There is a certain fatigue brought on by the barrage of “AI.” AI assistants, AI overviews, AI copilots; just about anything you might want to buy now comes “powered by artificial intelligence.” AI has become impossible to ignore; lines are being drawn and sides taken. The Church cannot afford either to embrace these tools uncritically or to reject them reflexively. Many books are raising the alarm. Many others seem to proclaim a technological salvation. AI Shepherds and Electric Sheep: Leading and Teaching in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, by Sean O’Callaghan and Paul A. Hoffman, resists both of these impulses. This is not a book driven by panic or promise. Instead, it seeks to introduce the key concepts surrounding AI, the range of perspectives already circulating, and several ways Christians might begin to make sense of this rapidly changing field.
While the book is ultimately directed toward Christian leaders and educators, O’Callaghan and Hoffman have crafted a discussion that will intimidate few and benefit many. The tone is pastoral and accessible, inviting reflection and largely avoiding technical expertise. As a computer science educator at a Christian institution, I found the book to be refreshingly free of the ‘opinion presented as fact’ that plagues most discussions of AI (and too many discussions of faith).
The first two chapters aim to explain what artificial intelligence is, what impact it currently has on society, and what its future impact may be. These chapters nicely keep clear of technical density and speculative hype. While they largely succeed here, this is perhaps the weakest part of the book. The definitions, particularly the comparative discussions of various forms of machine learning, can feel imprecise. Admittedly, precision should not really be the primary concern with a topic and audience as broad as this. Still, readers with technical backgrounds may find these sections less satisfying than those that follow.
The third and fourth chapters turn to the question of what it means to be human, first from a broad biblical perspective and then in light of contemporary technology. This is, in my view, the heart of the book, and the heart of what Christians should be wrestling with when artificial intelligence is discussed at all. Here O’Callaghan and Hoffman offer a compelling starting point. Their emphasis on the imago Dei, the embodied self, and the goodness and physicality of creation provides a necessary counter to technological narratives that reduce humanity to cognition, efficiency, or output.
The final three chapters focus on Christian formation, education, and leadership. Here the book leans on its theological frameworks to arrive at helpful practices and areas of reflection. Rather than issuing prescriptions, O’Callaghan and Hoffman engage a range of pastoral questions: how to avoid conspiracy-minded responses to AI, where the use of AI may be appropriate or inappropriate in ministry settings, and what it means to attend to our relationship with technology. These chapters are marked by a consistent emphasis on embodiment and discernment.
The book ultimately succeeds in accomplishing what it sets out to do. It introduces the major concepts related to AI and its variations in a way that is understandable, even if not how a computer scientist might present them. It outlines the dominant perspectives, both hopeful and fearful, that shape contemporary conversations about AI. And it offers several frameworks through which Christians can begin thinking about how they might respond to these technologies in faithful ways.
At the same time, the book hints at some important questions that it does not address. When O’Callaghan and Hoffman ask what it means to be human, they convincingly answer in terms of the imago Dei and the narratives of scripture. Yet the reader may then ask a few further questions: what exactly does it mean to be human as opposed to machine? If image-bearing, soul, or God’s breath are not empirically visible, how do Christians articulate the difference without resorting to circular definitions? At what point does increasingly sophisticated imitation force us to clarify what we mean by human uniqueness? The book gestures toward these tensions but leaves them open.
One of the book’s most practically fruitful contributions is its discussion of “hearth habits”: a framework for finding practices that re-anchor us in embodiment, presence, and shared life. These are habits that, as they put it, “reassert and reengage our humanity in the face of AI’s persistent, disembodied Gnosticism.” This section alone offers much to reflect on and to implement. In an age of disembodied efficiency, these habits serve as a quiet form of resistance and discipleship.
AI Shepherds and Electric Sheep does not attempt to settle every theological question raised by artificial intelligence, nor does it aim to predict its future (though the important possibilities are covered). What it offers instead is a thoughtful, pastoral guide for those seeking to remain grounded and aware amid technological change. For readers looking for faithful postures to a context typified by the fast and the overwhelming, this book will be a welcome companion.
