AI WILL PUT ME OUT OF BUSINESS, someone told me recently.
- They’ll write better easy-reading Bible background books than my Complete Guide to the Bible.
- They’ll create a Bible paraphrase that’s more helpful than (TCEB) The Casual English Bible.®
- They’ll build better 3D-style Bible maps.
If AI (Artificial Intelligence) does that, I’m toast. My only option would be to sue Mark Zuckerberg and charge him with shoplifting after he scanned my books, paraphrase, maps, and photos to educate his AI.
I wanted to know if I should contact my legal ace—my intellectual property lawyer, also named Stephen. So I decided to test ChatGPT for its skill in creating a Bible paraphrase. I asked for footnotes, too, since we have them in TCEB.
I also tested Photoshop’s new AI “Generate Image” feature to see if it could create a 3D-style Bible map.
AI vs TCEB®
John 1:1-8, AI’s ChatGPT Easy-Reading Version
- In the beginning, there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- He was there at the very start with God.
- Everything was made through Him, and nothing was made without Him.
- In Him was life, and that life was the light for everyone.
- The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
- There was a man named John who was sent by God.
- He came to tell people about the light, so everyone could believe through him.
- John was not the light, but he came to share the message about the light.
Footnotes:
- The Word: This refers to Jesus, emphasizing His role in creation and connection with God.
- Life and Light: Life represents spiritual and eternal existence, while light symbolizes truth and goodness.
- Darkness: This often represents confusion, evil, or ignorance, indicating that no matter how dark things seem, the light of truth (Jesus) prevails.
- John: John the Baptist, a key figure who prepared the way for Jesus and emphasized the importance of believing in Him.
John 1:1-8, The Casual English Bible®
JESUS IS GOD’S WORD
When everything started, Jesus was already there.
He was the living Word[1] of God.
He was with God. And He was God.
The Word was right there with God all along.
With this Word, God spoke creation into existence.
If it’s part of creation, the Word created it.[2]
He brought everything to life.
Then he turned the lights on inside people.
God’s life-giving light shines in the darkness.[3]
And darkness can’t do a rotten thing about it.
God introduced a man into this story. He sent John. John’s mission: Tell people about the Light who’s coming. Do it so that when the Light arrives, everyone might believe in him. John wasn’t the Light. John was an advance man who came to get people ready to receive the Light.
Footnotes
[1] The original Greek word is Logos. Greek scholars such as Heraclitus said logos was the wisdom behind all of creation. This all-present wisdom created everything, and it guided creation along the way. For many Jewish scholars then and now, God’s Word pulled the trigger on Creation, whether or not that involved pulling the trigger on the Big Bang. “God said, ‘Lights.’ Lights came on . . . God said, ‘Land, grow a garden.’ . . . The land grew a garden” (Genesis 1:3, 11-12).
John doesn’t identify Jesus as the Word until a few paragraphs later, gradually working up to it by describing the Word as the one who “came to this world that belonged to him. But most of the people—his people—wouldn’t have anything to do with him” (John 1:11). Jesus came to earth as a living, breathing expression of God’s message to humanity, summed up in what is perhaps the most famous Bible verse, John 3:16.
[2] This is God the Father at work through Jesus, some Bible scholars explain, since Genesis 1 says God created the universe.
[3] John may be pointing back to the Creation story, when God turned on the lights and “put darkness in its place” (Genesis 1:5). But John also seems to be pointing toward Jesus, who is often described as a source of spiritual light. “Gentiles of Galilee . . . who live in darkness will see the light—a powerful light. For those people who live in this land, under the shadow of death, it’s dawn, for the light has come” (Matthew 4:15-16). And Jesus himself says, “I am the light in this world’” (John 8:12).
AI Bible maps vs TCEB® Bible maps
You decide.
The scene is the view Moses had from Mount Nebo, when he looked west across the Jordan River Valley into the Promised Land of Canaan, now Israel and Palestinian Territory.
I gave AI an image size to match our TCEB map, but AI decided on another size. A bigger size. A big mistake. Editors know what size will fit the available space. They don’t like surprises. Then again, the editor would probably be AI, more adaptable, and less finicky.
AI art of Moses’s view of the Promised Land
Moses on Mt. Nebo, looking at the Promised Land of Canaan. Imaginative, but not even close to accurate.
The Casual English Bible® map of Moses’s view of the Promised Land
Moses’s view of the Promised Land, looking west across the Jordan River Valley. The angle is from the hilltop most often identified as Mount Nebo.
What do you think?
Reactions. What do you think of this little test?
Tell me, doc, how much time do I have left? Be honest. I can take it.
Wait.
Okay, I’m sitting down.
Wait.
Red wine. For my stomach (1 Timothy 5:23). I don’t have any stomach problem, other than the watermelon-like protuberance. But just in case a problem might emerge, pour. A little more.
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