How AI is going to leave you behind

I don't mean take your job - I mean leave you behind the learning curve

Just about every week, I have a conversation with someone about AI and ministry. I find that these questions generally fall into two camps. The first group consists of early adopters. They want to know what tools I am using and finding helpful. The other, larger group of inquisitors is asking about AI’s application in ministry. They are more concerned with the theological, ethical, and anthropological effects of AI.

That latter question is, to me, simple and complicated at the same time. AI is a technology and thus will bring with it changes that can be exploited for good or for evil. It will never impute a soul into software. I do not feel threatened by it, but I do expect it will enable people to sin in new ways. But, like most technology, you cannot stop it. Society has already green-lighted its use.

The first question, the cool tools question, is really fun right now. I subscribe to a couple of different writers focused on highlighting new tools. I also consume way too many YouTube videos learning about new developments. From diagramming ideas to video production, AI tools are rapidly evolving into new areas. Each day brings something breathtaking. My concern for ministry leaders, particularly senior leaders, is that they are not embracing the current learning curve. The use of the word “senior” here may mean the person is in upper management. It also might mean that old dogs need to learn some new tricks.

Most of us are not wired to constantly change our software toolkit. I remember back 15 years ago or so, when organizational leaders were grasping, for the first time, that you didn’t just “buy a software package.” CRMs, accounting software, and so on had evolved into services. You could not simply purchase a solution. You had a relationship with a vendor who sold you software that was updated and customized. After being used to buying software in a box, with a CD or DVD for installation, this was a new paradigm. Then things moved onto the cloud en masse. Again, this was a new era. Leaders again struggled to re-budget and re-orient themselves around another way of getting software services to support their work.

AI is once again shifting the playing field. This time, the prerequisite skill is learning. I don’t mean learning a tool. I mean rethinking how software is being plumbed, from the foundation up. Those who are not able to embrace a “super learning” mode are going to be left behind. Yes, there will be solutions for them. But, no, they won’t understand the hows and whys of what is happening. Because so much of our future lies in the AI world, key leaders need to grasp the learning curve change that is upon us.

For example, AI experts are saying that 2025 is the year of “Agentic AI.” If that phrase is new to you, you are already behind the learning curve. All it really means is that we have automated services that call AI into the process of delivering information. To learn about agentic AI, I created a workflow on Make.com which calls two different AI engines and posts these Substack articles on my X timeline, LinkedIn, etc. This is still very much a work in progress, but I have already begun deploying it. This is how one learns in the AI age - you need to get into the tools yourself.

People who are not constant, habitual learners will be left behind. I know that sounds scary, but it need not be. YouTube is your friend in this journey. Watch videos and copy the demonstrations. You will get a handle on what AI can do and how it is being applied to everyday workflows.

A tool like Notebook LM is a godsend for spontaneous lookup of information. I fed in all my board minutes and now can query it during a board meeting when questions arise. This is, by the way, a RAG model of AI. Retrieval Augmented Generation is one such AI area that you can use every day. Generally, RAG models limit their responses to documents you feed it as opposed to presenting information from the open web. Another way that Notebook LM is helpful is as a learning tool. It can create briefs, study guides, and short podcasts about the information you want to learn. Notebook LM is only one tool among many that you can tap into for super learning.

We are in the early days of AI. Learning is the skill that will make AI work for you.