A Diamond, a Magnifying Glass, and a Guard: Three Analogies for Truth in an AI World

As the new academic year began, it seemed the whole nation turned its attention to artificial intelligence. News feeds such as “White House Announces New AI Education Initiative,” ¹ “Confusing School AI Policies Leave Families Guessing,”² “The University Is leading the Way in AI Education and Innovation,”³ and “Generative AI Is Completely Reshaping Education,”⁴ filled my inbox and crowded my screen. Not only was the internet flooded with voices from every sector on the topic, but artificial intelligence was also the topic on the agenda at many faculty in-service sessions at the onset of the academic year. For some universities, those sessions focused on how to safeguard assignments from AI. For others, the sessions emphasized redesigning assignments to fully integrate AI into the curriculum. Many universities scrambled to update or revise AI policies on course syllabi to ensure the expectations of AI usage were clear for students. The question that continued to linger in the back of my mind was broader than the logistics of how to use this new emerging tool. Rather, my question was epistemological in nature: How will the next generation be able to determine truth in a world permeated by artificial intelligence?

The Desire to Know

For several years, I taught a Philosophy of Education course in which we spent time unpacking terms like epistemology, metaphysics, and axiology as students attempted to formulate their worldview and answer deep questions like what is real, what is true, and what is of value. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies knowledge, including the dimensions, sources, and validity of knowledge.⁵

Epistemology attempts to answer questions like: Is there anything in the world to know? Is there truth to be known? Where does knowledge come from? What evidence is there to support our knowledge?

The desire to know is part of our human nature. As I think back to my own childhood days, there is no better example than my desire to know what I was getting for Christmas each year. Whether it was peeking in my parents’ closet, shaking the presents under the tree, or even opening a little corner of the package to sneak a glimpse, I felt like I just had to know what was in the elegantly wrapped boxes. As an adult, I am not as motivated to know my Christmas presents, but if I am reading a good book, there is definitely a temptation to look ahead to the last chapter to know how the story will end.

Man’s desire to know is evident in the events that took place in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:5, Satan tempted Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, saying, “when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (ESV). The passage goes on to say that Eve saw the fruit was good for eating, pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom and so she ate it. As humans, we want to know. And yet, God is the only one who is omniscient or all-knowing.

AI and Truth

Last year, Schuurman⁶ wrote a fascinating blog in Christian Scholars Review on AI and truth. This blog has been churning in my mind for months. His blog uncovered many of the perils of AI such as deepfakes, misinformation, and astroturfing. What distressed me the most was the description of AI chatbots not as neutral but as built with a particular worldview. Schuurman likened it to having a “Jiminy Cricket” on your shoulder. Pryor,⁷ a blogger on the integration of AI in higher education, describes the relationship between AI and humans as a partnership in which “human and machine form a new hybrid identity for the express purpose of world-building.” In this sense, AI begins to dictate the answers to epistemological questions, controlling the dimensions, sources, and validity of knowledge. In our desire as humans to know, we may become so enamored by the quick access to knowledge and what AI can produce for us that we forget the source of all knowledge and truth.

As the semester has transpired, I, like many, have realized the question is no longer, “Will I allow my students to use AI?” or “Will I use AI myself?” Educators can no longer ignore AI. The question is how my Biblical worldview will inform my AI usage. The answer begins with a firm resolution of where truth comes from and who is the only all-knowing source of truth. As I have wrestled with these concerns over the past few months, three analogies have emerged as a guiding framework.

Truth Analogies

The three truth analogies explained below and summarized in Table 1 provide the anchor I need when I feel overwhelmed by the prevalence of AI around me. When the clamor loudens, I can remain calm by valuing truth like a diamond, seeking truth with a magnifying glass, and protecting truth like a guard.

The first analogy for truth is a diamond. Just as a sparkling diamond is to be adored, so too is truth. Keller⁸ describes truth as beautiful. Truth is beautiful because it comes from God who is truth. God has chosen to share truth with us through His Word and His Son. Jesus says He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). AI, as a large language model, has massive amounts of knowledge, but it is not able to discern truth. It hallucinates and, at times, displays bias. What a blessing that as Christ-followers, we have truth! While the postmodern world offers little hope of eternal truth to cling to, we not only have truth but also have the Holy Spirit who guides us in all truth (John 16:13). As we appreciate the truth and gaze upon its beauty, we are filled with awe and wonder like the newly engaged young woman marveling at the diamond on her finger.

The second analogy for truth is a magnifying glass. Like a detective who seeks clues, we as Christians actively seek truth from the source of truth. As we spend time in God’s Word, our minds are renewed and transformed (Romans 12:2). This daily process equips us to discern truth. We must never approach AI as being the source of all knowledge, as only God is all-knowing. Like the Bereans in Acts 17 who tested Paul’s teaching against the Old Testament Scriptures, we must test what we read from AI against truth from Scripture and also established truths in our content areas. As we read widely from well-respected authors in our disciplines, we deepen our understanding and ability to recognize academic truth. As professors, we have the incredible opportunity to train our students to do the same. Piper⁹ says there are only two books of study, namely God’s Word and God’s world. As we study them, we learn God’s truth. And so, the magnifying glass begs us to spend time in the Word, to pray, and to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we persistently seek truth.

The third analogy for truth is a guard. As a guard protects by recognizing threats, exposing threats, and ensuring safety, so must professors. In a recent podcast, Barbara Oakley¹⁰ described teachers as the guardians of knowledge. As teachers craft assignments with AI integration, care must be taken to use AI as a tool but not to determine the validity of knowledge in our content areas. It is the teacher’s role to recognize that which is not true or counterfeit. Thinking back to the guard analogy, when a threat is recognized, the next step is to expose or call attention to the threat. As professors, we must point out the hallucinations of AI to our students, empowering them to think critically and begin to identify errors independently.

The final element in the guard analogy is ensuring safety. In an AI webinar I attended this semester, the speaker advocated designing the curriculum with AI positioned at the center. As I listened, a warning alarm went off in my mind. As Christian educators, we take great joy in designing our curriculum with the truth of God’s word at the center. We cannot give that prominent place to artificial intelligence or anything else. As MacCullough¹¹

points out in her article on critical thinking, it is not the teacher’s or the student’s voice that ultimately matters most in the curriculum. It is God’s Word. In the world of AI, professors have a role to play in ensuring the curriculum is safely rooted in truth.

Table 1. Truth Analogies

Image	Attitude	Action	Instruction
Diamond¹³	Persistent	Seek out truth in God’s Word and God’s world	Teach students where to find truth
Guard¹⁴	Vigilant	Protect truth by recognizing and exposing counterfeits and ensuring safety.	Teach students to recognize untruth and protect sound thinking.

As the semester draws to a close and the integration of AI in education is still raging, I have learned to quiet my restless soul with the three truth analogies. I am grateful that there is truth to be known. God’s truth is beautiful. As I diligently seek God’s truth and encourage my students to do the same, we grow together in our understanding of the Word and the world. We drink from the source of living water and learn deeply in our content areas. As a Christian educator, I recognize my responsibility to vigilantly guard truth in my courses and at my institution. Now more than ever, our students need a Christ-centered curriculum that develops their sound thinking and cultivates their relationship with the one who is Truth.