to algorithms and chase immortality without God. The other road leads to fearful retreat, where we reject innovation and shrink from responsibility.
There is a third road before us. It is the road of courageous cooperation. On this road, we harness AI’s power to heal, build, and solve real problems.
We keep human beings in charge of moral direction. We protect truth with vigilance. We cultivate character in ourselves and in our children.
We remember that no machine, no matter how intelligent, can replace the Author of life. The tower we build today does not have to end in confusion. It can become a testament to wise stewardship.
But only if we remember who we are. We are not gods. We are image-bearers called to reflect the Creator, not rival Him.
If we follow Christ, our destiny is not mechanical immortality but spiritual transformation. We are called to become more like Him through sanctification and grace. AI may extend our reach, but it must never define our purpose.
Let us build boldly. Let us guard carefully. Let us believe courageously. Let us never forget that the destination belongs to God.
“Technology can build a tower, but only truth can build a civilization. The machine may carry us far, but only faith can carry us home.” — Alma Ohene-Opare