The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is transforming our world in the way that other general-purpose technologies (such as electricity or the internet) have in the past. But at the same time, AI is generating lots of philosophical and theological debate, with some even arguing that humanity’s creation of digital intelligence somehow calls God’s existence into question.
But what if the reverse is actually the case: could it be that AI actually reinforces the case for God rather than undermining it? Let’s explore that idea by showing how AI actually gives fresh energy to one of the oldest arguments for God’s existence and, at the same time, illuminates a more recent one.
The First Cause of Intelligence
One of the classical arguments for God’s existence is the First Cause Argument—the idea that everything that began to exist must have a cause. Why does the laptop I am typing this on exist? Because there was a factory, a designer, an engineer, and so on. Whether it’s something simple like a computer or complex, like a creature or even a universe, everything that came into existence must have a cause.
However, this chain of causation cannot progress infinitely backwards: at some point, there must be a first cause—something that exists outside of everything else and initiated it all. Many philosophers have historically identified this first cause with God.
Now, consider AI, especially the intelligence part. Did artificial intelligence arise by accident? Did programmers randomly throw lines of code together, shake a computer, and out popped ChatGPT or Anthropic’s latest model? Of course not. The development of AI required intelligent agents—human minds—to design, train, and refine it. AI exists because thousands of brilliant scientists— backed by billions of dollars in investment—worked to bring it into being. In other words, artificial intelligence required a pre-existing intelligence to bootstrap it, to start it, to bring it into existence.
If artificial intelligence required intelligence to create it, then surely the same logic applies to human intelligence. Just as AI did not emerge randomly from a pile of code, human intelligence did not emerge randomly from the cosmic soup. Instead, it points to an ultimate intelligence—a first cause behind our existence—that gave rise to our intelligence.
This very modern AI-focussed argument mirrors the classical First Cause Argument. Far from disproving God, AI actually provides fresh evidence for an intelligent Creator!
Humans, Creativity, and the Image of God
Another fascinating aspect of AI is that it highlights just how creative and curious human beings are. We are not content to simply exist—we seek to invent, discover, and push the boundaries of what is possible. AI itself is a testament to this: a machine designed to think, created by a species that refuses to stop innovating.
Human creativity is unique in the natural world. Take beavers, for example. They have been building dams for thousands of years, yet no beaver has ever turned to another and said: “Frank, I think we can make this dam 30% more efficient if we redesign it this way.” Beavers follow instinct, but humans constantly innovate, create, refine, and improve.
Where does this drive to create come from? The Bible suggests an answer: we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Just as God is a Creator, He has placed within us the desire to create. J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, described humanity as “sub-creators”, designed by the ultimate Creator to reflect His creativity. Whether it’s in art, architecture, or even AI, our drive to create is a clue that we ourselves were created in the image of a Creator, an artist, a designer.
Conclusion
Rather than disproving God, artificial intelligence highlights profound deeper truths about human beings. Just as AI required intelligence to exist, so human intelligence points to an ultimate intelligence. Our insatiable creativity and curiosity mirror the nature of a Creator who designed us in His image. As AI advances, it does not render God irrelevant—it simply provides another lens through which we can glimpse His handiwork.
