outube and social media are full of AI-produced videos using John MacArthur's voice and image, making him say things that perhaps sound like something you might think he believed, but expressing opinions he never held and making statements he never made. There are dozens of these fake videos floating around, and I am asked about them almost daily.
My standard reply: "No, those are fake. If you want to be certain you are hearing something John MacArthur actually said; or if you are looking for a video or audio recording of John's that you can trust to be genuine, you'll find it at gty.org." If it doesn't come from gty.org or GraceChurch.org, I can't vouch for its authenticity.
Furthermore, any AI-produced recording that purports to express the views of John MacArthur is certainly fake.
Most of these are simply sensationalized mammon-grabbing click bait. They may not be maliciously expressing teachings or opinions contrary to what John actually taught, but they are created mainly for the purpose of increasing traffic and thereby generating ad revenue for their creators. They are virtually all produced anonymously or pseudonymously, and it is no easy task to get the traffic cops at YouTube or other social-media sites to take them down.
Some of the AI-generated videos of John might be produced for satirical or comedic purposes, but like the ones that are sheer click bait, they confuse unwitting readers and generate misunderstanding—and sometimes they spawn apocryphal tales and urban legends about John and what he taught.
A few years ago, the management team at Grace to You made this policy: We will never use AI to simulate the voice or appearance of John MacArthur, nor will we ever (even in jest) put words in his mouth that he has not said. That policy was strongly affirmed by John himself.
The policy was prompted by the fact that someone (not one of our staff members, but someone with some influence) had proposed making an app for smart devices that would offer AI-generated counseling and prayers for users in John MacArthur's voice.
John was never a fan of Siri or Alexa, and he certainly did not want to lend his face, voice, or personality to an AI-generated cyber-pastor or digital rabbi. The idea of an artificial John MacArthur saying fake prayers for people with real needs absolutely appalled him—perhaps even more than it appalled the rest of us.
That's why I'm not in favor of using AI to concoct quasi-theological debates between dead celebrities, either in standard language, Ebonics, pidgin english, Cockney rhyming slang, rap patois, or whatever. It's not merely that I'm a humorless boomer (true as that might be). It's because doing something in John MacArthur's name that we know with absolute certainty he would disapprove is no way to honor him.
It's not really funny, either, especially to those of us who knew and loved him.
I hope you understand, and I hope this is helpful.
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