Faith Through the Storm — Fluff — Stylin' Granny Mama

This book review is being given in exchange for a copy of the book. There was no monetary reimbursement. All opinions are my own.

I was intrigued when I read the title of Eli Shepherd’s book Faith Through the Storm - AI and Automation. Most of us are aware of the movement of AI becoming a central part of our lives, and perhaps a few of us are viewing this movement with a bit of trepidation and worry. Even now huge data centers are being built all across the United States to enable AI to learn and grow. Here is an interesting article from Pew Research Center.

I have read a few articles here and there on AI and both its possible good outcomes and its possible bad outcomes. If you are thinking Will Smith’s I, Robot, you are not that far off. While that is just a movie, a fictional piece, it does give us something to think about when we decide to feed everything we have ever known and learned as humans to an artificial intelligence who learns and grows at an astronomical rate and most likely will not be able to be controlled.

Shepherd’s book is much more believable than the I, Robot movie and deals with a more real world impact. Using a collection of characters, each chapter revolves around how AI will have long term effects on many areas of life including: farming, corporate structure, construction, small businesses, and manufacturing. We have already seen these outcomes in manufacturing plants across the country as AI technology replaces humans on the assembly lines.

In a series of short chapters, Shepherd creates a world where the aftermath of AI has already taken hold causing a chain of events that impacts an entire community. Tech replacing human workers on farms, construction companies and marketing firms, including the areas of research and design, has caused many people to lose their jobs.

In an effort to help people who are facing these tumultuous times, a group of Christian believers gather to strategize how to respond. They form a group called Kingdom.careers which helps businesses looking for workers and those out of work to find new jobs. Similar to Project 2025, but on a much smaller scale, Shepherd creates a story of possibilities; ways to acclimate and adjust to the difficulties caused by the ever expanding reach of AI’s involvement in our world.

The last chapter of the book leaves us with a “what if” feeling. What if, even all our efforts to keep going and keep adjusting still don’t stop the monolith from consuming our world? As Christians we will keep moving, keep building, keep showing up.

I personally had a hard time reading this book. With my spouse just losing his job due to the closure of the university he works at, this is a bit too real. More and more students are looking for cheaper ways to get an education and one of those ways is via AI coordinated online options. In addition, as a writer, the challenges of AI in the writing field are overwhelming and come with another whole set of problems.

While AI can be a scary thing as we look at the future, I am fully convinced the only surety we have in our future is what God says in His word, and He tells us He will always be with us, provide for us, and one day will take us home to be with Him.

If you are interested in Faith Through the Storm - AI and Automation, click on the link to purchase.