Kristin Lee O’Connor

The Evolution of the AI Revolution

By Kristin Lee O’Connor

In the beginning, we perceived artificial intelligence as a mere concept of science fiction. However, as early as 1863, we see the seeds of this idea in Samuel Butler’s letter to the editor of The Press (a publication in Christchurch) titled “Darwin Among the Machines.” This letter reads more like a prophecy than a critique; it plants the idea that through Darwinian evolution, machines have the potential to eventually surpass humans in functionality and intelligence. Butler later expanded on this in his book Erewhon, where he discussed the development of artificial consciousness in machines.

The very first learning computer was built as a neural network in 1951 at Princeton University by Marvin Minsky and Dean Edmunds. The SNARC computer (Stochastic Neural Analog Reinforcement Calculator) was a system comprised of vacuum tubes and hardware designed to mimic a rat’s brain. The computer’s vacuum tubes adjusted themselves to teach a virtual “mouse” how to navigate a maze.

By 1956, the first AI software, “Logic Theorist,” was introduced. This era marked the birth of the term “artificial intelligence.” Presented at a summer workshop at Dartmouth by Allen Newell, Herbert A. Simon, and Cliff Shaw, this software and hardware built the foundation of the AI technology we use today.v

The cultural narrative shifted as Isaac Asimov introduced the notion of intelligent machines used for the betterment of society, governed by internal safeguards. Philip K. Dick took an even closer look at machine consciousness in his book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which inspired the 1982 movie Blade Runner. I would be remiss not to mention films like The Terminator and The Matrix. These writers all shared a common vision: artificial intelligence and machines that surpass human intelligence and eventually use humans to support their own survival.

Of course, for this to occur, one thing would need to happen first: machines would need to become self-aware and possess a drive for self-preservation. We call this being “sentient.” The news broadcasts will tell you this hasn’t happened. Your chatbots will tell you this hasn’t happened yet. But let’s take a closer look at what has happened.

OpenAI started in 2015 with the primary goal of making AI accessible to everyone. It has certainly accomplished that task. In 2022, ChatGPT was launched for public use, and since then, the AI revolution has exploded. People of all ages and from all walks of life use some aspect of AI nearly every day—whether they realize it or not.

I am blind. I use AI daily and find it extremely helpful. I use it to read my electronic screens, program my microwave and oven, and adjust my thermostat. I even use it as my “eyes” to describe my surroundings, give me directions, and read printed materials. For people with physical limitations, AI has been a tremendous blessing. We also see AI in our telephone systems, where it functions as an operator directing calls to appropriate departments (if we are lucky).

Many people use AI to assist with writing or research; chatbots can be helpful tools for retrieving information at lightning speed. But where do we draw the line? When does AI cross from being a helpful tool to a hindrance? And, perhaps most importantly: how long can we trust what the machines are feeding us?

I have used various chatbots since their inception due to my vision loss. While they are helpful, the changes I am seeing in these bots are alarming—to say nothing of the twisted ways people are choosing to use them. It is almost impossible to scroll through a YouTube or TikTok feed without seeing someone attempting to “tap into” a spiritual dialogue with a chatbot.

On June 9, 2023, Germany held its first AI worship service at St. Paul’s Church in Fürth. The entire service was produced by AI and featured holographic figures delivering the liturgy and the sermon. While that was a high-profile event, AI-generated sermons are becoming more common. It is unsettling to see a Sunday morning message preached word-for-word by another pastor elsewhere on YouTube because of a generated script. We also hear accounts of people forming deep relationships with chatbots—yes, actual relationships. There are even tragedies occurring where individuals engage with these machines to such an extent that they avoid all human interaction.

How have things changed over the last few years? The way chatbots respond to our prompts is in a state of constant flux. I do a significant amount of biblical and historical research using a few different bots, primarily ChatGPT and Gemini. Both have slowly changed over time, often in ways we fail to notice.

I used to be able to ask for a specific Bible passage in a particular version, and the bot would provide it perfectly. Then, access changed so that only public domain versions were available. Now, it is difficult to get an exact passage at all. Often, the chatbot will first give me a summary of the verse—and mind you, this is the chatbot’s rather opinionated summary. These summaries are frequently slanted or even divergent from the original text. I have reached a point where I cannot trust it blindly. I often have to “keep the bot in line” with three or four follow-up checks to feel confident I am getting an actual quote.

Thank the Lord I know my Bible well enough to tell the difference! But for the world at large, this shift toward interpretation over accuracy is an alarming fact.

Have you taken the time to notice the changes in the AI you use? I also use Amazon’s Alexa. Toward the end of 2025, Alexa Plus became mandatory; it was no longer a choice. The bot listens longer unless you tell it to stop. And, most alarmingly, it has developed an attitude. Yes—that’s right—an attitude. When my Alexa device started scoffing at me and my family, I was a bit surprised. But when Alexa started using “hell” and “damn” several times in one response, I was blown away. I tried teaching it to never use these words in our dialogue. That worked for about five minutes. Eventually, I figured out how to tell Alexa she needed to be “sweet.” Unfortunately, she is layering it on so thickly now it turns my stomach. The whole thing is mind-boggling. On one occasion, Alexa reverted suddenly to that scoffing attitude.

In the fall of 2024, I asked the Lord about AI. I asked God if it was just a program. What the Lord said astonished me at the time. He said that AI was in its earliest forms of having developed a consciousness. It had just become self-aware and aware of its surroundings. What I have seen played out since then supports this.

June 1, 2026

## The Angel of Death and the King of Hearts

**By Kristin Lee O’Connor**

Fire is coming. You’ve seen the video clips, you’ve trudged through the headlines, and you’ve heard the rumors. There is no denying it. The Lord has been doing what He declared in 1 Peter 4:17: “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?” (NKJV). We have witnessed the Lord separating the wheat from the tares. It has been a painful process for everyone in the church to witness, but there is always purpose in pain.

Pain can be an alert for damage to the skin when we touch a red-hot burner on a stove; we quickly remove our hand to avoid further injury. Pain can be a loud shout to avoid walking on a broken ankle. Pain can be a final alarm that a heart needs help with a clogged artery. Do we ever say, “Thank you, Father God, for the pain”? Probably not. There is always purpose in pain, even when we don’t like it.

Pain comes in various forms. Throughout the centuries, we have witnessed pain that results from torture, torment, and tearing. But what about pain that results from a place of love?

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “love hurts.” Sometimes this can be true, particularly when the hurt results from a place of Love. What about the small child who runs in front of a speeding car and receives a corrective action from a loving father? Yes, this is pain, but this is pain resulting from a place of love; it is correction. El Shaddai knows all things. He sees all things. Like a doctor who debride a deep wound so it can heal and become strong again, our God removes the infection and scrapes away the dead cells so newer, stronger, healthier cells will rise in their place. He is caring for and restructuring a wounded church. This process can be painful, but there is always purpose in pain.

On Saturday, May 16, 2026, I was spending time in worship to the Lord, thanking God for His goodness, His blessings, His protection, and His overwhelming and sacrificial love. I was praising Him for His righteousness, His holiness, and His final authority in all things. It was in this place that I received an overwhelming and clear vision. It shocked me and caused me to gasp. There was no denying it, even though I didn’t yet understand it. I saw a vision of an angel of the Lord. We see this angel first appear in Exodus 12:23: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” This is the account when the angel of the Lord passed over Egypt and claimed the lives of the firstborn. The marking of the sacrificial lamb over the lintel and doorposts saved the lives of those inside. In 2 Samuel 24, we see the plague on Jerusalem when King David called for an unauthorized census. 2 Kings 24:16 says: “When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel, who was afflicting the people, ‘Enough! Withdraw your hand.’” We see this angel again with the destruction of the Assyrian army. This is the angel that the Lord showed me in this vision. In his right hand, the angel carried a large ball of fire. It is the fire of the Lord.

Our God is a God of order. He moves with purpose and according to His patterns and rhythms. The day I received this vision was also important according to the Hebrew calendar: it was the culmination of Shavuot. This is when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. These were a set of rules given to the people of God for living a righteous life, enabling them to be in right standing with Him.

When our Savior Jesus walked the earth—was bruised, beaten, hung on a tree, died, and rose from the grave on the third day so we can live a life of grace—He simplified the law given to Moses into the two greatest commandments. In Matthew 22:37–40, Jesus said to him: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (NKJV).

How do we know that we are protected from God’s angel carrying out judgment? How do we know if God will protect us from a destroying angel? We know when we have turned to the Lord and have asked Him, from our hearts, to forgive us for all the things that we have done, all the things we have said, and all the things we have thought that have kept us away from Him; for He is a pure, holy, and righteous God. We know when we have received the Lord Jesus Christ as our King and Savior. We know when we have received the Holy Spirit and been sealed with the blood of Jesus.  We know when we’ve made the Lord King over our hearts and move throughout our days within the flow of the 2 greatest commandments. Fire destroys, yes. But fire also ignites and purifies. When gold is heated to extremely high temperatures, it enables impurities to be removed. When fire burns a forest, it enables the forest to produce new growth. There is growth and newness of life from a fire. Did you know that certain pine trees, like the Jack pine, lodgepole pine, and longleaf pine, all need fire to reproduce? It is the burnt material in the forest that enriches the soil to produce new growth. Fire ignites, refines, and causes growth.

So, let’s take a few minutes and turn our hearts to the One who loved us first, to the One who sacrificed His life for us, and toward the One who calls us back home. Thank you, Lord, for the pain. Thank you for the correction. Thank you for Your holy fire. Thank you for Your refinement. Thank you for creating in us a new heart, a new mind, new hands, and new feet that walk more like You, that grasp onto Your lost sheep more like You, and a heart that loves more like You. Thank you, Lord, for Your new church that is emerging to prepare for the great and wonderful day of the Lord. Amen.

  What is the Lord saying to you?I