Faith Matters

Can God Speak Through AI? - A Conversation with Carl Youngblood

Feb 1, 2025

In this engaging discussion, Carl Youngblood, a seasoned technologist and president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, explores the intriguing intersection of artificial intelligence and spirituality. He prompts listeners to consider whether AI could serve as a vehicle for divine communication. The conversation delves into AI's impact on personal growth, creativity, and relationships, while addressing ethical dilemmas in its use. Youngblood emphasizes the importance of discernment, balancing technology's conveniences with the necessity of struggle for meaningful development.

01:05:09

Episode guests

Carl Youngblood

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

AI's rapid development raises critical questions about its impact on spirituality, requiring discernment in its implementation for personal growth.

The potential for AI to facilitate deeper connections highlights both opportunities and challenges in maintaining genuine human engagement and creativity.

As AI reshapes the labor market, discussions around work's meaning and community's role become essential for navigating future societal changes.

Deep dives

Introduction to Wider Circles and Community Engagement

A new event series called Wider Circles aims to foster interfaith dialogue and community engagement. Hosted monthly at the Compass Gallery in Provo, each gathering invites a different faith leader to share insights from their tradition, with opportunities for attendees to ask questions and engage in meaningful dialogue. Attendees are encouraged to bring food to share, promoting connection over a communal meal. The initiative emphasizes the importance of service and partnership across diverse faiths.

Intro

3min

Exploring the Surge of AI Awareness and Its Historical Context

4min

Understanding the Training of Large Language Models

2min

Technology Meets Spirituality

13min

AI in Public Speaking: Ethics and Creativity

26min

AI, Meaning, and Personal Growth

12min

The Balance of Struggle and Progress: Insights on Growth Through Challenge

3min

Embracing the Past to Navigate the Future

3min

This week, we’re thrilled to talk with Carl Youngblood— longtime technologist, software engineer, and president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association.

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant, futuristic idea—it’s already shaping the way we learn, work, and even practice our faith. And just this past week, AI made big headlines again in the tech world with the release of vastly improved models and increasing belief among technology leaders that artificial general intelligence (AGI) is just around the corner. Whether or not that's the case, the exponential progress of AI is undeniable, and it’s sparking some of the biggest questions of our time. If God can speak through the written word, could God speak through AI? How do we discern when it's a tool for growth versus a shortcut that stunts it? And if AI frees us from certain types of work, could it deepen our relationships and spirituality—or will it leave us searching for new sources of meaning? It’s worth noting that many of the people most deeply concerned about AI’s effects on humanity and society are those who were involved in creating it.

In this episode, we’ll talk about some of those concerns, but we’ll mostly explore ways we can use it constructively.

Carl brings a sharp and thought-provoking perspective to these questions. He challenges us to approach AI with both curiosity and caution—seeing how it can deepen connection or drive isolation, spark creativity or dull our own discernment. Rather than dismissing it as just a tool or blindly embracing it, Carl pushes us to wrestle with its real impact on our thinking, relationships, and spiritual growth.

This is a conversation full of nuance, curiosity, and a lot of open-ended questions, and we hope it sparks new reflections for you. We’ll have links in the show notes to tools we mention throughout the episode, so be sure to check those out. And with that, here’s our conversation with Carl Youngblood.

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Readwise

Church Newsroom: Guiding Principles for Use of AI

Elder Bednar on AI