What happens to the human soul when AI makes work optional?



Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has repeatedly predicted that a day is coming soon when AI and robotics will make traditional work optional in a utopian age of abundance, where humans will rely on universal high income while pursuing personal interests.

Trading the daily grind for a life of comfort and leisure may be compelling, but is it good for the human soul?

That’s the question Allie Beth Stuckey asked Stonebridge Bible Church Pastor Jonny Ardavanis, whose new book, “Get to Work: Seeing Your Daily Grind as God’s Good Gift,” explores why work is a divine gift rather than a burden to escape.

“I just think that’s going to be a horrible, horrible existence,” Ardavanis says of Musk’s AI utopia.

Regardless of one’s belief system, there’s an intrinsic understanding that work is a necessary part of the human experience, he argues, citing the oft-used expression “a job well done.”

“You mow the lawn, you see the stripes in your lawn, and you put your hands on your hips and you go, ‘There’s something Edenic about this,”’ Ardavanis says.

This sense of fulfillment, he says, can be traced back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were first charged to cultivate and keep the garden as part of God’s original good design.

“Deep down, God has hardwired Eden into our souls, and we’re pining away to get back there,” he tells Allie, citing Ecclesiastes 3:11’s reminder that God has “set eternity in the human heart.”

But if AI removes the necessity of work, Ardavanis warns that the human heart, with its God-given orientation toward purpose and vocation, will wither.

“When a robot starts mowing your lawn, you know, you’re going to start to be stripped and starved of the opportunities to reflect God in that way. And I think it is going to be soul-crushing,” he says.

Work, he points out, isn’t just about doing; it’s also about thinking. When robots can think in our stead, what happens to the God-created mind?

“What does it mean to be made in the image of God? Well, it means we have a mind. It means that we are to engage that mind,” Ardavanis says. “Almost all of the instruction in the New Testament regarding the Christian life is what we do with our mind.”

“Your mind is God's gift to you, to employ it.”

This longing isn’t limited to believers. Even non-Christians recognize the irreplicable uniqueness of the human experience. Ardavanis points to globally famous actor Tom Cruise, who, in response to a question about AI’s impact on filmmaking, said, “There is nothing like human.”

“Even though Tom Cruise doesn’t know the God of the Bible, the God of the Bible has hardwired something into Tom Cruise’s heart,” he says. “We are to mirror and mimic God. When we do so, it gives us joy, and it gives us a level of purpose and meaning.”

“I’m looking into a world where people are excited about the absence of work, the three-day work week ... and biblically speaking, I think that that’s hard to reconcile with the fact that we’ve been given a mission by God.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Allie Beth Stuckey: The school debate isn’t public vs. homeschool — it’s Christ-centered vs. secular



Public school or homeschool?

BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey warns that parents are asking the wrong question.

“These are not the only two options. It’s not public school or homeschool. It’s public school versus Christ-centered education. That can be homeschool. That can be a co-op. That can be a hybrid,” she explains, noting that a “hybrid” is a “Christian school.”

And while there are traditional Christian schools, college prep-type Christian schools, and classical Christian schools, Stuckey says that “they’re not all created equal.”

“You really have to go into these schools if you’re looking for Christian private education, hybrid academy, classical, whatever. You have to go into these schools. You have to tour. You have to look at if they rely on technology or not, which is a no-go for me,” she says.


“You have to look at their statement of belief, their statement of faith. You have to really understand if they are infusing Christ into all of their curriculum. No matter what you do, education is not an opportunity for you to outsource discipleship to the teacher,” she explains.

“The education should be seen as coming alongside you as the parent and helping form your child as a disciple of Christ,” she continues.

Stuckey believes that this is the “point of education,” and public school cannot accomplish this.

“Even the most wonderful Christian teacher cannot shape your child as a disciple of Christ because she’s not allowed to teach the Bible,” she says.

“She’s not allowed to share the gospel. She is not allowed to talk about history and English and math and science, which God all created, in light of the fact that God is the author of all of those things. She’s not allowed to do that,” she explains.

“She is barred by the law from doing that,” she continues. “And so, the question is Christ-centered versus public, secular education. Maybe not even just public secular, but all kinds of secular, private or public. Do you want your child to be discipled by a secular, sometimes anti-God worldview for 40-plus hours a week? Or do you want them discipled by a Christ-centered, biblical worldview for 40-plus hours a week?”

If parents choose public school, Stuckey argues, they’re choosing “thousands of hours over your child’s life from kindergarten to 12th grade” where “they will be taught from an anti-God perspective.”

“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” she says. “I’m not going to send my 6-year-old into the mission field as a missionary to a public kindergarten.”

“And if you say, ‘Well, I live in South Lake, Texas’ or, ‘I live on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama, and I know all of our public school teachers. They go to our church. I know that they’re all great. They’re not teaching the woke stuff. They’re not teaching gender,’” she continues. “But are they teaching John 3:16?”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Is watching horror movies a sin? A Christian makes the case for fear



Should Christians watch horror movies?

This simple question has sparked a massive debate in Christian circles. It all started when "Relatable" host Allie Beth Stuckey raised concerns about believers consuming entertainment designed to terrify them.

Movies like 'Nefarious' and 'The Conjuring' set up battles between good and evil, showcasing what happens when the demonic realm bursts into our lives.

Whether you agree with Stuckey’s argument that we’re not meant to watch content that stokes fear in our hearts, the conversation — especially as Halloween looms — is worth having.

Lamp of the body

At first glance, the simplest response to the horror movie question is a whopping: It depends.

Christians often have different convictions, and even seemingly simple questions should be met with prayer and action based on the convictions that come from seeking God’s will. That said, I think it’s essential to go a bit deeper.

Christians are called to guard our hearts and minds, taking great care with what we consume. Matthew 6:22-23 offers a stark warning many of us overlook when we watch movies, listen to music, or consume content that bends moral boundaries:

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

The Bible is clear that we’re meant to keep our hearts and minds pure and focused on the Lord. But what does that mean for entertainment that deliberately frightens us or confronts us with evil? Does depicting something disturbing necessarily make a movie spiritually harmful?

Fear factor

I depart from Stuckey on the fear front. I have no problem watching content that stokes fear in my heart, so long as that fear serves a redemptive purpose. Sometimes fear is a storytelling tool that helps us understand the seriousness of evil, drawing us closer to our need for a Savior.

But I also agree with much of what Stuckey said about the dangers of some horror films. Much of the horror content on the market today is simply designed to disturb and perturb the mind, offering little more than jitters and insanely unpalatable imagery. The intent is simply to terrify, with no real purpose beyond the shock itself.

I’m not interested in that sort of content, and I don’t think it is honorable or helpful to the Christian mind.

We have to seek God when it comes to the level of horror and violence we’re willing to entertain, even if the end goal is a redemptive message. But I think the key question we should ask about every movie, song, and piece of entertainment we consume is: What’s the purpose?

Once I can assess the purpose of a project — and its fruits are generally evident — I have a pretty good idea of whether it’s worthy of my attention.

Good and evil

Movies like “Nefarious” and “The Conjuring” set up battles between good and evil, showcasing what happens when the demonic realm bursts into our lives. These films, though not for every believer, can help frame or even highlight a biblical understanding of evil.

Then you have movies like “Saw” and others like it — films that are grotesque and, from my perspective, fuel little more than a thirst for bloodshed and angst.

Christians need to be careful about the entertainment we consume. Many of us are willing to bend the biblical standard and ignore gore, sex, and excessive evil for the sake of entertainment.

Then I encounter verses like Philippians 4:8, which reads:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.”

Psalm 101:3 is similarly direct:

“I will not look with approval on anything that is vile,” it reads. “I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.”

RELATED: Did these 6 movies about Satan accidentally summon him to their sets?

Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images

Context and intent

None of us is perfect, but God consistently implores us to look upon good and holy things. If that’s the case, why are we making exceptions and subjecting ourselves to two hours of absolute debauchery, especially when the movie offers nothing redemptive in return?

The fact is, many horror movies today don’t fit into a biblical framework. They offer sadistic violence, torture porn, and demonic imagery that revel in suffering rather than revealing anything true about good, evil, or the human condition.

Ultimately, context and intent matter. The Bible itself contains difficult subject matter. Scripture covers murder, demonic activity, human depravity, and the consequences of sin.

But those accounts reveal truths about humanity, evil, God’s judgment, and our desperate need for redemption. I believe our entertainment choices should follow a similar pattern.

The question is whether a story exposes darkness for what it is — or encourages us to enjoy it, relish it, or embrace it.

The former can be worthy of our attention. The latter is not.

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