The most Christian thing I can do with AI may be to slow down

"If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame." (Proverbs 18:13, ESV)

AI makes speed feel responsible. A tool can summarize the material, draft the message, compare the options, and recommend the next action before I've fully understood the situation myself. The pressure is subtle. If an answer is available instantly, hesitation starts to look like incompetence. But speed is not the same thing as wisdom, and I've had to learn that in places where getting it wrong actually costs someone something.

Where I learned this the hard way

I run IT support, facility maintenance, and purchasing across multiple locations for my full-time employer. Every day brings tickets, requests, and small decisions that look routine until they aren't. A request that looks like a simple system entry might actually touch someone's access to information they're supposed to have and no one else. A facility issue that looks minor might actually be a safety concern that needs a person to walk the site, not a summary of it.

I also run an AI consulting company with my business partner Brendan, helping small business owners across Southwestern Ontario understand what AI can responsibly do for them. Our Business Health Check touches a client's real financial picture, their real bottlenecks, their real vulnerabilities. Speed is genuinely valuable there. It's also genuinely dangerous if it means I hand someone a polished answer before I've actually checked whether it's true for their business.

The faster the tool gets, the more important it becomes to ask what it's actually carrying forward on my behalf.

Slowing down is not refusing technology

I'm not arguing that everything should stay slow. Some repetition really is wasteful, and I've built plenty of automation to remove it. The point isn't to preserve inefficiency for its own sake. The point is telling the difference between friction that should be removed and friction that is actually a warning, a review point, a relationship, or a chance to exercise judgment I'm not allowed to skip.

Not every delay is waste.

Four reasons to pause before automating

The facts may not be settled. AI can produce a confident, polished summary before I've verified the source information is even complete. A pause allows me to check.

The person may matter more than the process. A message may be efficient, but a coworker or a client might need an actual conversation instead of a routed request. A pause allows presence.

The information may be sensitive. My work means I regularly handle information that belongs to other people, not to me. Convenience never makes that harmless. A pause allows protection.

The responsibility may be unclear. If everyone assumes the tool, the workflow, or the previous person is responsible, then no one actually is. A pause allows ownership to be named out loud.

Grounding Scripture: "Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." (James 1:19, ESV)

I lead teams where I want people to experience me as honest and trustworthy first, skilled second. That standard doesn't change just because a tool can now answer faster than I can. If anything, it raises the bar on when I choose to slow down.

A practical pause before using AI

None of these questions need to take an hour. They exist to interrupt automatic behavior before that behavior creates consequences someone else has to live with.

The courage to say "not yet"

A mature relationship with AI includes being able to say: not with this information, not without checking the source, not without a human decision-maker, not for this responsibility, not yet. That isn't fear of the technology. It's confidence that the technology isn't entitled to every part of the work in front of me.

Frequently asked questions

Why should Christians slow down when using AI?

Christians should slow down when speed could hide uncertainty, weaken human presence, expose private information, or make responsibility unclear. Slowing down creates room for truth, love of neighbour, and accountable decisions.

Is AI always bad for human attention?

No. AI can reduce repetitive work and create real room for attention elsewhere. The effect depends on the purpose, the design, and whether the recovered capacity is actually directed somewhere intentional.

When should I not use AI?

Be cautious with AI when a task involves sensitive information, serious consequences, personal care, or a conversation that should be held directly.

Start here: the free F.A.I.T.H. AI Stewardship Audit is twenty questions about your week, not about technology. About five minutes, no cost, and your answers stay on your device.

I'm Dave. I manage IT and facilities across multiple locations and co-run an AI consulting company with my business partner Brendan.