Artificial intelligence (“AI”) has become a commonly used tool and seems to be entrenched in our society. Like many things, it can be a tremendous tool for good, but at the same time extremely dangerous. This danger lies not just with the technology, but in how it impacts our agency, our effort, and our discipleship.
With guidance from our prophetic leaders, we can know how to use AI without giving up our ability to develop spiritually.
Elder Gong’s instructions and warnings about AI
On July 29, 2025, Elder Gerrit W. Gong spoke about AI during the Religions for Peace World Council in Istanbul, Republic of Turkiye.1 He taught how AI can be used by disciples of Christ, but he also warned that we need to be aware of its dangers.
Elder Gong gave three action items to the religious leaders present, which he summarized as: “[N]ot replacing God with AI, intentionally using AI for good, and together championing AI that is safe and trusted.”2 Although this message was given to leaders of worldwide faiths, we can incorporate its principles as we individually use AI. There are three main principles that I have pondered in my own AI use:
- I cannot allow myself to let AI replace the knowledge and wisdom of God. As King Benjamin taught, we must “[b]elieve in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.”3 People created AI, and people program AI. As a product of human genius, AI can never give us the knowledge or wisdom that we can receive from God.
- I must use AI for good. As technology, AI isn’t “good” or “bad,” so as with all things, we need to use revelation to judge whether what we’re obtaining from AI is consistent with the Savior’s teachings. Mormon taught us how to do this: “I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.”4
- I cannot let AI replace my relationships with people. AI is a form of technology, but we can’t separate it from the people all around us. Elder Gerald Causse has taught, “[T]he Church is all about people. It is all about you, the Lord’s disciples—those who love and follow Him and who have taken His name upon them by covenant.”5 When discussing the symbol of our faith, Gordon B. Hinckley taught that “the lives of our people must become the most meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.”6 AI may seem real, but it cannot give us the same peace and comfort that we can obtain in personal relationships. There is power in associating with others that cannot be found in AI interactions.
The Church’s policies regarding AI
God calls prophets because He knows the calamities that we face.7 In this digital age, our prophets and apostles are giving us guidance to help us know how to best use AI and avoid its dangers.
In Casey Mortensen’s post titled, “What AI Taught Me About the Holy Ghost,” he cited Elder David A. Bednar’s talk “Things as They Really Are 2.0,” in which Elder Bednar said that one of his “great concerns” is that reliance on AI will cause us to become “spiritually shallow.” Casey said that “AI can become a valuable resource” but only “[i]f we use these tools for the right reasons – and continue doing the spiritual work necessary to invite the Holy Ghost into our lives.” If we will follow the counsel of the prophets and apostles, we can be safe in our use of AI.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has developed principles for Church use of AI.8 These principles should guide our own individual use of AI. The following are a few highlights:
- The Church will use artificial intelligence to support and not supplant connection between God and His children.
- People interacting with the Church will understand when they are interfacing with artificial intelligence.
- The Church uses artificial intelligence in a manner consistent with the policies of the Church and applicable laws.
The General Handbook references AI
The Church’s General Handbook contains guidelines for the use of AI:
- 38.8.41.2 Scripture Translation. “The Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles closely supervises the translation of Church scriptures. . . . Any other efforts to translate scripture text are not authorized. This policy applies to translations accomplished by traditional methods, artificial intelligence, or other means.”
- 38.8.41.3 Simplified or Modernized Scriptures. “The Church publishes simplified scripture stories intended for children. The Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has not authorized any other efforts to update or rewrite scripture text into modern or informal language. This policy applies to efforts accomplished by traditional methods, artificial intelligence, or other means.”
- 38.8.48 Appropriate Use of Artificial Intelligence. “AI should be used responsibly. Church members should not use AI to create or disseminate anything that is false, misleading, illegal, or harmful. They should verify AI-generated output for accuracy.”
I find that fascinating. Despite AI’s immense power to understand language, the Church will not use AI to translate the scriptures. Because of their sacred nature, the scriptures are under the direction of prophets and apostles who hold priesthood keys. This example should make us wonder whether there are other things that are too sacred for the use of AI.
Talks, lessons, and art
Elder Gong gave another talk about the use of AI, in which he said:
Those attending general conference should be able to have confidence that all general conference messages to church leaders are divinely inspired. Because AI cannot replace divine inspiration, nor the individual work that invites it, we ask general conference speakers not to use AI to create initial drafts or final versions of their messages.9
It was also reported in that article that Elder Gong also said that talks and lessons prepared for weekly Latter-day Saint worship services are best done without artificial help:
We are teaching church members that we will not grow spiritually if we allow AI to write our sacrament talks or do our seminary homework. AI cannot replace our individual effort and spiritual preparation as we prepare lessons, prayers and blessings.10
As reported in that article, Elder Gong said that the Church generally refrains from using AI-generated images, but if there are exceptions, they will be labeled. However, he drew a bright line for one particular area:
The church does not use AI-generated images depicting Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.11
Those statements should make us think about how we are using AI, and whether we are using it in accordance with the teachings of our prophets and apostles.
A recent article in the Church News provides several additional resources from Church leaders discussing AI: “Church Handbook Offers Enduring Guidance on Artificial Intelligence,” Church Newsroom, December 16, 2025.
We must avoid turning over our agency to AI
Why so much concern about AI? I believe it is rooted in the basic, fundamental principle of agency. In the preexistence, agency was a doctrine so fundamental, and yet so frightening, that it caused the war in heaven:
[B]ecause that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.12
The Plan of Salvation and agency
I have come to think of agency as so much more than just the ability to choose for ourselves. It is fundamental to our mortal experience, and to our ability to grow, learn, and develop. I have written several articles about agency:
- The Plan of Salvation: “Our Father in Heaven knew that for us to reach our full potential, we had to have the opportunity to choose. . . . I have come to think of agency as the law of resistance. . . . If this life is a time to learn, grow, progress, and strengthen, it makes sense that we must face opposition, or resistance. Otherwise, we would not have the opportunity to exercise our agency. We wouldn’t learn, and we wouldn’t develop.”
- Seeking Revelation and Working Miracles: “We have our agency, and God wants us to use it. He wants us to use our intellect to consider options. He wants us to ‘study it out,’ and make a choice.”
- Make Your Choice: “One of the greatest gifts that God has given us is our agency. If we want to receive the blessings of the Savior’s atonement, we must exercise our agency to choose to follow him.”
There are others, but these quotes show that our agency is the core doctrine that helps us understand why we are asked to make decisions. We cannot grow without our agency.
There is value in the process, not just the end result
By exercising our agency, we have experiences that help us grow and develop. Sometimes, those experiences can be more valuable than the end result. There are many who have warned that AI can steal valuable experiences:
Human thinking is rarely tidy. Our voices carry pauses and inflections, our writing shows revision, and faces bring our thoughts to the surface. These imperfections, if we dare call them that, aren’t noise around intelligence, but the record of a mind moving through thought and uncertainty.
AI offers something very different. Their outputs arrive smooth and nothing in them carries the trace of effort or doubt. There is no residue or by-product of arrival. It’s just the cold statistical reality of completion.
The essential contrast is that formation leaves marks. When thinking doesn’t leave any evidence of struggle, it risks becoming weightless. That’s not wrong, it’s unearned.13
In another article, the writer cautions us about losing our identity by letting AI write our stories for us:
Increasingly, we are turning to AI to help us tell our stories. We use it to draft our emails, to “improve” our reflections on something that matters to us, to “sharpen” our descriptions of meaningful events and feelings and thoughts. And while I do this myself, I want to suggest that we need to be very careful about this; in particular, I want to highlight two dangers of doing it.
First, we lose the process. As McAdams’s research suggests, we don’t just report on our lives after the fact; we become ourselves through the act of shaping our stories. The struggle to find the right word is an essential part of the work of becoming ourselves. So, when AI takes over the writing, it doesn’t just save us time, it removes us from the very activity through which we come to understand who we are.
Second, in a sense, we lose the story itself. The story AI writes isn’t fully ours. It’s a statistically plausible version of what someone like us might say, assembled from the patterns of millions of other people’s words. It often reads beautifully and it might even move the person who receives it. But it’s not the record of a particular human being making sense of a particular life.14
In a recent post, “Give Me This Mountain,” I talk about the blessings of facing our challenges rather than avoiding them. AI can be a tool to avoid work. But doing so gives up our agency. I don’t believe we intentionally give up our agency; instead, we surrender our agency as we choose convenience over effort.
The Lord loves effort
One of my favorite videos of Russell M. Nelson was when he met with Joy Jones, the Primary General President, and a small group of primary children. One of those children asked President Nelson, “Is it hard to be a prophet? Are you, like, really busy?”15 President Nelson responded:
Of course it’s hard. Everything to do with becoming more like the Savior is difficult. For example, when God wanted to give the Ten Commandments to Moses, where did He tell Moses to go? Up on top of a mountain, on the top of Mount Sinai. So Moses had to walk all the way up to the top of that mountain to get the Ten Commandments. Now, Heavenly Father could have said, ‘Moses, you start there, and I’ll start here, and I’ll meet you halfway.’ No, the Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.16
President Nelson then had an interaction with that young girl who asked him that question. He asked her if she played a musical instrument, and she responded that she played the violin. He said, “What happens if you don’t practice,” and that young girl said simply, “you forget.”17 President Nelson then taught her the value of practice, and helped her see that only through effort can we excel.
There is learning, growth, and development that takes place when we make an effort. We cannot replace that with AI.
The warnings from our leaders do not discourage the use of AI. In fact, it is quite the opposite. At RootsTech, an annual conference regarding family history research, one of the major themes lately has been how to use AI in family history research.18 Artificial intelligence can be a tremendous help, but we should not use it as a substitute for effort or revelation.
Don’t let AI interfere with your discipleship
Discipleship requires effort. Don’t avoid that effort, as it is through work and experience that we invite the Holy Ghost into our lives and become true disciples of Jesus Christ. AI can be a powerful tool to help us, but it should not replace the experiences that form the foundation of our discipleship.
So preserve your agency by giving your best effort. Use AI, but use it in ways consistent with the teachings of our prophets and apostles.
References
- Elder Gerrit W. Gong, “Faith, Ethics, and Human Dignity in an Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Call to Action,” Church Newsroom, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/faith–ethics–and-human-dignity-in-an-age-of-artificial-intelligence–a-call-to-action. Elder Gong has given many talks on this subject, and one in particular was given to Church employees, titled, “Guiding Principles for the Church of Jesus Christ’s Use of Artificial Intelligence,” Church Newsroom, March 13, 2024, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-jesus-christ-artificial-intelligence. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Mosiah 4:9. ↩︎
- Moroni 7:16. ↩︎
- Gerald Causse, “It Is All about People,” April 2018, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/it-is-all-about-people?lang=eng&id=p8#p8. ↩︎
- Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Symbol of Our Faith,” Ensign, April 2005, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2005/04/the-symbol-of-our-faith?lang=eng&id=p6#p6. ↩︎
- See Doctrine and Covenants 1:17, “I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments.” ↩︎
- Principles for Church Use of Artificial Intelligence, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/learn/artificial-intelligence?lang=eng. ↩︎
- Tad Walch, “Church won’t use AI to create images of Jesus Christ or to prepare conference talks, apostle says,” Deseret News, November 5, 2005, https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/11/05/church-of-jesus-christ-wont-use-ai-to-create-images-of-jesus-or-conference-talks/. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Moses 4:4. ↩︎
- John Nosta, “Do Not Renounce Your Ability to Think,” Psychology Today Website, February 9, 2026, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-digital-self/202602/do-not-renounce-your-ability-to-think. ↩︎
- Faisal Hoque, “Don’t Let AI Write the Story of Your Life,” March 27, 2026, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/code-conscience/202603/dont-let-ai-write-the-story-of-your-life. ↩︎
- Joy D. Jones, “An Especially Noble Calling,” April 2020, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/14jones?lang=eng. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- See, for example, Colette Hokanson, “AI-Powered Family History Research,” 2025, https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/ai-powered-family-history-research. ↩︎
