The $200000 given to The Gospel Coalition by the Future of Life Institute came with strings attached and the anticipation that statements and red lines would be put out, fearmongering about AI. Collin Hansen, the vice president of content over at The Gospel Coalition, has addressed the revelation.
Yesterday I was asked about a grant that TGC received from FLI related to our work on AI and Christianity. I think it could be helpful for me to take a moment to separate fact from fiction and speculation.
TGC first began writing about AI in 2017 and began to answer frequently asked questions about the subject in 2019. Our editorial policy, adopted in December 2023, explicitly banned the publication of resources written by generative AI, and it was updated this summer in light of the number of AI written pieces we were rejecting. So far this year we have released multiple long-term projects with more in the works aimed at helping Christians navigate the most rapidly and widely adopted technology in history.
Because of our early attention to the issue, TGC has become a leading voice on AI issues among Christian publishers. We are unashamed about our position on AI: while we see some positive effects as a utility, AI also has demonstrated dangerous capacity for dehumanization, especially by reversing gains in literacy and critical thinking that Christians in earlier generations promoted for the advance of the gospel and sound theology.
We continue to support church leaders as they discern redemptive uses of AI in a confusing, ever-changing landscape. As we have published on this issue, many have taken notice, including foundations. Some, like FLI, have sought to support our work, awarding TGC grants as we continue to contend for our positions, which are grounded in biblical anthropology. The scope of the FLI grant is clearly identified on their website:
“The Gospel Coalition, a leading evangelical Christian website, will address theologically sound use of AI in its ‘Silicon Spiritualities’ podcast, Keller Center Annual Fellows retreat, TGC Women’s Conference, and ministry leader training sessions.”
The update to our editorial policy was not connected to the FLI grant in any fashion.
We respect that our priorities and convictions will rarely overlap completely with foundations. The same was true in similar previous grants on other subjects from Templeton (on the New City Catechism) and Kern (on faith, work, and economics).
Guided by our foundation documents and governed by our board and council, no grant or donation dictates what we write, what we publish, what we believe, or what we participate in. Our convictions have never been for sale; they never will be.
TGC intends to remain a leading voice on the relationship of Christianity and AI as the issues daily and even hourly evolve. The church leaders we serve expect nothing less; the times demand our sharpest thinking and prayerful discernment.
Collin Hansen’s main claim is that FLI and TGC are aligned. But FLI is spinning an apocalyptic narrative that runs counter to Christianity. Hansen also admits that content was produced for FLI, including the failed podcast they launched and a Keller Center event.
The Gospel Coalition claims that its leadership on AI is what attracted the grant, but FLI was buying religious NGO influence to astroturf a broad consensus among all religions. The Gospel Coalition is not a leading Christian voice on AI (that would be Andrew Torba), but they are the most positioned to take dirty money, having been an early adopter to AI fearmongering.
