As the ubiquity of artificial intelligence grows, Black spiritual leaders find themselves navigating its perils and promises.
Amid ethical concerns over the sourcing of AI materials, the role of technology in creative endeavors, and the environmental consequences of AI, there’s a significant demand for the technology among church leaders. A 2024 survey by Barna Group found that 78% of pastors are comfortable using AI to assist with marketing and that 58% of pastors are comfortable using AI to assist with communication.
Rev. Heber Brown III, founder of The Black Church Food Security Network, interprets this demand as a symptom of increasing workloads.
“It’s always been difficult to be a religious leader, and the list of things that religious leaders have to do has always been a long list,” said Brown. “But especially today, that list is longer than it’s ever been and the weight of these responsibilities rests very heavy on the shoulders of religious leaders.”
According to a 2017 Indiana University study, Black churches are three times more likely to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy than other churches across the nation. A 2021 report from Barna found that desire for church involvement among Black adults dropped from 90% in 1996 to 74% in 2020. In recent years, efforts like the Preserving Black Churches initiative, led by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, have provided support to financially challenged churches through grant awards. Nevertheless, more Black faith leaders are resorting to AI in the wake of these precarious circumstances.
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For that reason, Rev. Lawrence W. Rodgers, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Detroit, vouched for the use of AI, albeit not “too liberally.”
“We have the opportunity to ride it,” Rodgers said of AI. “Churches are struggling with resources; AI can serve as that personnel.”
Elonda Clay, AI consultant and director of the library at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, has observed the variety of ways in which AI is being utilized by faith leaders.
“As far as spiritual congregations, [AI] is very controversial right now,” Clay said. “What I have experienced is that there are a lot of pastors who are using AI for sermons, different aspects of service planning, for emails … Every task they can automate, they are automating.”
But whatever benefits AI provides, the prevalence of AI data centers and new power plants being constructed in predominantly Black areas gives some Black spiritual leaders pause, as they maintain a sense of responsibility for the ecological health of their communities.
“How can we promote optimum spiritual health when the members in our churches in hospitals are there because of the respiratory issues caused by polluting industries in their neighborhoods?” asked Brown.
For Rev. Michael Malcom, environmental justice advocate and founder of The People’s Justice Council, the profusion of AI data centers is an “existential threat.”
“The scary part about it is that it’s not being researched, and not being regulated,” Malcom said. “The one thing we have as faith leaders is influence through our voices, and we’ve got to sound the alarm with a sense of urgency.”
One research paper claimed that the growth of generative AI “runs counter” to the efficiency gains needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Another study found that the carbon intensity of electricity used by data centers is 48% higher than the national average. Black communities not only bear the brunt of these effects, but also the monetary costs that come with them.
“The cost doesn’t go to these data centers, they go to the everyday consumer through their rates,” Malcom said. “They see their bills going up … I’ve even seen some folks having to file bankruptcy because they can’t pay utility bills.”
History corroborates the concern that Black communities are being sacrificed in the name of industry. In Louisiana, chemical and oil refineries are concentrated in majority-Black neighborhoods. Researchers have nicknamed the area “Cancer Alley” because of the massive increase in disease rates. According to a 2017 report from the NAACP’s Clean Air Task Force, African Americans are exposed to 38% more polluted air than Caucasian Americans.
Just this May, Black residents in Memphis, Tenn., fought Elon Musk’s xAI Colossus supercomputer over concerns about the pollution it released into their communities. Despite this, there’s little evidence the construction of AI data centers will slow down. Areas in Virginia, Michigan, and Wisconsin are all actively being sought by developers for future data center construction projects.
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Speaking on the current atmosphere of environmental deregulation in the U.S., Avery Davis Lamb, executive director of Creation Justice Ministries, painted a bleak picture.
“Every bedrock environmental law is at risk right now,” Lamb said. “The basic protections that allow us access to clean water, air, and safe places to live are being sacrificed for the sake of profit. I haven’t yet seen the limit to the greed that is driving those policy changes.”
Rev. Earle Fisher, senior pastor of Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis, voiced a similar uneasiness.
“What’s important for me is how the data centers themselves are being imposed on certain communities,” Fisher said.
Fisher said Black faith communities have unique power and strategic value in the face of these impositions.
“If there is any resistance to these things, one of the first places they’ll look towards is faith communities. We can press and push the respective parties and politicians to ensure that there is maximum economic benefit and minimum environmental harm,” he said. “Black faith communities sit at an intersection.”
One way that communities are resisting is through initiatives like Minus AI which was launched by The People’s Justice Council on Oct. 11.
Minus AI is a campaign encouraging users to enter “-ai” into their data searches to discourage search engines from using AI. The importance of giving users, particularly those from marginalized communities, the right to opt out of AI is an aspect that other sources found crucial.
“Our discussion about spiritual practices has to include a conversation about the right to opt-out, resist, or to reject AI,” Clay said.
Brown echoed that Black Christians and communities, “should not surrender or cede ground when it comes to stating our desire to or to not participate in these technologies.”
Malcom is hopeful that the “Minus AI” initiative will lead people to promote systemic changes.
“If we can get [12 million] people to not use AI, that gives us leverage so we can go to these companies as well as our legislators,” he said.
“How can we promote optimum spiritual health when the members in our churches in hospitals are there because of the respiratory issues caused by polluting industries in their neighborhoods?” — Rev. Heber Brown III
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