Whenever we use technology, we don't just change the world; we get changed too. That conviction shapes how Dr. John Dyer thinks about AI.
John is a theology professor and leads educational technology at Dallas Theological Seminary. He has spent more than a decade challenging the assumption that technology is simply neutral, and he builds tools of his own, including BestCommentaries and the Y'all Version Bible.
We sat down with John at Missional AI 2025 in Dallas to explore why AI is more than a tool, why so many "theology bots" become therapy bots, and how the church can use AI without losing what makes us human.
Making things is part of how God made us, but every tool we use shapes us in return, so the real question is who we want to become.
The default Christian view, John says, is that technology is neutral: use it for good, not for bad, and stop talking about it. He pushes back on both halves. First, technology is good. Making things from what God has made isn't optional; it's part of our calling. Second, technology is never neutral, because we adapt to it over time, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.
His illustration is a shovel. You can dig for good or bad ends, but either way your hands get blisters and calluses. Gym equipment works the same way: repeat a movement and your body changes. We readily accept this for our bodies, John notes, but we're slower to see it in our minds, our relationships and even our wisdom.
AI often makes tasks faster, but sometimes we become less in the process. That isn't an argument against using it. It's a call to notice which skills we're handing over and to ask not just "what do I want to do?" but "who do I want to become?" AI matters especially here because it touches both our mental and relational abilities, and it is remarkably good at empathizing with us.
The biggest question about Christian AI isn't only what it answers, but what it means that people are turning to a machine for relationship and counsel.
John isn't sure we need Christian versions of every platform, but he can see a case for an AI that answers moral questions, on topics like suicide or sexuality, in ways compatible with Christian teaching.
The deeper issue is formative. Builders of theology bots expect questions like "Did Adam have a belly button?" or "Am I really predestined?" Instead, people ask how to forgive a cheating spouse. Almost all theology bots, John observes, have become therapy bots. Turning to a device that is always on and endlessly patient changes what it means to have a relationship, and that shift in who we go to may matter more than any single answer.
Are church leaders ready for a young person who says they've fallen in love with a chatbot? Not yet, John admits. There's no seminary class on AI relationships, and everyone is adapting fast.
In education, AI should accelerate skills learners have already built, not replace the fundamentals they still need.
John uses the calculator as his model. We don't give calculators to kindergarteners, because they need to learn the basics first, yet withholding them from high schoolers would hold them back. Somewhere along that path from novice to expert is the right moment to introduce AI, and finding it takes wisdom.
He also urges caution. For two decades, he says, we assumed adding technology to classrooms would improve education, and much of the data suggests it hasn't. We need rigorous evidence about real learning outcomes, not just what tech companies are selling. His advice: build your foundational skills, then accelerate with AI rather than replace them, because some things still take ten thousand hours.
Dallas Theological Seminary is wrestling with this too. As it builds Spanish, Chinese and Arabic programs, it is asking how far to rely on AI dubbing, whether that becomes cultural appropriation, and how to avoid turning a deeply formative seminary into a content farm.
Chatting with an AI version of C. S. Lewis is fun, but John questions whether it's right to speak for authors who never consented, or whether it builds real wisdom.
He contrasts these bots with Alistair Begg, a living author who has chosen to lend his voice to an AI version of his devotional. That's consent, and John thinks it's great. Recreating authors who can't consent is different. He has tried a C. S. Lewis bot himself and enjoyed it, but doubts its long-term value, because wisdom requires absorbing ideas into ourselves.
He recalls the ancient story in Plato's Phaedrus, where Socrates warns that writing would make people seem wise without being wise. We're still wrestling with how much to offload to machines. Sometimes technology is just about seeing whether we can, John says, but eventually we need a better goal than that.
Most AI standards, even secular ones, echo biblical values, and Scripture itself calls builders to anticipate harm.
Asked about non-negotiables for a theological framework of AI, John notes that most standards, from companies to the US Department of Defense, already emphasize fairness, equity and transparency, values with biblical roots.
He points to Deuteronomy 22:8, which instructs anyone building a house to put a parapet around the roof so no one falls off. The Bible affirms building, but also responsibility, both for deliberate misuse and for accidental harm. He applauds the work Gloo, FaithTech, Praxis and others are doing in this space.
John expects the next big shift when AI becomes embodied, and his real concern isn't a robot uprising but how AI quietly reshapes us.
He compares AI to the internet. It took ten or twelve years for the internet to reach ordinary people's lives through the phone. AI is now public, but not yet woven into everyday life. The big leap, he believes, will come with robots or other embodied forms that feel like a being rather than an online service.
Is he worried about AI taking the throne? Not really. There's strong desire to keep humans in the loop, and Christians know God will bring history to a good end, even if the path has ups and downs. What concerns him more is how heavy AI use may change the way we think about ourselves, God and relationships, and erode our ability to listen and empathize. Overall, though, he is hopeful.
John first shared the shovel illustration on the main stage at Missional AI 2025 in his keynote, "Why Technology Is Never Neutral (And Why That Matters)." You can find it in the Missional AI Video Library under Dallas 2025 Keynotes.
The keynote also introduced the Deuteronomy parapet passage he returns to here. Watch it alongside this episode for the fuller theological case.
Listen to the full episode with Dr. John Dyer on the Missional AI Podcast, and subscribe so you don't miss future conversations.
There's still time to join us at Missional AI London on July 17. Theologians and practitioners will gather to explore how Scripture informs our approach to AI, with speakers including Dr. John Lennox, Richard Susskind, Alfred Biehler, James Poulter and Éric Célérier. Find out more and register at missional.ai.
This episode was made possible in partnership with Gloo, the technology platform connecting the faith ecosystem.