Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch and in today's episode we're asking the question, who knows the way to our kids hearts? This is prompted by a really interesting article I read in the New York Times by Clay Shirky called Students are skipping the hardest part of growing up. Shirky was flagging students use of AI artificial intelligence not to do their homework, not to write their essay paper, but instead to process their emotions. More and more people are turning to artificial intelligence for, for their relationships. Not just advice on human relationships, but to actually form a relationship. In fact, he has a great phrase in the article. He calls it a social prosthetic. In the same way that someone who loses a leg might get a mechanical leg affixed to their body to help them walk. Artificial intelligence is becoming a faux relationship where people process their emotions. they think about their day. And as a result, in an already isolated community, people are even distancing themselves more. And we're also getting less healthy. In fact, a study that looked at the use of AI to process emotions showed that it actually increases our daily anxiety by 41%. Shirky calls this emotional offloading. It's not dealing with emotions or, or processing them within the context of the relationship in which they come from. It's simply kind of putting them onto a digital consumer who will get rid of them and allow us to not deal with them. Look, I think Shirky couldn't be more right. And I'm worried about teenagers and the generations to come because a, when you're a teenager, you have a lot of emotions. I remember that. Shoot, I'm living that as a parent. Teenagers are, are rife with emotions. And if the muscle they develop is taking those to a chatbot, I think the bill of that is gonna come due into adulthood. Consider this, that in Luke 6:45, Jesus says one of the most, I think, insightful things that's ever been said out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And the reason why that applies here is because I think parents might not be realizing that when they let their child or, or when they don't stand in the gap for their child and their child goes to a chatbot with their feelings. Parents are missing out on a chance to learn their kids hearts. They're also missing out on a chance to develop teenagers who learn to share their hearts with other people and learn for other people to share their hearts with Them. In other words, it's a generation that will be totally incapable of actual intimacy. Listen, parents, I know life is busy. I feel that life is busy. But sitting down with your kids and asking how their day was, I know they say, fine, well, here's how I get around that. I ask them, at any point today, did you feel scared? At any point today, did you feel excited? Did something funny happen today? Use the feelings wheel. Google it if you don't know what I'm talking about. And have them plot themselves on the chart. And doing that will enable you to do two things. Number one, know your child's heart. Because the more they talk, the more you're learning. And by the way, find the time in the day when they're the most loquacious. If it's in the morning, then buy them breakfast. If it's in the evening, then let them stay up past bedtime. Find the part of the day where your child wants to talk and learn their heart. that's so important for parents. But also second, teach them how to share their heart. Because in the end, that's the secret to great friendships. It's the secret to discipling relationships. It's the secret to a healthy marriage and to them being good parents themselves. teach your kids to do the vulnerable work. Here's what I believe. Someone who's experiencing the actual joy of human to human intimacy will never see AI as anything more than a cheap synthetic replacement. But in the absence of human intimacy, any intimacy will do, even if it's with a machine. Parents, we've got to carve out time and listen. If you listen to this, you're not a parent. If you're married, if you're a friend. Someone in your life, maybe even you, is turning to ChatGPT for vulnerability and for intimacy. And they should be turning to you. Force yourself to have awkward, vulnerable conversations. I know they're not easy, but they're the key to actual meaningful relationships. AI is a poor substitute for an actual friend, for a spouse, or for a parent. And surely we must teach our kids that. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

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