The time has finally come.

With the rapid growth and development of artificial intelligence, we can now officially say that it’s impossible to tell what’s real.

Everything can now be faked in such a way that the savviest among us can no longer tell the difference between reality and AI. Even our most trusted news sources can’t be sure if they’re being duped or not, unless they witness each news event personally, an impossible feat.

With every video, voice, or picture, we —if we’re discerning enough—now must question the veracity of what our eyes see and ears hear.

It’s not too extreme to wonder if this is what will usher in the apocalypse, now that we all can be fooled and manipulated into believing lies—lies so easily spread and now impossible to refute.

So what will happen to us now? More division, social unrest, and anger? Will we lose the last vestiges of discernment in our desire to have our prejudices confirmed?

How can societies function when truth is up for grabs?

I don’t know. I’m just a woman in flyover country watching this tidal wave begin to wash over our institutions, and wondering what will become of it. What will become of us.

It’s truly frightening. And yet….

We may no longer be able to know what is real. But we can with absolute certainty know what is true.

The Bible is one thing that always has and always will be true. The story of Jesus was written and verified by eyewitnesses, kept for us through thousands of years of social upheaval, calamity, and war. It has proven true, and is the one sure thing we can cling to when everything else is up in the air.

Perhaps AI will inadvertently drive us back to the Bible. To church, where we can truly know each other, unmediated by screens and rumors. To God, who upholds all things by his power, and for now, still holds open the door of forgiveness and hope.

God has a very long history of taking what was meant for evil and turning it to good. This is what we should pray for, especially when we are tempted to give in to feelings of helplessness and fear.

I don’t know what will happen to us now that all trust is lost and we must continuously question what’s real.

But I do know this: We can still know what’s true.

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. (Psalms 119:160)

Amen and amen.

“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”

2 Timothy 4:3-4