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Are you fearful of AI? How are you currently using it?

In this episode of Fierce Calling, Doris welcomes back Misty Phillip for a candid conversation about all things AI, surrendering a meaningful season, recognizing when good work has run its course, and trusting that nothing in your story is wasted.

Misty shares how she transitioned from building Spark Media to working alongside her husband in cybersecurity and AI, and why it’s so important for Christians to have a seat at the AI table. We’re also talking about her new book The Trojan Horse of the Digital Age: Why Christians Must Discern AI

From deepfakes and phishing attacks to children outsourcing their thinking, the discussion offers a clear call to discernment, grounded in Scripture, prayer, community, and the Holy Spirit. Listen in and learn how Christians can navigate AI with discernment and without fear.

Doris and Misty also explore the hopeful side of technology, including AI-assisted Bible translation and Misty’s 90-day devotional app, Trojan Horse Companion.

This episode is a timely conversation about preparing without panicking, using technology wisely, and staying rooted in God as the digital age accelerates all around us. What Misty shares will encourage, inspire, and challenge you, so listen in!

💡 Episode Highlights & Key Takeaways

06:30 Reflecting on life’s changing seasons

09:14 Letting go of past seasons

13:42 Christian perspective on AI ethics

15:56 Sharing personal info with AI

20:17 Phishing and account security risks

24:03 Collaborating with Peter on projects

26:27 The rise of AI and its impact

28:08 AI’s potential in various fields

32:54 Future of autonomous vehicles

36:32 Discussing Purpose and AI Caution

40:41 Discussing AI and digital tools

41:28 Developing an AI-based Bible app

46:03 Closing and audience thanks

🤝 Connect with Misty!

You can connect with Misty at mistyphillip.com where you’ll find all her social media links, books, and how to sign up for her email newsletter!

Misty Phillip is a best-selling author, cybersecurity and AI executive, podcast host, and faith leader who helps people and organizations navigate the intersection of technology, faith, and leadership with wisdom and discernment.

Misty bridges worlds most people see as separate. As COO of Trilogyworks, a boutique advisory firm specializing in cybersecurity and AI, she advises enterprise clients on responsible AI implementation and cybersecurity. Together with her husband Peter, they have served more than 200 clients across Finance, Oil & Gas, Chemical, Healthcare, and Retail sectors.

Before entering technology leadership, Misty left a promising Enron consulting career to homeschool her three sons for more than twenty years, building a life centered on faith, family, and intentional purpose. She later founded Spark Media, a platform that empowered thousands of Christian podcasters through conferences, publications, and community.

She is the author of the Golden Scroll Award-winning Bible study The Struggle is Real, But So is God, and Spark Your Influence, Inspiring Women to Lead with Boldness, Purpose, and Passion a leadership guide for Christian women. Her co-authored title Upskill or Die: Thriving in the AI Revolution reached the top Amazon charts alongside her newest and most timely work, The Trojan Horse of the Digital Age: Why Christians Must Discern AI, released March 17, 2026.

Misty has hosted several podcasts, speaks at conferences nationwide, and has been recognized as a top voice at the intersection of faith, media, and emerging technology. She is available for keynote engagements, conference panels, podcast interviews, and media appearances.

🙏 Remember, Friend, That Your Story Matters!

As always, remember—your journey, your fierce calling, and your honest story can comfort and encourage others. Where can you share your experiences this week?

Grace and peace,
Doris
Host, Fierce Calling Podcast

What Threatens to Steal Your Joy?

Check out Surrender the Joy Stealers: Rediscover the Jesus Joy in You 6-week Bible study rooted in John 15. You can find more info at https://dorisswift.com/book/

Let’s Stay Connected!

Find my free resources including Fear Fighting Bible Verses, Simple Tips for Sharing Your Faith, Surrender the Joy Stealers, Step Out of Your Doubt and Into Your Calling ebook, and more on my dorisswift.com homepage!

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Need a Speaker for Your Next Women’s Event? Conference, Tea, Christmas Event, Workshops, Retreats? I have a few dates still available in 2026, and booking for 2027 – 2028!

Check out my speaking page, grab my flyer, and let’s talk about me speaking at your next women’s event…

Thanks for Listening!

I hope this episode encouraged, inspired, and challenged you to cultivate community, live and walk in the value, purpose, and worth God gave you, and take action where your passion, compassion, and conviction intersect.

If you’re looking for a speaker for your next women’s conference, retreat, luncheon, or workshop, reach out and connect with me on my speaker page at https://www.womenspeakers.com/florida/edgewater/speaker/doris-swift

Let’s have a chat about your next event!

Stay tuned for more amazing content and remember to check the show notes for all the links mentioned.

Thank you for being a part of our community. We are grateful for your continued support and encourage you to embrace the unique gifts that make you magnificently you.

I hope you’ll join me next time when I talk with another guest who is taking action where her passion, compassion, and conviction intersect …

Until then friend, have a blessed week, and I’ll talk to you soon.

With love and joy,

Doris

Show Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or views of this podcast, its hosts, or its sponsors. The views expressed in this episode or any other episodes of this podcast are for informational purposes only. This content does not replace professional medical advice, mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Transcript

Doris Swift [00:00:00]:
What if your hardest seasons, your deepest passions, and all the things you’ve walked through and are currently walking through were meant to become the very calling God has placed on your life? Welcome to the Fierce Calling Podcast. I’m your host, Dara Swift, and I invite guests who are taking action where their passion, compassion, and conviction intersect and share their stories Of faith, hard seasons, resilience, and their calling. So together we’ll discover how God uses every part of our stories, and how when we say yes to Him and use our gifts to impact the world, that God can do extraordinary things in the midst of our ordinary days. And sometimes hearing someone else’s yes to God is just what we need To find the courage to say yes to Him too. So my hope is that the stories you hear will encourage, inspire, and challenge you to step out and discover your own fierce calling, because your story may be the very place where God is preparing you to jump into the work He prepared in advance for you to do and to follow Jesus in deeper and more profound ways. So yes, this is Fierce Calling. And if you’re ready to discover where your passion, compassion, and conviction intersect and step out in faith to make a difference, you’re in the right place, friend. So listen in while I have a chat with today’s guest who has a message to share with you.

Doris Swift [00:01:36]:
What is threatening to steal your joy? What is it that feels so heavy right now that you could barely stand? God has a plan, and His plan is to surrender it. Surrender it to Him. It might be a prodigal. It might be a relationship, a marriage, something with your job. So many things. We have so many amazing blessings, but there are so many things in our life that threaten to steal our joy. I’m Darris Swift, author of the award-winning 6-week Bible study, Surrender Surrender the Joy Stealers: Rediscover the Jesus Joy in You. And it helps women rediscover the overflowing, ever-present Jesus joy within that fills, empowers, and ripens the fruit that God produces in our lives.

Doris Swift [00:02:27]:
Using personal and biblical stories, I share how you can identify your joy stealers, surrender them to God, reawaken the joy within, and share the joy with others. You can do it on your own or with a group. If you’re looking for a Bible study, check it out, friends. Surrender the Joy Stealers. Rediscover the Jesus joy in you. It’s time to take your joy back. Welcome back to the show. Today I am very happy to invite back my friend Misty Philip.

Doris Swift [00:03:00]:
You will have seen her maybe on our previous episode. I’m going to read a little bit about her to introduce her to you. Misty Philip is the award-winning author of The Struggle Is Real, But So Is God. It’s an amazing Bible study. Spark Your Influence: Inspiring Women to Lead with Boldness, Purpose, and Passion. And she co-authored Upskill or Die: Thriving in the AI Revolution. And that was with her husband, Peter. We’re going to hear more about that.

Doris Swift [00:03:30]:
And she is the COO of Trilogy Works, an advisory services firm specializing in cybersecurity and AI. She’s a speaker, a podcast host, and advocate for faith-driven leadership. She equips believers to navigate the digital age with wisdom and conviction. Welcome back to the show, Misty. It’s so great to have you back on.

Misty Philip [00:03:51]:
Thank you so much, Doris. Excited to be here.

Doris Swift [00:03:54]:
Yeah, it’s been fantastic. You’ve been on quite a journey lately. And so we are going to talk about your books, one of which is right here, The Trojan Horse of the Digital Age: Why Christians Must Discern AI. It’s a very powerful book and it’s excellent. read through it. I have questions from it that I’ve written as I’ve gone along through the book. But this is an important subject. It’s right here in our face, but it’s not new.

Doris Swift [00:04:23]:
It’s been around for years, but it’s just now kind of exploding on the scene. And we need to have some wisdom and discernment in this area. So thank you for being on the show again. And will you please share some of your story and of course with your fierce calling, how you’re taking action where your passion, compassion, and conviction intersect?

Misty Philip [00:04:46]:
Absolutely. So, Doris, we met through Spark Media, and that was my passion. It was, you know, God gave me this calling to help Christians podcast. Yes, through Spark Media. And I built, you know, it started as a conference that turned into a community that then we had a magazine and a radio collaboration. And we had, um, just, it just kept growing the network. Then I was, you know, trying to get ad deals for the network, but I I was pretty much doing it mostly on my own. In the beginning, Peter was helping me.

Misty Philip [00:05:22]:
Peter’s my husband. And I just kept taking things on and I really got to a point— the conferences were a huge undertaking and took most of my year. And so I was really stretched really thin. I wasn’t doing a lot of self-care in the process. I was really beginning to burn out. And I was also traveling with my husband who had started his own firm for cybersecurity. And then really when AI came on the scene, it became cybersecurity and AI. So we were on a plane headed out to California for an event for him.

Misty Philip [00:06:03]:
And we’re just talking and dreaming about the future and what things are going to look like. And I said, in a perfect world, like, what would things look like for you? And he said that you would quit Spark and that you would work with me. And I was like, What? You want me to do what? And I was like, oh, that’s so funny.

Doris Swift [00:06:19]:
Hahaha.

Misty Philip [00:06:21]:
And because I’m not technical at all, like zero tech, zero technology. And, you know, he’s a tech expert.

Doris Swift [00:06:30]:
Yeah.

Misty Philip [00:06:30]:
And so I was like, what am I going to do to help you in the company? And, and so, you know, I wrestled with it. I took it to the Lord in prayer and I said, is my assignment with Spark over? Is this just a distraction? Is this what you want me to do? How do I unwind this thing that I built? And so, you know, I spent the next several months kind of pulling back. And as I pulled back, things, people kind of started dropping off. And I was like, okay, God, like, I feel like this season of this is over. And so I think that’s really important for the people listening to understand. We have different assignments and different seasons of our life. So, you know, I was a corporate woman, then I came home and homeschooled my kids, then God called me to write and speak, then he called me to do Spark. Now, you know, he’s positioned me to work alongside my husband for such a time as this, and nothing in my background has been wasted.

Misty Philip [00:07:33]:
I really feel like everything was preparation for this moment. And if we really press into the Lord, I think we’ll all see that It’s the same with us. Even the difficult things that we go through, all of that is shaping our character and drawing us closer to him. But everything builds on everything else, right?

Doris Swift [00:07:54]:
Exactly. Absolutely. And yeah, and our, and our history, like you were saying, goes way back. And even though you have moved on from Spark Media, you still have this legacy going of the podcasters that you’ve encouraged. Because I remember when I first started the podcast, it was way back. It’ll be 7 years and November, and it was November 2019 when I started, and I didn’t know what I was doing. I still probably don’t know what I’m doing, but anyway, I’m trying to wing it. But no, I’m not.

Doris Swift [00:08:23]:
Gained a lot of wisdom through training and all of that. We have to study and show thyself approved, or how, you know, that scripture that says that. Anyway, so your inaugural podcast conference was that February, like just a few months later of 2020, right before the world shut down.

Misty Philip [00:08:41]:
Yeah.

Doris Swift [00:08:42]:
And it was just so powerful, and it was just God’s Like a testament to God that he pulled all that together because you did that in like, what, 4 months or something? Like, it was quick.

Misty Philip [00:08:53]:
Yeah, yeah. Crazy, huh? And had I, had I taken longer, like, we would have been in the pandemic. I mean, God’s timing was so perfect for all of that. And, and, and that’s why we really have to listen to him and, and seek him and understand the direction. And when he calls us to do something, like, we need to obey, right? Because timing is so— it’s so important.

Doris Swift [00:09:14]:
Yeah, definitely important. And it was perfect timing for me, in God’s timing, because I said, I gotta go to this, because I, you know, I was a Christian. And so I, you know, it was perfect. But then, you know, he moves you along to new and different things and new adventures. And like you said, he equips us as we go, so nothing is wasted. So I’m so glad that you said that, but also so glad that you brought out the point that there are times when even good things have run out of their season time. Like, you know, if I could like phrase it that way. But it’s important because sometimes we are the one hanging on to something that really isn’t supposed to be still in our hands.

Doris Swift [00:09:57]:
We’re supposed to release it and, you know, move, move along to what God’s doing. So I love that you brought that up because someone listening today, you know, real— it’s going to encourage them because they’ve been wondering, is this a time that my season seems to be changing, and we can look at it with great anticipation. And sometimes it’s hard to leave places that we’ve been a long time, but it maybe sometimes it’s because it’s just become really comfortable and we, uh, you know, have to step out in faith, and sometimes that’s a little uncomfortable.

Misty Philip [00:10:27]:
But anyway, yeah, no, I actually was talking to somebody about this this week, and when sometimes, you know, that surrender can be painful, right? Because she was like, what was it like to give up your baby, this thing that you started? And I was like, it was And I really had to wrestle with the Lord.

Doris Swift [00:10:43]:
Yeah.

Misty Philip [00:10:43]:
But what in our estimation sometimes feels like subtraction, like I’m giving something up, actually in God’s economy is multiplication. Because I released Spark Media that God clearly had me do for a time during, you know, all throughout the pandemic and beyond, helping equip. When church doors were closed, I was helping equip podcasters to spread the message of Jesus all around the world. And the impact, I probably will never even know of that one obedient step. I probably won’t even know that. But had I not listened and taken that next step, you know, I wouldn’t be here with you today. So, God’s got a purpose and a plan in all of it.

Doris Swift [00:11:28]:
Yeah. Yes. Amen. And that might have been the main purpose for the whole thing, you know, is because he knew that that pandemic was coming and, you know, that we still could get the word of truth out and reach even more people than we would reach if we were just, you know, speaking locally or even flying to a different area or whatever. We still reach the masses, um, through the airwaves. So that’s for the glory of God.

Misty Philip [00:11:53]:
That’s right.

Doris Swift [00:11:53]:
Um, so yeah, and in your book you talk about being good stewards of what God has given us and having discernment. So if you could go into, uh, the message of the book and why it’s so important What are some of the positives with AI, but some of the pitfalls with AI?

Misty Philip [00:12:12]:
Yeah. Wow, that’s a huge question. So let me start with AI as a tool. I think a lot of people are either— I say it this way, they’re either afraid of it or they’re like running with scissors and they don’t have enough knowledge or they hear things on the internet and Just because somebody says something, it doesn’t mean that it’s exactly true. A lot of people try to, to get clickbait and say these outlandish things when they’re really kind of taking things out of context. So I’m really passionate about people being educated about what AI really is and what it’s not, and for them to understand that it is kind of in everything, everywhere. It’s not going away. So as believers, we need to understand that it’s a tool to be used and that we should be using it for the glory of God.

Misty Philip [00:13:08]:
Because this has not taken God by surprise. He’s not in heaven wringing his hands going, what? AI? But there are some things that I definitely think that are some dangers and pitfalls that we need to be concerned. I was in a meeting before we started this podcast. I was actually listening in on one of my husband’s meetings. And this this guy used this term and I loved it. I was like, I’m going to take that. He said, a fool with a tool is still a fool. And AI is a tool.

Misty Philip [00:13:42]:
And I always say, in the hands of a good person, you could do great things with it. And in the hands of a bad person, it is a powerful tool that much bad can be done as well. And so we need to understand that, that it is It can be used by nefarious people for nefarious purposes, right? But we don’t have to be afraid of it. The scripture that I— one of the scriptures that I bathe the book in is, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind. And we need Christians working in the area of AI so that our voice is as like as Rob Kirkpatrick would say to me about podcasting, Misty, our voice needs to be the Christian voice. We need to have a seat at the overall table. And I feel like that is really critical in the development of AI, putting guardrails on AI when it comes to our children to protect from some of these dangers. So I don’t know, I could go in all kinds of directions.

Misty Philip [00:14:50]:
I don’t know which way you want to go first, if you want to talk positive or you want to talk— Drawbacks. I’ll let you tell me where you want to take it.

Doris Swift [00:14:58]:
Okay. Yeah, that was a great overview of it, really. And I love that you’re bringing out the fact that we need not fear it, you know, and that quote was amazing. A fool with a tool is still a fool. Yeah, exactly. So it’s how we use it. It’s kind of like how I think about social media. You know, people use it for good or for evil, you know, good or bad.

Doris Swift [00:15:22]:
And so just what is the intention and the purpose?

Misty Philip [00:15:26]:
Yes.

Doris Swift [00:15:26]:
So, um, and, and 2, I feel like AI in some areas, people could actually even not realize it’s becoming an idol and even replacing the word of God or even replacing God himself because we’re talking to this maybe ChatGPT or something, which I, I use for things, um, but seeking answers that way. So maybe kind of, uh, some of the dangers of it we can go into first. That might be a good Yeah.

Misty Philip [00:15:56]:
So, so first of all, when you were using AI, you need to understand that it— everything that you were saying, you should be able to stand on a stage in a stadium full of people and say the same thing that you are saying to that chatbot, because all of that information is being recorded and stored. So People think that it’s— they almost think of it like they will sometimes they’ll name, you know, their ChatGPT or their agent that they’re using and it can become familiar and they give it very personal information. I met with someone recently that I’m still mentoring that has a podcast business and I mentor her and she said, I just went to the doctor and put all of my test results in ChatGPT. And I was like, you did what? I was like, do not put any personal information that you are not comfortable with sharing with the world, first of all. And so I think a lot of people are using it in ways that they should be going to humans for those interactions, whether it’s seeking companionship, asking, you know, therapy questions, those kinds of things that we need to be going to— and especially with children, you know, they’re already isolated, struggling with mental health because of what happened and how we handled social media. And now this anxious generation is going to these chatbots for companionship instead of going to their parents, going to their friends. You know, they don’t even— you know, they will be in the same room with their friends and they’ll text one another and not even talk talk with one another. And the Bible has a verse in Hebrews, and it talks about the church needs to gather together all the more as we see the day drawing near.

Misty Philip [00:18:03]:
I think that’s why our, our communication with one another is so important. Being in fellowship, being in the church, being— having this interaction, even though you’re in Florida and I’m in Texas, we’re still having a conversation. I’m not just texting you, you know, which it just removes that whole layer. So I’m grateful for technology and all the ways that we can do so many amazing things. But I also see the danger, especially with children whose brains are not fully developed. I don’t want to see them completely outsourcing their thinking to AI because they can get AI to write their papers and give them all the answers. There’s no reason for them think. So a much better approach is to come up with your idea, then go to the AI to brainstorm a problem.

Misty Philip [00:18:58]:
I also like to say, let, let AI do computer things and keep people doing human things, right?

Doris Swift [00:19:06]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:19:07]:
So I would never use it as, you know, as an app or seeking something about my soul or, or something like that. The way I use AI is if I’m speaking, I’ll put my presentation in and I’ll say, create the PowerPoint for me. Then once I have this, the PowerPoint done, then I can go in and tweak it and change it and make it my own. But it’s already branded with colors. It does a much better job than I do because it’s not really a good skill that I have. And that’s not outsourcing my thinking, right?

Doris Swift [00:19:42]:
Right.

Misty Philip [00:19:43]:
It would be like me hiring a designer to do it, right? So I think it’s in the way that we use it and the information that we’re putting in it, and then just being aware of some of those things. And then also, because we work in cybersecurity, you know, the bad actors are using AI to amplify their attacks with phishing attacks. I’m sure you’ve probably seen a phishing email where it’s like, Doris, you have a UPS package that you need to pick up. Click on this link to learn more.

Doris Swift [00:20:17]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:20:17]:
A lot of this happens a lot with Facebook. A lot of people’s accounts get taken over because they think they’re getting a message from Meta and it’s not, and they click the link, then their accounts get taken over and they get frozen out of their accounts. So all of that is phishing attacks. And so with your Facebook account, may not be that big of a deal, but with your bank account, that’s a much bigger deal. And when you’re talking about that on the corporate side, you know, these bad actors can do a lot of damage because they can move at machine speed as opposed to human speed. So where they used to have to pick up the phone and call somebody to try to social engineer them out of their password, now they can move at the rate of the technology. And that’s the other thing that’s crazy about this is the velocity at which AI is moving. If you’re not in You may not understand how fast this is moving, faster than any technology.

Misty Philip [00:21:17]:
You know, Peter’s been in technology for almost 30 years, emerging technology, and he saw the invention of the internet and when things went to cloud and social media and all these evolutions. AI is unlike any one of those things, and it’s very different in that it may take a lot of jobs away. Especially as we get to AGI. Here’s another concern I have is that the frontier models, so that’s like ChatGPT and Grok and Claude, which is Anthropic, all of these, Gemini, Perplexity, the people that run those companies are not believers.

Doris Swift [00:22:01]:
Hmm.

Misty Philip [00:22:02]:
And they have trained their— so the Bible is like, if you’re not for me, you’re against me. So we got to keep that in mind. Also, it’s been trained on data from every book, good, bad, from smart people, from, you know, people that are not so smart. It’s been trained on the internet and sometimes in the recesses of the internet like Reddit. And so it has all of this information and different models have different levels of bias built into them and they can be wrong. So they can hallucinate, give you a wrong output, but they sound very convincing. There’s one model in particular that’s very sycophantic. It will tell you, oh, Doris, that’s a great idea.

Misty Philip [00:22:48]:
Yes, you should do that more. Yeah, how about this? Have you thought about that? And then you type in something, oh, that’s brilliant. That’s a really great idea. And so you can go down a wrong path of thinking. It’s training the way you think, whether you realize it or not. And we have to understand that it’s not neutral. Yeah.

Doris Swift [00:23:10]:
Wow, that is really some things to chew on for sure, but good, good stuff. And, and I love the reminder of, you know, don’t put anything in there that you’re not going to want to scream from the rooftops or in a stadium, because, you know, sometimes people do go there for medical advice or whatever, you know. Um, but when you were talking about how all of these different things that we use, tools that we use, are just feeding us information from all kind of walks of life. It’s not filtered in a way that would be like toward our type of worldview. It’s like coming from all the different worldviews. But then when you were talking about how we have to— it’s so fast. Is that where like the Upskill or Die book kind of came about? If you want to touch a little bit about that.

Misty Philip [00:24:03]:
Yeah. So when I first started working with Peter, I was like, okay, I’ve been working on the Spark Your Influence book for 5 years. I need to just sit, get this book done and get that out. So I did that. And then I kind of eased myself into working with him because I’m like, what am I going to do? Because I kind of hit him first with like, we could do this and this and this and this. And he was like, whoa, I’m only one person because he does all of the delivery on the tech stuff. And so we can only move so fast. because we’re a small organization, right? And so we, you know, every night we would be talking about this happened with AI and this happened and did you see this? And, you know, we’re constantly sending things back and forth because we’re following all the AI news.

Misty Philip [00:24:45]:
And that was our conversations. And I went on Facebook one day and I just put something out there about AI, like, are you using it? What do you think about it? And one of my friends said, yeah, I used it one time for some recipes and it wasn’t even— it wasn’t that good, so I’m not gonna use it. And another friend was like very, oh, I could tell that they really thought like, you know, it’s probably the mark of the beast. And, um, and I was like, okay, there are real jobs that are going to be lost. I have friends who are sending their kids to college for careers that may not be there. How can we help train people and prepare the workforce for what is coming?

Doris Swift [00:25:27]:
Right.

Misty Philip [00:25:28]:
Elon Musk in particular is building thousands of robots, right? So when you see this convergence of AI, robotics, automation, and even quantum computing that will make all of that faster, um, there’s— there’s jobs are going to change. Now, I, I listen to some people who are optimistic about how it’s going to create new jobs in like other time periods. So if you think about like the horse and buggy, you know, that was the main mode of transportation. And, you know, Ford decided not to build a faster horse, but to do something completely different, right? And then that created the whole auto industry and lots of different jobs have stemmed from that. So I think there will be some of that, but it will be the people who are using AI that are staying on top of it and have their subject matter expertise in whatever domain that is.

Doris Swift [00:26:27]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:26:27]:
couple those 2 things together, it will make you really powerful. For the people who are like, I tried it once and I’m not going to use it, they will be the ones who will be left behind. And because it’s moving so fast, when AI is as smart as all humanity, so that’s kind of what all these companies are racing towards and they’re racing against China, is is to become, to have AGI or SGI, which is superintelligence, general intelligence. Like, they want to be, they want AI to be smarter than every PhD, all, like, all of humanity. So then we have, as Christians, and, and I think even as, as regular people, we’re going to grapple with, you know, what does it mean to be human? And what is my purpose if AI could do everything faster than me? I think that that opens up a whole nother can of worms that I don’t think most people are prepared for because they think, oh, I don’t use AI, or, you know, but you do. You use it whether you know it or not because it’s built in your navigation, it’s built in your, your photo editing apps, it’s built in your Netflix, it’s built in It’s everywhere and it’s only going to be more prolific because one of the cool things that has happened with AI is it has democratized information. So anybody can know anything. Really, you have all of the information at your fingertips.

Misty Philip [00:28:08]:
But not only that, anybody can use it to build. So you can use AI for stupid things like tell me a joke, which is such a waste, you know, or you could use it to like find a cure for cancer. Like, there’s all different kinds of ways that, that it can be used. But, um, yeah, I think that’s what excites me is, is the, the amazing possibilities and the really smart people who are using it for good. So there’s, there’s whole groups of Christians out there who are already in the tech space that are working for Google and Meta and all of these companies, and they’re like, how can we use tech for good, and that’s what excites me. Um, I was at the Missional AI Conference a couple months ago in Silicon Valley, and all of the Bible translation people were there, and they are all using AI to translate the Bible. And within the next several years, they’ll have the entire Bible translated into all languages. Just think about that.

Misty Philip [00:29:18]:
Yeah, is that amazing? They’re saying 2033, but the speed at which it’s going, I think it could be even sooner than that. So those people are really excited about, about it because they can see the potential for good. Um, so it’s, it’s not one or the other. It, it’s kind of a both-and situation because we’re in the Wild West with AI. We really don’t know which way it’s going to go. Like, is it going to go Star Trek or is it going to go Terminator?

Doris Swift [00:29:49]:
Yeah.

Misty Philip [00:29:50]:
And that’s, that’s something that we need to understand, even if we don’t, if we think, oh, I’m not using AI, it doesn’t affect me, it is going to affect everyone.

Doris Swift [00:30:02]:
Yeah, such a good word right there. And talking about how it’s in everything, and we don’t realize it’s in all the things that we’re already using. So even though we might not be proactive in seeking it out and using it, but even, you know, just asking a question or trying the search engines and all of that. And then everything knows our, like, what our likes are and throws stuff in our algorithms. And, and even like all the crazy videos that are out now, some of them are so funny, but you, you know, even at first you’re not sure if it’s real or not. And then after a while you’re like, right, a cat can’t do that. Like, a cat’s not gonna do that. You know, it’s like you have of somebody sleeping and they’re going, this is what happens at 3 AM or whatever.

Doris Swift [00:30:48]:
And then all of a sudden this, this like, what do you call it? Mariachi band or whatever. What are those?

Misty Philip [00:30:55]:
Mariachi band.

Doris Swift [00:30:56]:
Yeah. The mariachi band comes in and they’re all cats, you know, playing. And it’s like, what in the world?

Misty Philip [00:31:01]:
Anyway, so, so funny. So that’s fun. Yeah. And that’s funny.

Doris Swift [00:31:04]:
Yeah.

Misty Philip [00:31:04]:
Right. And that’s like, um, a, a way to use it for entertainment.

Doris Swift [00:31:09]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:31:09]:
But what we have to realize is that there bad people who will use it for nefarious purposes. So that’s where the danger of deepfakes comes in, where, you know, you and I, our images, our voices are all over the internet because of podcasting. So what’s to say that someone can’t take our image and have us say something completely crazy? You don’t even need to have your face all over the internet.

Doris Swift [00:31:37]:
Right.

Misty Philip [00:31:37]:
If you have, have had you’ve answered a phone call that you didn’t know, they’re scraping all the voice data, right? And it’s all about the data. And you’re right, every like that we have— social media has given tech companies way more information about us than we realize, from our likes, our dislikes, who we’re friends with, what affinity groups we’re a part of. And we just We have just freely handed over all of this information that is then being used against us to, to sell us things.

Doris Swift [00:32:14]:
Yeah.

Misty Philip [00:32:15]:
We’re— and, and, and that’s why they have, they have wired social media in a way for us to be addicted to it. And even the short-form content with like TikTok and Reels and that kind of stuff, that is shortening our attention span and our brain span. And so that’s another like issue, especially for these kids who are growing up with it that are addicted to it. And they can’t read books. They can’t have long-term thoughts. So then just think if they’re turning over their thinking to AI, what is the future of humanity going to look like?

Doris Swift [00:32:54]:
Yeah.

Misty Philip [00:32:54]:
So we’ve got to put some boundaries around it. We have to put guardrails. Christians need to have a voice in the development of it so that we can press for those things. I think it’s going to be really interesting to see what the next couple of years look like. I’ve been asked on podcasts before, so what does next year look like? And I’m like, y’all have no idea. Like, it’s moving so quickly. I have no idea what it will look like. I mean, we already see Waymos driving cars in major cities, which, by the way, they’re not very good drivers.

Misty Philip [00:33:30]:
And, you know, people will like program them. I was in Atlanta recently and And then I got home and I read how all these Waymos had like gotten into this cul-de-sac and they all got stuck there and they didn’t, you know, they couldn’t figure out what to do. So the more autonomous agents are functioning and the more that robotics are coming online, because now you can get a robot, you can buy a robot right now for $20,000 that will do all of your housekeeping, right?

Doris Swift [00:34:01]:
Wow.

Misty Philip [00:34:02]:
But what’s to make sure that that robot would never turn bad, right?

Doris Swift [00:34:07]:
Yeah.

Misty Philip [00:34:08]:
I mean, I just have a lot of questions. I got lots of questions.

Doris Swift [00:34:12]:
Lots of questions. Kind of like Stepford, you know? It’s like, you know, crazy. Oh, my housekeeper just went— had a short and just went berserk. But yeah. And also taking, like you were saying, taking images because we see also, I forget what But which it was like a country western star and she had to even post on her, her profile on Instagram that she is not endorsing this particular product because they took her image and they’re making her mouth move to it and saying that she’s endorsing it and then people are buying it and it’s not her.

Misty Philip [00:34:48]:
Yeah, it’s not her. Yeah, that’s crazy. So, so think about this from like, what if it’s a pastor and they take a pastor who’s saying something and we’re going to get to the point or already the internet is being flooded flooded with fake content, or also it’s being flooded with just AI-generated content.

Doris Swift [00:35:09]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:35:09]:
People are gonna start to question, is this real or is it not real? So they could hear the truth from someone like a pastor and think, did God really say it? Is that really true? Um, I, I, I think that, you know, it can be used in a lot of really negative ways and I think we may not even realize sometimes that the things that we’re, we’re seeing, it’s the technology is improving every single day. So when it, when it first happened, you know, you could tell there was 6 fingers, right? And you’re like, and you just have that weird feeling like that uncanny valley, like that doesn’t feel right. But the, the improvements on AI, it’s, it’s crazy at the, the rate at which it’s improving.

Doris Swift [00:35:58]:
Yeah, definitely. You can see even in a short amount of time how— because before you could tell how something kind of moved and that it wasn’t really, you know, real. But now it’s kind of hard to tell unless you see something like an animal doing something crazy and like, that can’t be true. But, um, but yeah, I— in your book you go over so many different things. Um, but I like how you bring out the point that we can prepare without panicking because I think sometimes people tend to panic and that’s when things can go awry, when we start Yeah, absolutely.

Misty Philip [00:36:32]:
And God has us here for such a time as this. Like, he created us to live. We could have been on any other timeline in all of history, and God chose us to live here now. I was just having a conversation with my youngest son, Ian, and I said, Ian, I really want you to press into God and ask him why you’re here, because he has you here for a reason. So we do not need to panic, but we need to be educated. I think even even on the corporate side, Peter has this saying that just because you use a toilet and you know how to flush it, it doesn’t make you a plumber. So there’s a lot of people who are using AI, and I see people who are teaching workshops and they’re doing all of these things and they’re calling themselves AI experts, but they really don’t even— they’re not that educated about it, right? So we’ve got to be really cautious about where we’re learning, where we’re getting the information from. So AI at its core is, it’s like predictive language.

Misty Philip [00:37:41]:
So it’s been trained on all of these books and the internet and all of these really smart people. I equate it to standing on the shoulders of giants, if you’ve ever heard that term, you know, and it creates these outputs. But at the same time, the people who are running these models, there’s a term like as more people use the model, right? It’s being trained on that. And the models are actually growing and they don’t understand how it’s happening. So it’s almost like it’s taking on a life of its own.

Doris Swift [00:38:18]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:38:18]:
And, and, but they’re not going to stop it. Because they all are in this race for to be the first and to be the best and to have to own the intelligence. And so that also makes it kind of interesting when you think about that.

Doris Swift [00:38:39]:
Yeah. Kind of gives a whole new definition to the term science fiction. It’s like, yeah, it’s kind of crazy. so good that we have God, you know, is our firm foundation. You know, Christ is our firm foundation. And so we have the Word of God, and we can test the spirits. We can see, does this line up with God’s Word? Or even see in God’s Word how this is all coming about. It’s nothing new, and it’s not a surprise, like you said.

Misty Philip [00:39:15]:
Yes.

Doris Swift [00:39:16]:
You know, because we can see That in the Bible, right?

Misty Philip [00:39:20]:
I’m so glad that you said that. This is something that I think I say on every single podcast, or to say to every single person that will listen to me, is that the only way that you are going to know what is real and what is not is if you are in the Word of God every day. It is a lifeline for the days that we are walking into. You have got to be walking with the Holy Spirit. You have got to get back to the basic— the basics, like being in the Word of God, memorizing scripture, being in community, being in prayer, worshiping the Lord. We don’t know what the future holds, and it could be pretty crazy in the next couple of years.

Doris Swift [00:40:04]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:40:05]:
I don’t wanna scare people, but if we have the Lord, the Lord will tell us, go here, go there, do this, this. But we have to be walking with the Spirit, and we have to be rooted and grounded. We can’t just get on Instagram and read, uh, a little, you know, uh, Jesus quote and be like, check, I got my, uh, time in. Like, we need to be in relationship with our Lord. We have got to know our God. This is critical for the hour that we’re in, and especially as this technology develops. Hmm.

Doris Swift [00:40:41]:
Amen to that. Thank you for that. And so this has been such a powerful conversation and so needed, and I don’t think we’re really talking about it enough. We’re just kind of in the wave of it, you know? It’s like when you go to the beach and it’s like, here comes the wave. You’re gonna either get dunked or you can ride it, you know? Like, what are we gonna do? So your tools— I mean, AI is a tool, but we have still tools, um, like your book, The Trojan Horse of the Digital Age, you know, that people can get ahold of and read And I know that you’ll have more things coming out and great resources. And then if you want to also mention, before you let the listeners know where they can reach out to you and where they can find your books and all, if you want to talk a little bit more about the apps going on too that your son’s doing.

Misty Philip [00:41:28]:
Yeah. So when I got back from the Missional AI Conference, I had met with the YouVersion people there and I was like, how could I use— so they have this platform that’s not their app, but it’s their Bible platform and they’re allowing people to build other apps on top of it. And I’m like, how could we use that? And I was like, Ian, I want to build an app to go along with the book. So for a lot of people whose attention spans are shortened and they won’t read a book, right, how can I continue to get them in the Word of God? Because that’s really what I want people to do, is so that they have that discernment going forward. And so he created for me, based on the book, we worked together to create 90 days of devotions that have a scripture that also there’s tools in there like an assessment for you to do to help you realize how much AI you’re actually using. There are conversation starters for parents to have with their children about AI so that they can approach the subject in an open-ended way so that they can have conversations. And we’re actually meeting today to work on 2.0 of the app because he did it really quickly to get it out there for me.

Doris Swift [00:42:44]:
Wow.

Misty Philip [00:42:45]:
And so, if you’ve used the app and you’ve got some suggestions, please reach out to us. We would love to hear. You can find it on the App Store at Trojan Horse Companion. And that’s, to me, is just really exciting. I mean, you could take your book, Doris, and build your own app based on your Bible study.

Doris Swift [00:43:08]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:43:09]:
And I think this really opens up just a whole new avenue for people to, you know, Use that because it used to be really expensive to build an app and it used to be, you had to have these certain skills. Now it’s really easy. Pretty much anybody can do it. Now it does take some technology, some things that you got to figure out, kind of like when we started podcasting, there’s some things we had to figure out, right? But it’s opening up the world for everybody to have an app. Actually, Actually, we just got back from California and Peter went to the Worldwide Developers Conference for Apple and we got to take Ian to Apple’s headquarters and meet with marketing team and stuff. What they told Peter is that because everybody can build an app now and it’s so easy, 1,000 apps a day are coming into the App Store that they have to approve.

Doris Swift [00:44:05]:
Wow.

Misty Philip [00:44:06]:
a day, 1,000 every hour.

Doris Swift [00:44:08]:
Every hour?

Misty Philip [00:44:09]:
Every hour. Every hour. And so they’re getting— they’re really clamping down, um, and, and making it harder, um, because so many people can just use AI to build the app, but there’s, there’s not a whole lot there. Um, and so they’re cracking down on it. But I was like, 1,000 an hour? That’s crazy. But how cool is that if everybody builds a Bible app of their own? So there’s— it’s an exciting time. We should have hope. But we also need to be aware of the dangers.

Misty Philip [00:44:44]:
And I would just encourage everybody to check out the book. Follow me on social media @MistyPhillip or get on my email list. I try to share tidbits, helpful things, you know, places that we’re going. I also went to the US AI Congress. So I’m getting a seat at the table at the overall AI—

Doris Swift [00:45:03]:
Mm-hmm.

Misty Philip [00:45:04]:
table, which is really important for my voice and Christians to have a voice there. And so I would love for you to follow along with my journey as God takes me into the great unknown of AI.

Doris Swift [00:45:17]:
Yes. Yes. Such good stuff. Thank you. And I’ll have all the links in the show notes so people can reach out to you and find you and all about the books and the app and everything. And yeah, I might try the app thing too myself. It’s funny because, you know, you start things sometimes when people say, hey, you should do this. And then it’s like, and then it kind of sits for a while and it’s like, next thing you know, okay, here you go.

Doris Swift [00:45:41]:
So it’s God’s timing, right? We were talking about that. So anyway.

Misty Philip [00:45:44]:
Yeah.

Doris Swift [00:45:45]:
Well, thank you so much for being back on the show. It’s been such a joy to have you back on and I hope to have you back on again, ’cause I know you’ll have more adventures, you know, where we could talk more. Everything is advancing, so we need to like have this chat every so often. So very good. Well, thank you very much.

Misty Philip [00:46:02]:
Thank you.

Doris Swift [00:46:03]:
I will again put everything in the show notes so people can reach out to you. God bless you and your ministry. Say hello to Peter for me. He was always such a, you know, a trooper helping us with all of our tech stuff when we were doing the, you know, Spark Media and Spark Collective and all that. So I appreciate him so much too. And your, you know, your sons are wonderful. So thank you again. And friends, thank you for joining me on the Fierce Calling Podcast, and I hope you join me next time when I talk with another guest who’s taking action where their passion, compassion, and conviction intersect.

Doris Swift [00:46:37]:
Until then, friends, have a blessed week, and I will talk to you soon.