By Danny Minton

I sat down and decided to have a short conversation with Google AI. He, she, or it pops up occasionally to give me information from its point of view when I’m doing research. So I figured it must know a lot and decided to have a conversation to get things straight on what it thinks. I didn’t argue with it; I just asked it to explain some things from its point of view. Here is our conversation with AI answering my inquiries.

Where did the world come from?
“The world began roughly 4.54 billion years ago through a cosmic process called accretion, forming out of a swirling cloud of dust and gas leftover from the creation of our Sun.”

Where did the Sun come from?
“The Sun formed about 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant, spinning cloud of gas and interstellar dust known as a solar nebula.”

Where did the giant spinning cloud of gas and interstellar dust come from?
“The giant spinning cloud of gas and dust that formed our solar system—known as the solar nebula—came from the remnants of earlier generations of dying stars mixed with pristine material from the Big Bang.” 

Where did the “Big Bang” come from?
“In science, the “Big Bang” is not actually a theory about the absolute origin of existence; When scientists rewind the expansion of the universe back 13.8 billion years, the math hits a wall called a singularity—a point of infinite density and temperature where our equations break down completely.” 

What is singularity?
“In physics, a singularity is a hypothetical point in space where an immense amount of matter is packed into an infinitely small area, resulting in infinite density and infinite gravitational pull.”

Where did the immense amount of matter packed in a small area mentioned by singularity come from?
“The honest answer is that science does not know where that original matter and energy came from, because our tracking tools stop working the moment we reach the singularity.”

Can science prove that God does not exist?
“By its very design, the scientific method is limited to studying the natural, physical world through observation, measurement, and repeatable experiments. Because God is traditionally defined by major religions as an immaterial being existing outside of space and time, the question of a divine creator falls outside the scope of scientific testing.”

In short, science cannot prove or disprove the existence of God; it simply remains neutral.

My questions were not against AI or science; after all, God could have used the “Big Bang” to start the whole creation. In fact, another AI outside of Google might explain things differently. The interesting thing was that when AI and I went through the question-and-answer conversation, it got to the point of honestly admitting, “science does not know.”

Of course, to be fair, I approached my questions from a Christian standpoint, keeping them simple. Others may use more complicated inquiries and get a different form of the answers. However, I imagine that no matter how you approach the subject, AI will eventually be stumped on how to answer.

Years ago, I came across a study by a scientist, John Clayton, titled “Does God Exist?” Clayton was an atheist who, through his study of science, concluded that a higher power must exist for the universe to be. Through his studies, he came to believe in God through science.

Personally, I believe that God exists. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have spent my life sharing the story of God and Christ with others. “ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”  Romans 1:20 (NASB) 

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6-7 (NASB)

One more question for Google AI.

What is faith?
“Faith is fundamentally defined as complete trust, confidence, or belief in someone or something.”

Now, that’s something we can both agree on.

Danny Minton, a member of Southern Hills Church of Christ, is a hospital chaplain