Concerns About AI Deepfakes in the Church

A well-known pastor recently shared his thoughts on how AI-generated deepfakes of figures like Billy Graham are causing confusion about reality, but there’s a hopeful perspective from the church.

Joshua Pauling, a pastor at All Saints Lutheran Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, raised his concerns in a new column after receiving a link that claimed to feature a sermon from Graham, but turned out to be an AI-created video. He’s also noted for co-authoring a book titled Are We All Cyborgs Now? Bringing Humanity Back from Machines.

In a warning issued last year, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) alerted its supporters about a deepfake of Graham, who passed away in 2018. The association urged the public to rely solely on its authentic sermons available through their official channel.

Pauling observed, “The voice seemed to reflect a younger Graham, but there was something off about it.” He pointed out that certain speaking patterns and clichés didn’t fit right. Admittedly, he hadn’t heard many of Graham’s sermons, but he sensed this wasn’t authentic. His suspicions heightened when the “Graham” in the video referred to a Vatican statement from 2016, after Graham had stopped preaching.

When the video included lines like “Share your thoughts in the comments below” and “This video on screen is for you,” he became convinced it was a fabrication. Sadly, many viewers had already bought into the deception, believing it was genuine.

“I checked the comments to see if anyone was calling out the deceit, which was pretty blatant,” he mentioned. He found that a channel called Faith in Action included numerous Billy Graham “recordings.” Were they all deepfakes? It’s concerning. Comments praising Graham’s messages raised questions—were these people real, or just bots? A quick look at the interactions showed the channel responding with generic phrases like, “God bless you!”

Pauling argued that the quality of AI-generated videos is advancing quickly, making it increasingly challenging to distinguish between what’s true and what’s not.

He emphasized that deepfakes undermine trust and reality. He reflected on the church member who thought he was sharing wisdom from a revered source when, in reality, it was AI-generated. Yet, it managed to convince so many. Within weeks, the video had over 500,000 views.

“What will happen as deepfakes become more prevalent in our information landscape?” he questioned, considering the implications for our understanding of truth.

However, Pauling believes the church has a solution: a renewed focus on face-to-face relationships and community gatherings.

He suggested that if the church embodies a different way of being, perhaps it can emerge stronger. “Reality will take its revenge in the end,” he wrote. If the church follows the example of the incarnate Christ, it could lead to a significant revival, presenting the authentic Jesus instead of a deepfake.

Pauling stated that the church, grounded in Christian doctrine, has stood the test of time—“For 2,000 years, it has fostered in-person community and communion, allowing people to encounter the living God.”

In the church, he contended, there’s no need for a deepfake of Billy Graham; it offers a pathway to true, living faith and connection.

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