Jason Thacker
Evangelical Ethicist
The Southern Baptist ethicist who led the drafting of the first faith-based AI ethics statement treats artificial intelligence as a God-given tool to be “wielded with wisdom” — pro-engagement, but wary of anyone who mistakes it for a savior.
In his words
AI is not a savior. It is not going to fix all of our world’s problems. It is a tool that must be wielded with wisdom.
Our dignity and worth aren’t tied to our usefulness, and definitely not to the things we create with our own hands.
Biography
Jason Thacker is an ethicist and theologian associated with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), where he directed research on technology ethics, and the author of “The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity” (2020). He teaches Christian ethics and writes frequently on how the church should meet emerging technology.
An evangelical statement on AI
In April 2019 Thacker served as the lead drafter and project leader of “Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles,” signed by more than seventy Christian leaders — one of the first attempts by any religious community to set out an ethical framework for AI. The document urges the church to “proactively engage the field of AI, rather than responding to these issues after they have already affected our communities,” and grounds its principles in the conviction that human dignity is intrinsic, not conferred by technology.
Thacker’s posture is neither techno-utopian nor fearful. He argues AI “will lead to many great advances but will also open up new opportunities to dishonor God and devalue our neighbor,” and presses believers to adopt the tools thoughtfully while resisting the temptation to treat them as ultimate.
Where they stand in the war
Who backs them up
Sources & further reading
Canonical record: https://battlelines.ai/topic/jason-thacker