Eminem and “Praise”? ChapGPT At It’s Finest.

The other day, my family and I we were looking for a show on YouTube and came across a song called, “Praise” by the artists Eminem and Adele. Say WHA??
If you are unfamiliar with their names, Eminem is a mainstream rapper and Adele a popular song artist, with from what music they produce, I would never in my mind, think they would produce a song called “Praise”, as their lives don’t necessarily reflect that of the Christian faith.
We listened to the song/watched the music video and I kid you not, the lyrics were SPOT ON. We sat flabbergasted and wondered, HOW COULD THIS BE? Are we being too judgy? Could this really be true? Are we that behind in music culture that we didn’t realize they changed their lives around? Now don’t get me wrong, we ALL are in need of redemption and I’m not saying anyone is out of the reach of Christ’s redemption. But this song came as a shock.
Well, after a little research, it was evident that the cause for our concern was legit. The music video was produced by ChatGPT. Confusion confirmed and reality recognized.
This begged the question for me: with artificial intelligence use on the rise, what redeeming purposes does it have? I have been wrestling with this question all week. I have pondered this idea in the quiet moments of cooking supper, always leading to a prayer: “God, please help us navigate this.”
A dear friend of ours, Walt Mueller, who is the founder of Center for Parent and Youth Understanding (CPYU), wrote a blog post recently that sums up everything I have been curious about. Things that make me skeptical. Ideas that make me cringe, wondering where is this all going to lead us? Does it draw us closer to who God intended us to be or away from it? (Side note: if you don’t follow CPYU, I HIGHLY recommend it! Walt answers the questions many of us have about culture and helps us navigate them through the lens of Scripture).
PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
Walt’s Blog on ChatGPT
What are your thoughts? Do you use AI and ChatGPT? What are your positives and negatives?
The thing I struggle with is that with this video, no matter WHO made it, they are not real people singing. AI doesn’t have a soul. And specifically, even though ChatGPT can mimic people, it still doesn’t have a soul. I know the trees of the field and birds of the air can praise God (says so in Scripture) because they were created by God to do so. But I’m still battling in my heart and mind with the fact that “we” are creating videos of people who openly live a life that the Bible speaks against, to “worship” God, deceiving listeners. If we were naive to who Eminem was, and our daughter said she wanted to follow and mimic him because of his “spot on” lyrics to the song, that’s where it becomes dangerous because she would quickly read and listen to other songs that promote a life that is far from what we are trying to gear her towards; a life lived for Christ.
This is where I struggle. And I want to sit in that struggle because God can use ALL THINGS for good! But I’m wrestling with how all of this is going to pan out. Like cars, we first gave keys to everyone, then realized there should be restrictions. We gave phones to everyone, and now realize there should be restrictions. AI is available to everyone, and are we going to realize there should be restrictions?
Sit in that for a moment. Where is this leading? As my husband would say, I am not a pessimistic person, but this causes me to delve into that mindset for a hot second.
Let me ask you again, what are your thoughts?
Do you use AI and ChatGPT? What are your positives and negatives?
The next time you are scrolling through YouTube or watching a reel, we now need to ask ourselves every time, is this “real”? Who would’ve ever thought…