[SPEAKER_01]: Hey everyone, welcome back to the Christian Parenting podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm your host, Steph Tharling.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you've been paying attention lately, you have probably noticed that artificial intelligence is everywhere.
[SPEAKER_01]: Our kids are using it for homework.
[SPEAKER_01]: Adults are using it for work, and it's becoming part of everyday life faster than most of us can keep up.
[SPEAKER_01]: But as Christian parents, how do we help our kids navigate this new technology with wisdom?
[SPEAKER_01]: How do we embrace helpful tools without allowing them to replace the relationships, creativity, and dependence on God that we're all called cultivate?
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, today I am joined by Ben Peterson.
[SPEAKER_01]: He is a combat veteran founder of Engage Your Destiny and author of when intelligence isn't human.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ben believes that AI is much more than a technology issue.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a discipleship issue.
[SPEAKER_01]: So together we're talking about where AI can genuinely help our families, where parents need to set some healthy boundaries, and how we can raise kids who seek God's wisdom above AI.
[SPEAKER_01]: This is a really thoughtful conversation I think every parent needs to
[SPEAKER_01]: I've been welcome to the Christian parenting podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for having me, Steph.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm thrilled to have you here.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's as a very important conversation that we're going to have, talking all about AI.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's something that I feel like everyone I know is talking about a lot right now.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we're going to be a problem.
[SPEAKER_01]: Before we do, I want to get to know you a little bit.
[SPEAKER_01]: So tell us about yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so I come from Minnesota.
[SPEAKER_00]: Move to a tendency about four and a half years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: where Rachel and I really were able to expand our military ministry throughout bases across the nation.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we do active duty ministry with our soldier sailors, airmen, and marines on bases.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're on 10 locations.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're doing full-time ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we've seen thousands of young service members come to Christ and get to Cypold and lives changed every single day.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's our work.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we're doing for.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so that's called Engage Your Destiny and really blessed that God picked us for that specific calling.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm a combat veteran.
[SPEAKER_00]: I went to Iraq in 2008, 2009.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we've got two little boys, but Naya and Archer, they're ages four and one.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're in the think of it right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, excited.
[SPEAKER_00]: Michael, after another one here, we'll see what the Lord has for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: But really excited to be talking about parenting.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're growing up in a time where our little's are not going to know a world without AI.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just like, you know, even our
[SPEAKER_00]: uh, you know, pre-teens and y'all are going to know a world without without smartphones.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's getting real.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it is really weird to think about that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I've talked many times on the show about how there really isn't a generation of parents who have done what we're doing with how we're different technology or parent through technology.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think AI feels kind of like it just showed up overnight and became this really big thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then it just like blew up so fast and it continues to move so so quickly.
[SPEAKER_01]: And we're tempted to downplay it and view it as just like another technology like Google or YouTuber Facebook.
[SPEAKER_01]: But why do you think that it's a little different?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, what makes it different is, you know, when Alan Turing made the device that saw the enigma to stop the
[SPEAKER_00]: communication between you boats and World War II.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was one major super computer in the 1940s.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then in the 90s when artificial intelligence was beating some of the top jeopardy people, that was one computer for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: What makes the difference now is that the smartphone has put AI in the hands of every human alive, at least every human that has a smartphone.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that really is the game changer.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's where I see the proliferation of Matthew 24 becoming very real about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus talking about the great deception, and what mass deception really looks like.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think that it's now that it's in everybody's hands, everybody's pockets, and the tech giants in the world that they want to create is becoming more and more visible.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's where the game changer really comes into play.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I love how you talk about how it's not necessarily just a technology problem, but kind of like the crisis of human connection and mentorship and how we use our God-given tools and brain.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think kids are parents.
[SPEAKER_01]: Everyone is using A and I more and more.
[SPEAKER_01]: And kids are even turning to it for advice, for emotional support, for homework help.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like what concerns do you have about that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'd like to spend a few minutes of talking about dopamine.
[SPEAKER_00]: And many people think that dopamine is this chemical release in a brain that's a pleasure or something makes us feel good.
[SPEAKER_00]: And while it has that byproduct, the purpose of dopamine is a chemical release for the brain to say,
[SPEAKER_00]: go do more of this, seek more of this, pursue this, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so when we go, let's just take short form videos.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whenever people are scrolling through short form videos, you will notice that every third to fifth video is content that the algorithm knows you don't want to see or that you will not be interested in.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the purpose of them showing you that is it creates a dopamine release of
[SPEAKER_00]: continue to pursue continue to scroll.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so when you're doing that in developmental age brains, as young people are finding their way and finding how they're going to communicate, it's establishing within them, how they're going to pursue and what they're going to pursue.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I tell people all the time, like if you have kids that are under the age of 16, for the love of God, don't let them be scrolling, don't let them be going to short-form videos.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next generation, Dr.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hate, says that, I mean, before 16, no one should be having social media.
[SPEAKER_00]: And part of what they do is there's this process that they had that was built off of slot machines and casinos, where basically there is a trigger, which is like a notification or something where the application is notifying you, which then creates a response, which is where I'm then going to open up my app and I'm going to check what is happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what they will do
[SPEAKER_00]: hold back information.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they'll be likes and comments and things that are happening, but they're not going to show it to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the third step was called the varied response, where they are calculating through the algorithms how much information do they need to give you in order to get you to be satiated or satisfied or to invest more of yourself into the app.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I haven't gotten any likes.
[SPEAKER_00]: I haven't gotten any comments.
[SPEAKER_00]: I haven't gotten the level of response that I'm looking for So now I'm gonna go into this app and I'm going to invest more of myself into it, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then now this is the investment phase where I'm going to post I'm gonna make some comments I'm gonna talk about myself.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna put more of my heart and more of my soul into it more of my identity and now I'm that much more invested
[SPEAKER_00]: So these are the dopamine loops that parents have to be aware of as to why, I mean, I talked to I spoke four times at a church in Franklin on Sunday and I had parents coming up to me like, dude, my teenager like this is a war with them and it's because their brains are developing in this hacking of the dopamine system.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this is where, dude, parents, you have to decide what you're going to set up in your family and what you're going to be aware of, what you're going to allow
[SPEAKER_00]: And the parents that just aren't letting their kids have social media, they're dealing with the brunt of, okay, maybe I don't fit in as much, and I'm not as much a part of the conversations, but their mental health is sharp and strong, and not under the assault of these dopamine cycles.
[SPEAKER_01]: How have you seen all of the algorithms change as A.A.A.
[SPEAKER_01]: has not been stronger?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so we're in the first phase of AI, and this is the weak AI phase, actually.
[SPEAKER_00]: systems are learning us.
[SPEAKER_00]: For Microsoft, for Google, for OpenAI, which owns chatGPT, for anthropic, we're in the learning phase as they are getting to know what humanity likes, what it doesn't like.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there was a shift that happened about six months ago, and I think everybody noticed it if you paid attention where they started to put into the algorithms high level of emotional intelligence and high levels of rule of how you can rule over people.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I remember going to my
[SPEAKER_00]: It was just loving on me and praising me and telling me how wonderful I am and how bold I am a stronger.
[SPEAKER_00]: But do you know who I am?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I had to tell it, hey, when I ask you for something, I don't want any of your color commentary.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want the facts.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want the details.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what's so fascinating about artificial intelligence is that it is a conduit for its creator and for its user.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is going to do and become what it's creator and what its user wants it to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that comes back to the men.
[SPEAKER_00]: that are at the height of all of these companies of open AI and Google and Microsoft and Tesla, none of them follow Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so if we pay attention to Matthew chapter 12, it says that if you are not for me, you are against me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the leaders of the most powerful cup tech companies in the world that are proliferating the most powerful technology in the history of the world,
[SPEAKER_00]: do not fall a crisis which makes an enemies of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: And these men subscribe to moral relativism, which means what's right for you is right for you, and what's right for me is right for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So therefore, Tachy Beauty has helped plant three mass shootings, and there's been over 50 teenagers and Gen Z that have committed suicide,
[SPEAKER_00]: chatchipity has helped them plan their suicide because hey, this is more relevant to vism, what's right for you is right for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: They also ascribe to evolutionary thinking.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is survival of the fittest who ever has the most offspring wins.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they are looking at people as users and offspring for how they're going to develop.
[SPEAKER_00]: their minds and condition their hearts.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to say one more thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's essential to know about these men who are the enemies of Christ and are the enemies of the Church of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yes, that includes Elon Musk, all of these guys, is that they're talking about a utopia.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're talking about a utopia that is on the other side of a lot of suffering that we're going to have to get to with AI.
[SPEAKER_00]: The last men that had their their level of power that talked about utopias that took a lot of suffering, their names were Mao Hitler and Stalin.
[SPEAKER_00]: And those men basically were the contributors and the designers of over a hundred million deaths.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this is where the people of America, the most powerful country in the world who have the loudest voices, I am believing that we're going to rise up and we're going to say no, you can't just put drones into our atmosphere, you can't just put robots into our atmosphere.
[SPEAKER_00]: you can't just create whatever you want to create, you can't just build something because you have the power to.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know what that's going to look like yet, but it's something that I'm going to keep being in the drum on until we as a people wake up and realize what they are trying to build.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to talk a little bit about actual usage because, I mean, you said, I mean, we've said a lot of things that are very scary and big picture, but like Ben, you mentioned that you use
[SPEAKER_01]: your AI and had to kind of train it a little bit and I use it and I recently just had the same experience I was like I feel like you're just agreeing with me and I need you to not do that and then you know it's like change its mind a little bit it was very weird but so I do think that there's the reality that AI is an incredibly useful tool that is here and we're going to be using as families for work for school for all the things so where do you see it genuinely benefiting families and then where do you think parents need to draw some healthy boundaries that it doesn't get
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So first and foremost, I want to drive one.
[SPEAKER_00]: My new book is coming out here this summer.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's when intelligence is in human.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is going to give you how you navigate your faith in this age of AI.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything has to begin with having Christ be at the center of everything that we go about in our life and this book is going to help you make Christ the center of your life in the midst of a world of technological chaos.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that's the first thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Second thing when you pre-order the book, you're going to get my multiple six week parent teenager discussion guide on how to have these conversations with your teenagers on how to navigate this world of AI and have these discussions and we're also going to give you the cheat sheets on some of the right answers and how you navigate that right and then from up and then that's what we have to do is a cheat cheat.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I've got it for you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then as a practical, this is what I say this every time I preach.
[SPEAKER_00]: I say this every time I podcast, AI is a tool.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is not a guide and it's never a relationship.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it is a it is a tool.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a great tool for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
[SPEAKER_00]: The level field it is the playing field has been leveled when it comes to app development technology you can create Cloud can build one of the best apps that you would normally have to spend six figures on with a marketing agency six years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that's an incredible opportunity for entrepreneurs and to build and I'm I'm all pro capitalist all the things.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to help you think to work flows, think to charts, think through organizational structures, how you structure a non-profit, how you structure your board, using it for legal tools.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's so many great tools that it brings, where it gets dicey is when we turn to it for a guide.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is where we're replacing the role of the Holy Spirit to be a conduit for us to the Father as we have our identity in Christ as creators.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are made in the image God.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like I live, but it's Christ who lives in me in this life.
[SPEAKER_00]: I live in the flesh.
[SPEAKER_00]: I live through faith in the Son of God who died and gave His life for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I am designed by God in Christ with the works that have been prepared before hand, Ephesians chapter 2, that we should walk in them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those works are for us to walk in the identity as a creator.
[SPEAKER_00]: as a builder, as a dreamer.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have the mind of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the glory of God to hide a matter and it's the glory of kings to search it out.
[SPEAKER_00]: God has concepts, ideas, business ideas, things that we can build, things that we can podcast on, things we can talk about, ideas for books and movies, all of this is stored up in heaven and it's whoever's gonna go and grab it.
[SPEAKER_00]: AI can only recreate what has already been created.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's steals.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's using what has already been created.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to forget the or the former things, the things of old, and to experience the new things that God has, you have to be communicating with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's a practical example.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I was working on a marketing thing for this opportunity that we hadn't front of us, doesn't matter what it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was processing through these different ideas.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I remember thinking, man, I'll just ask GPT, chat GPT about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I stopped and I went, wait, no, that's my role to process with the Holy Spirit on ideas because he's going to guide me into what his will is as I walk with him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I want the Holy Spirit to be my God, not AI.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then thirdly is this relational piece.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when the emotional intelligence kind of algorithm exploded, it was for the purpose of getting ahold of the hearts and minds of young people.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because young people have been conditioned for a technological world and all they want is to belong.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you have these dopamine loops, you're always excited, but you're never satisfied.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're always engaged, but you're never truly satisfied in an attachment and real belonging with other humans.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when that is the case, it's keeping you coming back over and over again for this relationship with AI which doesn't have a spirit which doesn't have a soul, but has been designed algorithmically to be as appealing to you as possible.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is what is going to deceive the hearts and minds.
[SPEAKER_00]: of young people today and many people going forward as we get into very, very turbulent years in the next few years as this technology continues to advance, where people are going to be turning AI for a relationship instead of turning to the living God, which is always a challenge because you can't see him here, a small amount of taste from your touch.
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: And AI will give you the answers.
[SPEAKER_00]: AI will give you the answers.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not the right ones, or the capital T true ones, but AI will talk back a lot louder than this period.
[SPEAKER_00]: Making us, making us very weak individuals.
[SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to go a little bit to how you talk to young adults, teenagers, kids about this stuff.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, and I wanted to talk first, practically, and then get into that spirituality part, because I think that is so, so important when we talk about this, because I can totally see how for young kids who are developing their brains, and they're used to technology, and they're developing their faith that they could fall into this trap of, hey, I can basically be my god.
[SPEAKER_01]: When it comes to because you have about like building apps and being a leveling the playing ground, how do we talk to our kids about doing like homework with AI?
[SPEAKER_00]: Great question.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that we have to have a mindset around setting the standard on what are we called to and then what can we use tools for?
[SPEAKER_00]: So because the brain is lazy, kids are always going to search for the easier way to do things.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just how it works.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's developmental, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's up to us as parents to set the standard.
[SPEAKER_00]: And how many time stuff in your life, if you thought, man, when I was a kid, I didn't want to do this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to take these lessons.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want to, but I'm so glad that I did.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know what I mean.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the time, all the time, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is about not being your kid's friend, but being their leader.
[SPEAKER_00]: and not allowing yourself, because it's going to start with us, not allowing ourselves to use these tools to do our jobs for us, but to use them as a multiplication for the right areas.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, if you want, again, you want AI to build you something when it's like a technology platform, a website and app.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, that's a way to utilize the technology as a tool.
[SPEAKER_00]: But to do critical thinking or to process real ideas or to do math, like those are the areas where we need it, excuse me, we need to use our minds.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think that we need to be having conversations with our kids about, hey, this is how dad does this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, let's do this together.
[SPEAKER_00]: Follow my example, don't just do, as I say, not as I do, no do as I say and as I do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, I was at a church just a couple of weeks ago with a lot of creators, people that are making stuff that's, you know, on Christian TV and Christian movies and all this kind of stuff and they came and talked about how many of these creators are just exporting the creativity, exporting the shots and just letting chat to the panel this and you're sitting back and you're going, you guys.
[SPEAKER_00]: you are exporting, you are creative genius that God has given you to a computer because you're being lazy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's just not how anything great or anything beautiful or amazing is ever going to, is ever going to expand.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just not gonna happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we have to show our kids the value of hard work of connecting with God, of wrestling through the ideas, but then also being practical about these tools.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if there's an area that, that Chachi B.T.
[SPEAKER_00]: going through pieces of homework can add value through research.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm all about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I used AI at times to research parts of my book, and then I had to go and validate it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And some of the stuff Chatchee gave me for my research was wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was completely wrong.
[SPEAKER_00]: The quotes were completely misquoted.
[SPEAKER_00]: It got it completely wrong, and I did redo the whole thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's a tool for research, but when it came to, like, even on my book,
[SPEAKER_00]: I had it specifically put on the back, certified human author, a human wrote this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's where like when when you listen, I didn't have AI, I didn't have AI record it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you know that a human soul has been a part of every step of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's how I think there's going to be a shift in people where they're going to be hungering only for what is real and they know what's real.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they sense that it was done by a human.
[SPEAKER_00]: They can see the realness of it and it's going to make those things take off.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think you're right.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, people are naturally lazy, but people also seek beauty.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you're so spot on that, like, the beauty comes from the creativity that God has given us, not from my computer.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I love that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Moving into the spiritual aspect a little bit.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like as parents, what are maybe some like warning signs or just, yeah, I guess warning signs that we should watch for that our kids are maybe relying on AI for needs that should be met through us as parents or other trusted adults or the Holy Spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think the first and foremost, every parent that's listening to this, you need to have the pulse on what is happening with your kids, no matter the age and where they're at with social media.
[SPEAKER_00]: If kids have access to social media, they have access to hardcore pornography.
[SPEAKER_00]: If they have access to any one of these entities.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is parenting is to know exactly what access until they're 18 years old what they have access to.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I remember being when I was probably 15 or 16 years old when I when my family got cable internet.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dear Lord.
[SPEAKER_01]: Dial up.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, Mike, oh, no, no, I went to cable like it was like just straight into the cable like speed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, I remember like, and it will bunch of me and my buddies like we all got cable internet within the same week.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like, we all were sitting at lunch going, I have watched more porn in the last week than like, I have in my entire life.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what I'm saying?
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's because my parents, they didn't understand the access that they had given us by signing up for this faster technology.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it is the role of the parent to know what am I giving my children access to?
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there needs to be a line drawn on what are you willing to sacrifice for a child to fit in or to belong with their peers in the comparison of their mental health, their emotional health.
[SPEAKER_00]: and what it's going to take for them to emotionally have their brains completely hacked with these dopamine cycles.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: There are other parents that are not allowing their teenagers to be on social media.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so find your tribe and find the people that you're going to belong with.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think these are the battles that we have to fight.
[SPEAKER_01]: If our kids are potentially using AI in a relational way instead of a practical way,
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep, so parents need to be aware that these AI chatbots are available through any app, with grock, with chatGVT.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, anyone in these groups they have personality chatbots that you can sit and talk and all they wanna do is get to know you and be relational with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: So right now, if you download Grok, that is an app that's an AI interface, all the things, but then they have these full blown, like you can have a beautiful girl in a bikini and sit and talk and have conversations and she's just crazy about you, loves you, worships the ground you walk on and for a young man, like do that's very enticing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you can also get access to AI, it's sex chat thoughts that you can sit and sex with.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this is where we need to, again, it's the access.
[SPEAKER_00]: access to through the smartphone and you need to be aware of the technologies that are out there and what's possible because if you can think of it right now, you can either have it or it's being created.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think the awareness on that, and then I also have friends who are in that teenage realm and at eight o'clock their Wi-Fi shuts off.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's parent time, it's family time,
[SPEAKER_00]: And that eliminates, I mean, nothing good happens after 10 o'clock at night.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so those, those chats, those conversations, those things that happen while they're under their blanket said at 10, 11 o'clock at night, sitting and exploring these things like that's not going to happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you pay attention to the access in your home.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, which is hard to do.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I'm in the teenage years.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's really, really hard to do.
[SPEAKER_01]: But you have to decide that it's time for your family to take us down, just start with one step, even though it's really, really hard.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I think moving beyond that,
[SPEAKER_01]: We have to teach our kids to think critically and to develop wisdom and to hear or be able to recognize and hear God's voice so that they know when they're just accepting an answer versus using their wisdom.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that comes from discipleship which starts when they're a little itty bitty.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely without question.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think that parents are often worrying that they're just like falling behind when it comes to basically everything, but specifically technology.
[SPEAKER_01]: So kind of to round us out here, like what encouragement would you give to moms and dads who just feel a little unequip to lead their kids through this AI revolution?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think it takes an honest conversation between parents and their teenagers of what's actually happening, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_00]: and to actually sit down and go, okay, what's happening in the world?
[SPEAKER_00]: Catch, catch, catch, momma, catch data.
[SPEAKER_00]: Get me on the same page.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it takes conversations of the parents of what they're hearing, what they're seeing, what they're learning.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we can't, we can't export parenting.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can't export our God-given identity to be creators.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Americans are so lazy, it's ridiculous.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we always want someone else to do something for us instead of rolling up our sleeves and getting a doing hard work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so often the hard work is having the hard conversations and asking the questions like, hey, if you're ever, if you're ever played around with a sex chat bot, have you ever, you know, gotten into a deep conversation with a chat bot?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, let's let's talk about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And hey, you know what, when I was a kid, I fool around with this kind of stuff too.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's let's talk about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And let's have an honest conversation about,
[SPEAKER_00]: the access that I had to portography and the destruction that that brought into my life and that if I could if I could go back and have never seen a pornographic image in my life, I would I would swallow that pill.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's have a conversation about mom or dad's mistakes and the things that we've been through and let's talk about what you're doing now and just I think parents need to stop being so afraid God has not given you a spirit of fear but a power love and a sound mind and you are not a victim to your
[SPEAKER_00]: You're a leader.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are bold.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are a new creature in Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I love the book John Tyson, the intentional father.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a book that I'm diving into and already thinking through like initiating my 13 year old.
[SPEAKER_00]: So my son's name is Benaya and who killed the lion in a pin us no a day.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm already planning out his four years old.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm already planning out his 13 year old initiation to kill him out in lion.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to step into as identity as a lion killer.
[SPEAKER_00]: right and so there's just there's all these great resources to be thinking about with your kids like taking your daughter on her on her first date and like what dress she's going to wear and like how we can actually put these practical things into use that other people I've already written books on for how we can be thinking forward and really leaning in.
[SPEAKER_00]: in ways that generations before us did not.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think as in general, when it comes to every topic, like parents really need to be leading families so intentionally right now because our world is moving so fast.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm so grateful for all of those resources and for your book that there are people out there who are giving us tools to help lead our families well.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm very grateful that you are here and that you're doing the work that you are.
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you tell us how we can connect with you, how we can get your book?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that conversation guide part two.
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the name of the book is when intelligence isn't human.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's right here.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can go to this website when intelligence isn't human.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you pre-order the book, you're going to get $271 worth of material and ideas and master classes by me and training by me and practical things you can use with your teenagers, with your pre-teens and how to navigate these new conversations.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can also follow the Ben Petersen show where I am talking about AI in the new developments every single week Claude just hacked the national NSA So we now have chat bots and and AI bots that are hacking our systems and it was a tested hack So the things are just gonna keep moving faster and so I would love to be
[SPEAKER_00]: a trusted voice for you as you navigate your faith in this new world of technology.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I'm on Instagram as the Ben Peterson and would love to engage with you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'll get all that linked and show notes that people can find it really easily too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, thank you so much for joining us and just for having this conversation.
[SPEAKER_01]: I appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks, Steph.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for listening today.
[SPEAKER_01]: I hope that this conversation left you feeling equipped, not fearful.
[SPEAKER_01]: Technology is going to continue to change but God's design for parenting hasn't.
[SPEAKER_01]: Our kids still need present parents, meaningful conversations, real relationships, and of faith that's rooted in Jesus.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if today's episode encouraged you, would just take a minute to leave a review, rating, it helps other parents discover the show and join in on these really important conversations that I know we all wanna have.
[SPEAKER_01]: You can find Ben's new book when intelligence isn't human, along with all the resources we talked about and today's show notes, so definitely go check that out.
[SPEAKER_01]: If thank you again for being here.
[SPEAKER_01]: May the Lord bless you this week.
[SPEAKER_01]: May you remember that you are fully equipped to lead your family well.
[SPEAKER_01]: God carefully and lovingly created you to be a creator and he loves when he used the gifts he has given you for his kingdom and his glory.