AI is Demonic
This article is written by D. Matthew Allen, an attorney and Rhetoric Bible Teacher at Paideia Classical Christian School
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
As described in a fascinating November 25, 2025 article published by the Free Press, the noted psychologist Jonathan Haidt asked ChatGPT a question: “If you were the devil, how would you destroy the next generation, without them even knowing it.” The answer stunned Haidt: “I wouldn’t come with violence. I’d come with convenience. I’d keep them busy. Always distracted. I’d watch their minds rot slowly, sweetly, silently. And the best part is, they’d never know it was me. They’d call it freedom. ” Haidt realized that what ChatGPT proposed is exactly what technology is doing to our children. The AI model proposed the following details to implement the devil’s plan:
Erode attention and presence. The research is well-documented. Thanks to smartphones, students these days have trouble thinking and concentrating. Here at Paideia, we train students to focus and persevere. We encourage students to read whole books, not just excerpts. We encourage going deeper into fewer works, creating minds that can engage in sustained attention and critical thinking.
Confuse identity and purpose. Young people who are not rooted in a Christian identity more often struggle with mental health issues. But, says Haidt, students rooted in what he calls “binding moral communities” (that is, the church), suffer fewer negative mental health effects than their secular peers. At Paideia, we come alongside Christian parents and churches to teach students that they were specially created by a sovereign God, and because that is so, they have purpose. Flood them with information and starve them of wisdom. Secular schools are awash in information, much of it trivial. Here at Paideia, we value wisdom over information. Our rhetoric school students, in their Great Ideas classes, study what it means to be wise and virtuous. Indeed, these ideas are so important that we define education itself as imparting wisdom and virtue.
Normalize hedonism and pathologize discipline. Chat GPT says the path to hell is paved with convincing children that comfort, consumption, and self-expression are the highest goods, while restraint, sacrifice, and long-term commitment are oppressive. But we at Paideia teach children to do hard things, to value work, and to persevere through challenges. These things create stable, mature adults. Haidt defines discipline as the ability to persist on a path even when there may be no progress and no reward for days at a time. We emphasize discipline at Paideia. While we leave room for the Holy Spirit to move, we understand that disciples aren’t created without discipline.
Undermine trust across generations. Chat GPT says the devil’s plan is to undermine the authority of parents, teachers, and other authority figures. The devil wants to cut young people off from the wisdom of the ages. We at Paideia teach respect for one’s elders, including those giants of the faith who came before us. We unashamedly read old books, because those who wrote them are wiser than we are.
Chat GPT summarizes its conception of the devil’s plan with three words: distraction, disconnection, and the erosion of meaning. We at Paideia emphasize focus, Christian community, and meaning in God’s purpose for our children. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. By teaching counterculturally, we do our part to equip children to submit to God and cause the devil to flee.