What do you think?
Rate this book
Magic Machine Series #1
Devotionals from a Soulless Machine: A Journey of Faith through Artificial Intelligence
With the release of OpenAI making ChatGPT available to the public in 2022, the authors wondered how a soulless machine would interpret biblical verses. Would the results from a godless computer be derogatory or supportive of their Christian beliefs? Using some of the most beloved verses as well as several of the more disturbing passages from the Bible, Preston and Harriet Lewis began a faith journey through artificial intelligence that provided surprising results.
Devotionals from a Soulless A Journey of Faith through Artificial Intelligence takes the reader along as these two laypersons explore how A.I. interprets God’s message and the basic tenets of Christianity. The co-authors prompted ChatGPT to develop a devotional of 500 words or less along with a related prayer on more than a hundred biblical verses, including some of the most-recognized verses as well as some of the most obscure or vile passages never covered in Sunday school lessons.
The exercise presented fascinating and sensitive devotionals that lined up comfortably with Christian values and beliefs. On a few occasions ChatGPT even declined to produce a devotional, reporting that the selected passage contained language difficult to interpret in a positive light, violating its goal of promoting positivity, love, and understanding.
This couple’s journey of faith resulted in 82,000 words of devotionals and reflections. In the end the exercise provided the authors with some reassurances about how artificial intelligence can support religious growth as well as raising questions about the technology’s long-term implications for the religious experience. Devotionals from a Soulless A Journey of Faith through Artificial Intelligence provides an eye-opening look into the majesty of Christian convictions, even in the age of algorithms and chatbots.
Devotionals from a Soulless A Journey of Faith through Artificial Intelligence takes the reader along as these two laypersons explore how A.I. interprets God’s message and the basic tenets of Christianity. The co-authors prompted ChatGPT to develop a devotional of 500 words or less along with a related prayer on more than a hundred biblical verses, including some of the most-recognized verses as well as some of the most obscure or vile passages never covered in Sunday school lessons.
The exercise presented fascinating and sensitive devotionals that lined up comfortably with Christian values and beliefs. On a few occasions ChatGPT even declined to produce a devotional, reporting that the selected passage contained language difficult to interpret in a positive light, violating its goal of promoting positivity, love, and understanding.
This couple’s journey of faith resulted in 82,000 words of devotionals and reflections. In the end the exercise provided the authors with some reassurances about how artificial intelligence can support religious growth as well as raising questions about the technology’s long-term implications for the religious experience. Devotionals from a Soulless A Journey of Faith through Artificial Intelligence provides an eye-opening look into the majesty of Christian convictions, even in the age of algorithms and chatbots.
245 pages, Paperback
Published October 8, 2023
About the author
Preston Lewis
56 books106 followersPreston Lewis is the Spur Award-winning author of more than 45 western, juvenile and historical novels on the Old West as well as numerous articles, short stories and book reviews on the American frontier.
Lewis wrote the well-received "Memoirs of H.H. Lomax," a comic western series published by Wolfpack Publishing. "Bluster's Last Stand" and "First Herd to Abilene," the fourth and fifth books in the series, received Will Rogers Gold Medallion Awards for western humor. "North to Alaska," the sixth book in the series, earned a Will Rogers Silver Medallion Award for written humor. Previous books in the series in order of publication were "The Demise of Billy the Kid," "The Redemption of Jesse James" and "Mix-Up at the O.K. Corral." The latter two were both Spur Finalists from Western Writers of America.
His western "Blood of Texas," originally written under his Will Camp pseudonym, received WWA's Spur Award for best western novel. Lewis's 2016 western "The Fleecing of Fort Griffin," another comic novel, received the Elmer Kelton Award for best creative work on West Texas from the West Texas Historical Association. It was Lewis's third Kelton award.
Lewis's True West article on the battle of Yellowhouse Canyon also won a Spur Award. His book publishers have included Bantam, HarperCollins, Pinnacle, Eakin Press and Wild Horse Press. His short works have appeared in publications as varied as Louis L'Amour Western Magazine and Dallas Morning News.
Eakin Press published his three young adult novels on animals from frontier Texas: "They Call Me Old Blue," "Blanca is My Name" and "Just Call Me Uncle Sam."
Two of his short stories published by Five Star--"A Grave Too Many" and "The Hope Chest"--have received Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award.
In 2021 he published "Cat Tales of the Old West," his first nonfiction book, under the imprint of Bariso Press. In 2023 he published "More Cat Tales of the Old West."
When he is not writing or researching, Lewis enjoys traveling and photographing historic sites of the Old West and the Civil War.
Lewis wrote the well-received "Memoirs of H.H. Lomax," a comic western series published by Wolfpack Publishing. "Bluster's Last Stand" and "First Herd to Abilene," the fourth and fifth books in the series, received Will Rogers Gold Medallion Awards for western humor. "North to Alaska," the sixth book in the series, earned a Will Rogers Silver Medallion Award for written humor. Previous books in the series in order of publication were "The Demise of Billy the Kid," "The Redemption of Jesse James" and "Mix-Up at the O.K. Corral." The latter two were both Spur Finalists from Western Writers of America.
His western "Blood of Texas," originally written under his Will Camp pseudonym, received WWA's Spur Award for best western novel. Lewis's 2016 western "The Fleecing of Fort Griffin," another comic novel, received the Elmer Kelton Award for best creative work on West Texas from the West Texas Historical Association. It was Lewis's third Kelton award.
Lewis's True West article on the battle of Yellowhouse Canyon also won a Spur Award. His book publishers have included Bantam, HarperCollins, Pinnacle, Eakin Press and Wild Horse Press. His short works have appeared in publications as varied as Louis L'Amour Western Magazine and Dallas Morning News.
Eakin Press published his three young adult novels on animals from frontier Texas: "They Call Me Old Blue," "Blanca is My Name" and "Just Call Me Uncle Sam."
Two of his short stories published by Five Star--"A Grave Too Many" and "The Hope Chest"--have received Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award.
In 2021 he published "Cat Tales of the Old West," his first nonfiction book, under the imprint of Bariso Press. In 2023 he published "More Cat Tales of the Old West."
When he is not writing or researching, Lewis enjoys traveling and photographing historic sites of the Old West and the Civil War.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 20, 2023
I’ll admit, I haven’t yet bought into the benefits of AI, especially not as it relates to my Christian faith. Faith seems like something too personal, too intimate, too real to be adequately addressed by a machine intelligence. I’d read about the church that hosted a service totally created by AI, including the sermon, and I was a little bit horrified, if I’m honest. So when I saw that Preston and Harriet Lewis had a book of devotionals created using ChatGPT, I thought, okay, I gotta see this. I was skeptical. REALLY skeptical.
The authors do a good job explaining their process and setting out their own faith, so it’s clear where they’re coming from. Their beliefs line up with mine, which seemed like a good starting point. The book is broken down into chapters, with each chapter covering a different topic and including several AI-generated devotionals on that topic. Each devotional includes a verse, a devotional, and a prayer. The authors also included a chapter with devotionals that they had drafted, to allow for comparison between AI-generated and human-created works.
As I read, I didn’t see anything that stood in stark opposition to my faith. Quite the contrary. The AI-created material seemed to line up well with what I hold as scriptural truth. It hit all the right notes. But it didn’t feel quite “right” as I pored over the devotionals. The prayers seemed, well, scripted, not like something I would pray from the heart, and really, not even like something I could use as a starting point. It made me think of the parable in Luke comparing the Pharisee’s prayer with the tax collector’s. “The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” (Luke 18:11-13 NASB) The AI-written prayers felt like the Pharisee’s prayer – slick.
I also noticed that the AI-drafted works tended to start sounding alike over time. There were words used often enough to be noticeable. One such word was “unwavering.” I think I counted it 33 times before I quit keeping track. If it was something written by a person, edited by a person, that repetition would eventually catch the eye, and the writer would think, “Huh, perhaps I should vary my word choice a little!”
And when I got to the personal devotionals, it hit me: AI doesn’t include any personal stories. There are no tales about kids and grandkids, no gentle humor at one’s own expense, no relatable experiences that encourage and uplift the reader. That’s why I think calling it “AI-generated” is accurate. AI can manipulate the data it’s trained on and produce a document that fits specified parameters. But AI can’t take an idea and put emotion behind it.
This was a fascinating experiment. I’m glad Preston and Harriet Lewis put this out there, and I like the way they structured it. For this Bible-believing girl, though, AI’s affirmation of my faith will never take the place of sharing the Word with a body of like-minded believers. We’re created for community, and AI can’t give us that.
Five stars for an engaging intellectual exercise and because I loved the personally written devotional chapter!
The authors do a good job explaining their process and setting out their own faith, so it’s clear where they’re coming from. Their beliefs line up with mine, which seemed like a good starting point. The book is broken down into chapters, with each chapter covering a different topic and including several AI-generated devotionals on that topic. Each devotional includes a verse, a devotional, and a prayer. The authors also included a chapter with devotionals that they had drafted, to allow for comparison between AI-generated and human-created works.
As I read, I didn’t see anything that stood in stark opposition to my faith. Quite the contrary. The AI-created material seemed to line up well with what I hold as scriptural truth. It hit all the right notes. But it didn’t feel quite “right” as I pored over the devotionals. The prayers seemed, well, scripted, not like something I would pray from the heart, and really, not even like something I could use as a starting point. It made me think of the parable in Luke comparing the Pharisee’s prayer with the tax collector’s. “The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” (Luke 18:11-13 NASB) The AI-written prayers felt like the Pharisee’s prayer – slick.
I also noticed that the AI-drafted works tended to start sounding alike over time. There were words used often enough to be noticeable. One such word was “unwavering.” I think I counted it 33 times before I quit keeping track. If it was something written by a person, edited by a person, that repetition would eventually catch the eye, and the writer would think, “Huh, perhaps I should vary my word choice a little!”
And when I got to the personal devotionals, it hit me: AI doesn’t include any personal stories. There are no tales about kids and grandkids, no gentle humor at one’s own expense, no relatable experiences that encourage and uplift the reader. That’s why I think calling it “AI-generated” is accurate. AI can manipulate the data it’s trained on and produce a document that fits specified parameters. But AI can’t take an idea and put emotion behind it.
This was a fascinating experiment. I’m glad Preston and Harriet Lewis put this out there, and I like the way they structured it. For this Bible-believing girl, though, AI’s affirmation of my faith will never take the place of sharing the Word with a body of like-minded believers. We’re created for community, and AI can’t give us that.
Five stars for an engaging intellectual exercise and because I loved the personally written devotional chapter!
December 21, 2023
Well, I'm glad you are because today we are reviewing Devotionals from a Soulless Machine: A Journey of Faith Through Artifical Intelligence by Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis. This book is unlike any I've ever read, mostly because it is theological at its core and it involves some investigation into ChatGPT, the AI program available to all.
I was curious to pick up this book because I am very wary of AI. And in all honestly, I am wary of religion as well. I am not a religious person, and if you forced me to place a label on myself - I'd say I was agnostic. However, just because I am wary, does not mean that I am unwilling to learn. So, I dove in to Devotionals and was pleasantly surprised to find a work that kept my attention and was truly a learning experience for me. I am a inquisitive person by nature, and I am forever curious about others and their POVs and experiences. In Devotionals I found a work that I saw as dedicated to those who believe in or want to believe in God. And in that work, I also found a gateway to that want or need - and that was with ChatGPT/AI.
In the very small amount of experience I have had with ChatGPT/AI, I found that this big, scary thing I had made up in my mind was, still big and a little scary, but also - helpful. I believe most things are helpful in such a way and it is us, humans, that twist and turn them into something different and sometimes, malicious. When I used ChatGPT, it was to search for a concise list of ways to offer self-help ideas to college students. Preston and Harriet have done something similar in seeking out AI to help it bridge, culturally, from them (or the collective "them") to the younger generation. In both scenarios, AI is used as a tool to assist in the grand scheme of things.
So, all in all, this is not my usual read. I am not religious, nor do I seek to be. However, I believe anyone with an open mind can get something out of this work. Whether it's because they are wavering in their faith, strong in their faith, or simply curious - this is a unique work that offers a unique experience.
I was curious to pick up this book because I am very wary of AI. And in all honestly, I am wary of religion as well. I am not a religious person, and if you forced me to place a label on myself - I'd say I was agnostic. However, just because I am wary, does not mean that I am unwilling to learn. So, I dove in to Devotionals and was pleasantly surprised to find a work that kept my attention and was truly a learning experience for me. I am a inquisitive person by nature, and I am forever curious about others and their POVs and experiences. In Devotionals I found a work that I saw as dedicated to those who believe in or want to believe in God. And in that work, I also found a gateway to that want or need - and that was with ChatGPT/AI.
In the very small amount of experience I have had with ChatGPT/AI, I found that this big, scary thing I had made up in my mind was, still big and a little scary, but also - helpful. I believe most things are helpful in such a way and it is us, humans, that twist and turn them into something different and sometimes, malicious. When I used ChatGPT, it was to search for a concise list of ways to offer self-help ideas to college students. Preston and Harriet have done something similar in seeking out AI to help it bridge, culturally, from them (or the collective "them") to the younger generation. In both scenarios, AI is used as a tool to assist in the grand scheme of things.
So, all in all, this is not my usual read. I am not religious, nor do I seek to be. However, I believe anyone with an open mind can get something out of this work. Whether it's because they are wavering in their faith, strong in their faith, or simply curious - this is a unique work that offers a unique experience.
December 21, 2023
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a part of many facets of life today. It is a tool designed to increase productivity using machine learning from vast digital data sources. Many fear the overreach of technology and need help understanding how to take advantage of its value rather than be used by it. Preston and Harriet Lewis, both devout Christians, methodically used ChatGPT to explain facets of teachings from the bible. The process used in this technology test was consistent with specific questions and desired output. Well-known and obscure bible passages were used with ChatGPT’s requests to create 500-word devotionals and an associated prayer.
The chapters are common Christian tenets like Truth, Life’s Lessons, Marriage and Family, Forgiveness and Transformation, and so forth. Multiple scripture passages are included for each subject, many of which are learned at bible study, School, church camps, and Sunday services from the pulpit. The data source is the King James Version of the Bible because it is public domain and has been widely used by churches in the United States for decades.
After reading the first four chapters, I found the results to be good and aligned with prior teachings in church. No intrusion on my faith or beliefs. Each devotion felt like the foundation of a Christian sermon where adding relevant hymns would be easy. What was fascinating was the cited prayers related to each scripture. These lacked any personal, relatable accounts of sincerity. The wording was accurate and inoffensive yet took on a tone of repetitiveness, which, for me, spoke to the book’s title—Devotionals from a Soulless Machine. Machines have no soul.
Those who like to explore the Christian faith will learn something from this book. When guided, technology advocates will appreciate what AI can do, ChatGPT included. When used wisely, technology can expand learning paths and open new ideas. Preston and Harriet Lewis’s faith and knowledge of the bible from years of study provided the human balance needed to make this an exceptional and highly recommended read.
The chapters are common Christian tenets like Truth, Life’s Lessons, Marriage and Family, Forgiveness and Transformation, and so forth. Multiple scripture passages are included for each subject, many of which are learned at bible study, School, church camps, and Sunday services from the pulpit. The data source is the King James Version of the Bible because it is public domain and has been widely used by churches in the United States for decades.
After reading the first four chapters, I found the results to be good and aligned with prior teachings in church. No intrusion on my faith or beliefs. Each devotion felt like the foundation of a Christian sermon where adding relevant hymns would be easy. What was fascinating was the cited prayers related to each scripture. These lacked any personal, relatable accounts of sincerity. The wording was accurate and inoffensive yet took on a tone of repetitiveness, which, for me, spoke to the book’s title—Devotionals from a Soulless Machine. Machines have no soul.
Those who like to explore the Christian faith will learn something from this book. When guided, technology advocates will appreciate what AI can do, ChatGPT included. When used wisely, technology can expand learning paths and open new ideas. Preston and Harriet Lewis’s faith and knowledge of the bible from years of study provided the human balance needed to make this an exceptional and highly recommended read.
December 19, 2023
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review from Lone Star Literary.
Devotions from a Soulless Machine, A Journey of Faith through Artificial Intelligence, is a vastly unique novel that dives into Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT. In recent years, ChatGPT has been at the forefront of many conversations as people use technology to shorten their time on tasks. (I interacted with an Electrical Engineer who uses AI at home to help streamline processes for his kids. The authors take a unique approach to dive into whether AI can be used to generate devotionals. The authors do extensive research, using comparative analysis to give the reader full perspective. I commend the authors for taking on such a daunting topic. Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis do a wonderful job creating such a thought-provoking book that encourages readers to think outside the box regarding Artificial Intelligence and its impact on religion.
Devotionals from a Soulless Machine was an overall interesting read and very engaging throughout. The authors did a great job with the open dialogue back and forth with the AI. I studied how to communicate better with search engines to generate desired results, and this reminded me a lot of that.
The devotional is a great read for anyone interested in seeing a different side of AI and its potential impact on religion.
Devotions from a Soulless Machine, A Journey of Faith through Artificial Intelligence, is a vastly unique novel that dives into Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT. In recent years, ChatGPT has been at the forefront of many conversations as people use technology to shorten their time on tasks. (I interacted with an Electrical Engineer who uses AI at home to help streamline processes for his kids. The authors take a unique approach to dive into whether AI can be used to generate devotionals. The authors do extensive research, using comparative analysis to give the reader full perspective. I commend the authors for taking on such a daunting topic. Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis do a wonderful job creating such a thought-provoking book that encourages readers to think outside the box regarding Artificial Intelligence and its impact on religion.
Devotionals from a Soulless Machine was an overall interesting read and very engaging throughout. The authors did a great job with the open dialogue back and forth with the AI. I studied how to communicate better with search engines to generate desired results, and this reminded me a lot of that.
The devotional is a great read for anyone interested in seeing a different side of AI and its potential impact on religion.
December 27, 2023
Featured on Lone Star Book Blog Tours. Lone Star Blogger Team average rating: 4.625.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews