Photos by Ralph Freso / Livestream
You can be both an alarmist and an accelerationist in the polarizing world of artificial intelligence, according to the Rev. Johnnie Moore.
Moore, vice chancellor at Pepperdine University's Washington, D.C. campus, managing director of its Master of Middle East Studies program and head of its AI initiative, spoke Tuesday about the intersection of AI, faith, technology and peace at the first T.W. Lewis Speaker Series of the academic year in the Colangelo College of Business lobby.
Alarmists, said Moore, believe AI will destroy the world. Accelerationists believe the United States must move as fast as possible to win the AI race.
“I’m neither,” Moore said in response to a student’s question. “In fact, I’m both.
“We have to do both. We have to do it as fast as possible in order to win. And we have to do it in a way that we don’t destroy the world. In the USA, we can do both.”
Moore believes AI will stabilize over the next couple of months but warns that the current technology is “dangerous.”
“My worldview as a Christian causes me to calm down,” Moore said. “I hope some of you create cybersecurity companies that are going to make sure the AIs are not used in a way that damages our future by adversaries, or if the AIs go bad, there’s a way to control it.”
Moore told students that if they are concerned about something, “learn about it and figure out how to fix it.”
Moore, visiting GCU for the first time, has served on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom for the Biden and Trump administrations. He shared stories of sacrificing his life to ensure peace and aid those affected by attacks in the Middle East.
“It’s your decision whether you give up when it gets hard,” Moore said. “Because anything worth doing gets hard sometimes.”
A mentor once told him to ask himself what he would do if he knew he would not fail.
“You would never achieve that thing unless you answer what price you’re willing to pay,” Moore said.
The terrorist attacks on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, “changed my life,” said Moore. He was scheduled to fly to Israel to accept an award for his efforts in building a bridge for peace between the Israelites and the Arabs before traveling to Saudi Arabia to complete talks between the Saudis and Israel that were on the “1-yard-line” before the Hamas attacks derailed peace talks.
Moore led the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which made 400 appearances to help the families of 200 hostages.
“Hamas put threats on the lives of me and workers,” said Moore, adding that more than a dozen local Gaza aid workers were killed.
That tested Moore, who answered with perseverance.
“Everything in me just wanted to stop,” he said, adding that his team served in the middle of a war and his home was graffitied by activists. “But you have to do what’s right. … As Christians, it is our responsibility to step up when the world steps away to do our part.”
During a one-hour session moderated by the college's dean, John Kaites, Moore credited those who helped sculpt his life and faith. He spoke about a small business owner who told him to put $1 out of each $10 he earned in a drawer. The money he put away eventually went to his church at the end of the year, and that small business owner later opened a banking account for him. He also shared the story of a Sunday school teacher in Western Carolina who told him to write what he learned.
“It got to me before all hell broke loose,” said Moore, the child of divorced parents who became a pastor at 16, was the second in his family to go to college, and became the first to earn master’s and doctoral degrees.
“I take no credit for it at all – just the providence and grace of God,” Moore said.
Jake Bettin, a sales and marketing junior, was one of the students attending the T.W. Lewis Speaker Series talk.
“A lot of the connotation of it (AI) is low-demeanor right now, especially in the United States,” Bettin said. “You look overseas at China, and what they’re doing with all the different variations of the push of AI. It’s good to see a positive perspective on how Christians spend and implement AI.
“I’m very bullish on AI, as well. I think it’s a modern-day gold rush. I’m excited with what’s coming with it. But it’s also good to be mindful and see how we can use it for the Christian faith.”
Moore said he remains an optimist in his view of AI in the classroom, its future and how it integrates with faith, but he called on students to become leaders with knowledge and character.
“When people say AI is the industrial revolution, I don’t think it is,” Moore said. “It’s like the printing press. It’s more transformative. You have opportunities that your parents and grandparents didn’t have.
“It’s a time crying for leadership and people like you.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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Next T.W. Lewis Series speaker: Adam Nuse (Tennessee Titans senior vice president) and Sarah Nuse (founder/CEO of Tippi Toes), 11 a.m. Oct. 1, Colangelo College of Business lobby
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