Can AI Help Us Love Our Neighbors Better?

I don’t think it’s news that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping nearly every corner of our world including the way we work, learn, and even how we heal, connect, and worship. But could AI also help us solve one of society’s most heartbreaking challenges like homelessness?

It’s a question that goes far deeper than technology. It reaches into the heart of what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31). At its best, AI isn’t just about algorithms or automation. It’s about amplification.

If AI can amplify our ability to see, understand, and respond to human need more effectively, wouldn’t it be wise to use it compassionately?

Mark 12:30-32 NIV

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.

Seeing People Before They Fall

Imagine what a game-changer it would be if we could recognize the signs of crisis before someone ends up on the street. AI can analyze housing, employment, and healthcare data to identify individuals or families at risk of homelessness. That doesn’t mean replacing compassion with code. It means using technology as an early warning system so communities can offer help sooner rather than later.

When guided by empathy, predictive tools can serve as a form of preventive care, not surveillance, protecting dignity, rather than invading privacy.

Matching Needs with Resources

One of the biggest challenges facing people without housing is navigating the maze of services like shelters, clinics, recovery programs, job assistance, and more. AI is able to streamline that process.

Instead of someone having to retell their story at every door, a well-designed AI platform could possibly match people to the right resources quickly, accurately, and respectfully. Efficiency doesn’t have to erase humanity. It can serve it.

Coordinating Compassion

My experience has shown me that every city has passionate people and organizations working to end homelessness. However,efforts are often scattered with many people addressing the same issues from different angles. AI can help connect the dots. What if by analyzing real-time data, like open shelter beds or available resources, AI strengthens coordination between nonprofits, faith groups, and local agencies? Isn’t that worth pursuing? Organized compassion multiplies reach.

Empowering Recovery and Renewal

Let’s take it next level. What if AI could also provide personalized support for those rebuilding their lives? Imagine digital mentors that coach someone through a resume, interview, or online course. AI-driven tools can open doors to employment, skill-building, and even emotional support by meeting people where they are, whether on a public computer or smartphone.

Again, it’s not about replacing human care but about extending its reach.

Ethical Concerns for AI

I get it. Artificial Intelligence is new and new things can be frightening. I recall the time when one of our high school math teachers dared to introduce computers and create a computer club at our school in the 1980s, eons before everyone carried a computer in their hands. There were people who were extremely worried about this teacher’s innovative initiative. New technology rightfully raises ethical concerns.

As powerful as artificial intelligence can be, it does raise serious ethical questions. When it comes to helping vulnerable populations, like those experiencing homelessness, how we use AI matters just as much as what we use it for.

1. Privacy and Consent
   AI systems rely on large amounts of data. That data often includes personal information about people in crisis. We must shepherd this information and ensure their stories and identities are protected. Consent and confidentiality are essential. Human compassion should never come at the cost of someone’s dignity.
2. Bias and Fairness
   AI can unintentionally reflect the biases of its creators or the systems it learns from. Like it or not, we all have biases. That means marginalized communities could face more harm instead of help if we’re not careful. Christian ethics calls us to justice and to make sure every person is treated fairly and equitably.
3. Dehumanization
   There’s a real risk in letting algorithms replace authentic relationship. It’s imperative that we recognize no amount of code is a substitute for human connection, empathy, or prayer. Technology should serve people, not replace the love and presence that heal hearts. We need to strive to be effective just as just as we seek to be efficient. Perhaps, more-so.
4. Accountability and Transparency
   We must ask ourselves who controls the data, who makes the decisions, and who is held accountable when things go wrong. The call of Christ is to walk in the light, not in secrecy, so integrity must guide every use of AI. We must always guard our integrity closely.
5. Dependence vs. Empowerment
   Finally, we must ensure AI empowers people to rebuild their lives, not make them dependent on a digital system. Dependence is not love. True compassion lifts people up, giving them the tools, dignity, and confidence to move forward.

If we approach AI through the lens of justice, humility, and love, it can become more than a tool of convenience. It can be a tool of compassion.

Wisdom, Not Just Data

For Christians, the question isn’t just what AI can do, but how we use it. Everything leads us back to the Word. The Bible reminds us that wisdom begins with reverence for God (Proverbs 9:10). As we embrace technology, we must also ask:

Does this tool reflect the heart of Christ?

Does it restore dignity, build trust, and serve the least of these?

If we use AI to love more deeply, listen more carefully, and serve more faithfully, then it becomes more than a machine. It becomes a means of grace.

A Hopeful Vision

AI will never replace our human compassion. I believe that when technology and humanity work together, it can result in something beautiful. We can build systems that see people not as problems to be fixed but as souls to be loved, each one made in the image of the Creator.

The question isn’t “How can AI solve homelessness?” but “Can we use AI to love our neighbors better?”

If we approach it from an agenda of loving others well maybe this new frontier of technology can become a new frontier of grace.

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Are you or is someone you know experiencing homelessness?

Use this app to help you identify resources near you.

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A Reflection
How might God be inviting you to use the tools of this age (AI, technology, or otherwise) to care for your neighbors more deeply?

Until my next post…

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

You can now find my articles in The Christian Grandfather Magazine.

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