AI, Spiritual Deception and Christ's Return
Joanna Ng knows the power of artificial intelligence — and the danger of treating it as something worthy of worship.
As a Cornerstone University President’s Fellow, Ng brings students her professional expertise and an example of what it means to stand publicly for Jesus Christ, even when doing so comes at a cost.
A pioneering AI researcher and former IBM Master Inventor with 50 patents, including four in multimodal AI, Ng is founder and CEO of Devarim Design. Her international reputation gives her credibility among AI researchers, including those who reject her Christian faith.
During a Community Chapel focused on Cornerstone’s 2026-27 theme, Jesus Is Coming Again!, she challenged students to consider whether they would remain faithful to Christ even if the world demanded otherwise, profoundly asking:
“Do we have the love for Jesus that when 10,000 people around say worship this AI machine and … still stand as the only one and say it’s a machine, it’s not something to worship?”
Prepared for an Esther Moment
Raised in a traditional Chinese family where women had little voice, Ng faced a consequential choice: accept the future her family envisioned or trust the life God intended for her. She stepped forward in faith without knowing where He would lead.
“And it wasn’t the confidence in myself, it’s the confidence of believing that He had an intention before He put me in the mother’s womb.”
Decades later, Ng sees God’s providence in the credentials that allow her to speak directly to AI researchers, including atheist colleagues who recognize her as one of their own.
Like Esther, she believes God prepared her for this moment: to confront the elevation of AI into an object of worship and stand for Biblical truth in an industry she describes as chaotic.
“I now can take a stand for him in AI at this very, very chaotic time.”
Will Christ Find You Ready?
Ng pointed to wars, lawlessness, spiritual deception and advancing technology as signs she believes reflect Jesus’ warnings in Matthew 24-25. Yet no one knows when Christ will return.
“The point of Jesus saying all that in Matthew 24 and 25 is not for us to panic, but is for us to be watchful and therefore live wisely.”
Comparing the church to a bride awaiting her bridegroom, Ng asked students whether Christ’s return would bring joy, longing, fear or indifference.
“That adjective reflects your actual relationship with Jesus.” She urged students to deepen their love for Christ, dedicate their talents and opportunities to His kingdom, know Scripture to recognize false teaching, and cultivate Christian friendships that withstand persecution.
She pointedly asked: “Do we have that dedication that Jesus is my love to the point that if all my friends ditched Jesus, I wouldn’t?”
She warned against making graduation, employment, family and retirement life’s ultimate purpose.
“Let Jesus Christ be the why of your life. If you only think about where you are right now, to graduate, [earn] a paycheck, raise a family, earn retirement, and die, then you’re not ready. … But while we have a little window, let us be ready.”
Hear more from Joanna Ng on the dangers of AI-generated truth in Wisdom Conversations and Big Tech’s manipulation of truth, AI as a spiritual adviser and Biblical wisdom in the Wisdom & Influence podcast.
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