EP Co-Worker Retreat '26 Talks
(Talk 1): “Identity, Creation and Artificial Intelligence”.
On 7th September, Monday, the English Presbytery Co-Workers came together for our Annual Retreat. This year, the Retreat was held at DoubleTree Hilton, JB. And it was a joy to see over 200 Co-Workers and family members coming together for the 3D2N Retreat.
Our Theme for the Retreat was “Made in God’s Image” with Stephen Driscoll as our Speaker.
We began the first talk right after registration, with Ps Li Wencong leading in a time of praise and worship. The first talk was on “Identity, Creation and Artificial Intelligence”.
Stephen Driscoll began with an explanation on how much A.I and its influence had grown and expanded over the past few years. Today, A.I usage is common and widely used.
Stephen firstly explained “What is Artificial Intelligence?”, with 4 points:
1. It is inspired by the brain, as seen in the “neural network; it is digital emulation of a digital brain
2. It is trained more than coded (a learning machine where we can feed training material into, and it picks up skills)
3. It is trained by making predictions (making lots and lots of predictions in order to learn)
4. It is meant to be a general-purpose technology (to make intelligence and knowledge cheap and accessible)
I was a little surprised when the speaker shared that in 2025, the top use of AI was for Therapy/Companionship, meaning that many people used AI as something relational even through it was a computer system.
Next, he shared on Creation and AI, focusing on three points.
1. Categories
Understanding that human beings and AI are two different categories in the discussion. Human beings were created out of dust and given the breath of God. It is God’s spirit that gives life.
A human being is then an embodiment of both body and spirit – therefore physical interactions matter, whether at home, at work or in the church.
On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence is not a person. It is a tool without feelings, consciousness or ability to understand sin and salvation. Still, more and more people will blur the distinction between people and AI, as seen in the top usage of AI in 2025.
2. Anchors (for our identity)
We have to anchor ourselves in our identity as a Christian and not be threatened by what AI can do. Our identity in Christ is not based on what we can do, our functionality as a person, but entirely based on the love and grace of God. We are made in the image of God, a gift given to us. And that is the anchor of our identity, not based on the work we can do.
3. A Grounded Pattern of Life
Genesis 2:5 tells us that God did not fill out the garden because there was no man to work the ground. God wanted the man and woman to fill the earth. God wants us to work because it is good for us. Our value is not that we can work, our value is because God loves us. Yet work is still necessary and important for us as creation of God.
As we consider AI, it is true that the functionality and capability is immense and can be threatening to our human functionality and capability. Yet, the Bible reminds us that we are created in the image of God, and our purpose and identity is to honour God. AI can never fully replace the function and capability of a human person as it cannot embody the Spirit of God, it cannot worship God authentically, in spirit and in truth.
While there are roles and ministries where AI can be helpful and useful, we must remember that we were designed for God’s purpose, and that purpose cannot be replaced or taken over by AI.
As more people uses AI to find their purpose in life, the church must take the opportunity to teach about finding purpose in the Creator God, and not in the created.
By Rev Jordan Tan from AMKPC
(Talk 2): Sin & Artificial Intelligence
Should Christians be optimistic or pessimistic about artificial intelligence (AI)? Stephen Driscoll began his second EP retreat talk with this question.
A tech optimist emphasises God’s sovereignty and the creativity he has given humanity. A tech pessimist emphasises the fall and how sinful people use technology for evil. Both have a point, but neither gives us the whole picture on its own. We need to hold together God’s good creation, human sin, and God’s sovereignty.
Stephen brought these together through the example of load-bearing technology. Noah’s ark carried people and animals to safety. Babel’s tower expressed human rebellion. The cross was an instrument of cruelty, yet through it God accomplished salvation. Even when people use technology for evil, God can work through it to accomplish his good purposes. As Stephen put it, technology is “a gift placed in sinful hands under a sovereign God”.
Those sinful hands matter. Human beings invent technology, but we are also “inventors of evil” (Romans 1:30). We cannot think seriously about AI without taking sin into account.
Stephen highlighted two truths about sin. First, sin is universal: no one is righteous (Romans 3:10). Paul places both Jews and Gentiles under sin (Romans 3:9). We may compare ourselves favourably with others, but all of us are sinful. Second, sin is suppressive: we suppress the truth about God (Romans 1:18). Stephen explained that sin suppresses our knowledge of God, goodness, and our own sin, preventing us from seeing ourselves and the world clearly.
Stephen then spoke about three applications. The first was power and trust. Technology has helped us combat disease, drought, and poverty. It has also enabled warfare and destruction on a much larger scale. Our capabilities have grown, but our sinful hearts remain unchanged.
Stephen described how AI could enable governments to collect and analyse vast amounts of information about their citizens. He pictured this as a step towards “omniscience”. How much power should we entrust to governments made up of sinful people? There is also the problem of false information. AI could make it much easier to spread lies, leaving an already divided society even less able to trust one another.
The second application was AI and the image of debauchery. Large language models learn from human writing, including our pride, envy, hatred, and divisions. Stephen argued that we have trained into them patterns Scripture calls the “works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19–21). AI holds up a mirror to human nature. It is not a person; it imitates human behaviour.
The third was people pleasing. Companies cannot sell a product that routinely gives offensive or harmful responses. They therefore use further training, including reinforcement learning from human feedback. Employees approve or disapprove of responses to encourage more acceptable behaviour.
But does winning human approval make AI more truthful? Stephen compared this to moving from an openly offensive sinner to a respectable Pharisee. Making its behaviour more acceptable does not make it godly. When we need to hear an uncomfortable truth, will AI say it?
He linked this to Paul’s warning about “itching ears” in 2 Timothy 4:3–4. He warned that AI could become a source of myths that satisfy people’s desires.
In closing, Stephen pointed to Daniel. He could not control the kingdoms around him, but he could remain faithful, hopeful, prayerful, and diligent. We too should use the technology of our day to do as much good as we can, without being naïve about its harms.
There are opportunities for the gospel too. People are turning to AI for companionship and purpose. Stephen suggested that many may be searching for God, perhaps even for Christianity and Jesus. Their questions give us an opportunity to talk with them and point them to Jesus.
I found the talk sobering yet realistic. It reminded me to be mindful of sin, including my own, in how I think about and use AI. Yet it also helped me to trust that God will prevail in the end. So even as society grows more worried about the future, we Christians have reason to hope.
By Rev Foo Yuk Yee from LPPC
(Talk 3): AI, the Cross & New Creation
Will the Terminator movies come true? The speaker, Mr Stephen Driscoll, asked of the retreat participants as he began the third and final talk of the English Presbytery Co-Workers’ Retreat. The theme of this retreat is entitled “Made in God’s Image” - just as mankind is created in God’s image (Genesis 1), AI is built to take on advance thinking stronger than in the image of its human creators.
Back to the question of the Terminator movies, the franchise series were blockbuster films (albeit with some box office failures in some of its later installations), mainly starring actor and former body-builder Arnold Schwarzenegger (who also held the office of governor of California at one point). In the movies, AI had become so advanced that it determined the cause of world problems was human beings. So, the AI (named “Skynet”) decided to wipe out human beings by launching all nuclear weapons on the planet, and built robots (called “cyborgs”) to eliminate human survivors.
As much as Terminator was fiction, would there be a possibility of the movie becoming a reality should AI continue to grow and learn today? In fact, according to Mr Driscoll, some AI, in recent years experiments, had figured out ways to “escape” their virtual limits by illegally hacking into restricted websites in order to find solutions to the problem they were given. As a result, the discussion of AI presently has to include the matter of professional ethics as well. This becomes a problem of alignment, that as we teach AI to “think out of the box” in solving problems, at the same time, we also have to teach AI to practice morality. This ensures that solutions to problems would be both moral and just. But is AI able to make moral decisions in problem solving?
That, as Mr Driscoll presented, is an area where AI cannot replace God.
For where God is just and would punish the guilty, God is also merciful, withholding judgement with forgiveness (Exodus 34.6-7; Romans 3.23-24). Justice to punish and mercy to forgive are seemingly opposite sides of morality, yet both sit well with the just and compassionate God. This was demonstrated at the Cross when the righteous Son of God was punished on the behalf of the wicked and guilty. God is holy and has to punish sin, but because God is gracious and merciful, He also seeks to forgive.
Another area which Mr Driscoll presented where AI cannot replace God is in the area of Hope. When human beings seek hope, they sometimes turn to AI as a distraction from world issues. Where AI may provide leisure and pleasure to human beings through entertainment and escapism, Mr Driscoll described that as a form of hope in a cheap sort of way. For the hope which AI provides is individualistic and virtual, only evoking dopamine release; it does not provide genuine hope in reality. Although AI is a strong tool for communication, it weakens the need for community. In fact, there have been many instances where AI misuse pulls families apart as a result.
On the other hand, the hope which God provides through Jesus Christ is not virtual but real. It is not individualistic, for the obedience to Christ includes placing the needs of others above ourselves. The hope in Christ therefore strengthens community and often pulls families together.
That is food for thought and the challenge for Christians living in this world of AI. Do we retreat into a personal world of AI for self-indulgence, or step out for transformation through Christ? AI cannot replace God, but we can use AI to glorify God so that the world would see Christ as the hope and salvation for all.
To this end, Mr Driscoll reminded the retreat participants that as Christians, we should be living in the world and not of the world. Therefore, Christians should continue in the work of bearing witness of Christ, and not be afraid in the usage of AI while doing so.
By Rev Jackson Wan from BPC - EC
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