We are humans, and we are accountable to God, Sarah Gibson, an artificial intelligence expert and enthusiast, said. AI was created by humans, so AI is ultimately accountable to humans, she said.
We are stewards of AI, Gibson said, and we can steward it through thoughtfully reflecting what God has given us.
“God has given us AI — how can I utilize it? I can utilize it for bad, and I can utilize it for good, and that’s true of everything,” she said.
Gibson was the keynote speaker at Taylor University’s 2026 Colleagues’ College conference.
Gibson worked in higher education for 18 years and served as both the director of the School of Communication and the faculty fellow of AI at Lipscomb University for 11 years. After stepping down from her role at Lipscomb in May, she decided to devote her time to helping higher education institutions integrate AI.
“I travel across the country and meet educators and go to institutions and help them think through the process of integrating AI,” Gibson said.
Having grown up in a Christian home, she decided to attend Abilene Christian University. From there she became an educator at her alma mater, George Fox University and Lipscomb University, all religious institutions.
Now, Gibson primarily assists small, faith-based schools like Taylor to integrate AI, because that’s what she knows best.
Growing up, technology was something Gibson was never naive to. Her mother was a digital music pioneer, probably one of the first people to connect a synthesizer to a computer, Gibson said.
Gibson has a background in documentary filmmaking and storytelling. She studied electronic media and film and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Radio, Television and Film from the University of North Texas.
In 2012, Gibson won the Broadcast Education Association’s Best of Festival King Foundation Award for her interactive documentary, “Steve Taylor’s Digital Clone.”
“The integration of technology with humanity is something I felt very comfortable with,” Gibson said.
Technology was not just a tool in Gibson’s home; it was a language, she said. It became a real part of the person she became, and she says that it wasn’t until AI came into the picture that it all started making sense.
Through being a documentary filmmaker, Gibson says she saw AI as something that joined storytelling and an understanding of technology together. AI creates an understanding of what technology can do for humanity, she said.
“I just really felt like I understood it (AI), and in some ways, I feel like it made me more human,” Gibson said.
Acknowledging that it may sound weird to say AI made her feel more human, she said AI caused her to realize where humans need to lean more into relationships with one another. She said AI could also help with imposter syndrome or a lack of confidence.
AI helps us reveal things that we are not quite ready to say out loud yet, Gibson said. She also emphasized the juxtaposition between AI’s role and that of a human being, acknowledging the value of both.
“It (AI) helps you feel more confident in what you do and really understand who you are as a human being, and what you bring to the world,” she said.
Gibson views AI as an incredible technology that God has given His children. She challenges others to ask themselves, how do I navigate the use of AI in such a way that I am honoring God?
