by Rob McDole
This story is part of Cedarville Magazine’s summer 2026 issue: Why AI? Biblical Wisdom for Bold Change. You can visit the Cedarville Magazine webpage for the full issue.
As Director of Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning, helps faculty members develop and refine course content using the latest technologies and teaching practices. Recently, his role has included helping faculty navigate one of the most game-changing developments to reach higher education in decades: AI.
As a thought leader in ethical AI usage, Dr. McDole has been interviewed by several podcasters in Christian higher education. So, for this issue of Cedarville Magazine, we’re taking a new approach. The interview you’re about to read is not just about AI but conducted by AI. Cedarville Magazine staff members prompted the questions for this interview from Cedarville’s ChatGPT Edu tool.
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How do you personally decide when to use AI — and when not to?
Philosophically, I govern my usage by making sure everything I do is weighed against love for God, love for others, Scripture, and God's glory (Matthew 22:37–40; 2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Corinthians 10:31).
Currently, I use it to discover its own capabilities, find areas where it will likely save myself or others on cost or time, and create applications that would normally take me years to build myself. It helps me with the research, web search, and coding parts of these processes. I do not use it to write, but I will use it for grammar, syntax, and style.
What’s a personal AI use case that has genuinely improved your own work or thinking?
Socratic tutoring prompts. I can feed it content or notes and have it question and guide me through a particular area. For example, I may use it to discuss different theories on the differences between the genealogy in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. It can also create applications that can quiz you on Scripture memory (I use OpenAI’s Codex for that).
What’s the most surprising way you’ve seen a Cedarville faculty member use AI well?
One of the most inspiring is Dr. Chris Miller. He has created several bots to serve students that are tuned specifically to what he wants them to learn. In at least one of his classes, he even has pre-grading bots that give feedback and evaluate a student’s work before they submit it. Now, students don't need to wonder if they are on the right track for an assignment — they can get immediate feedback.
For our readers who want to experiment with AI but don’t know where to begin, what’s a simple first step?
Purchase a paid plan with one of the major providers. OpenAI is probably the most well-known, and it is the one I use the most. When you get comfortable with prompting the LLM (large language model), you can advance to more technical prompting frameworks. As you explore, follow the acronym UBER:
- If you Use AI, you will not know its capabilities.
- Be specific in your prompting, because it is a machine that can guess the next word, not a person. The words you use matter.
- Evaluate the response, as it will always have errors of some kind.
- Finally, use it Reflexively, or "use the tool to use the tool." If I need the best strategy to get accurate results from a web search, including links and citations, I can ask the tool to give me a prompting strategy to use.
How can someone use AI as a thought partner rather than a shortcut?
If you just want it to answer a question like Google, you can do so. If, however, you want to expand your mind, you can ask it to challenge your theories or assumptions by advocating for a different point of view and pointing out where your viewpoint may have issues.
How can families have healthy, productive conversations about AI use at home?
Keep your faith and the sanctity of being an image bearer of God at the forefront of your discussions. Explore the difference between image-bearers and tools with your family. We can mimic God's creation of Adam, but we will never, ever get there. So, use the machine, but don't be deceived that it will be anything more than a machine.
One easy step is to not treat AI like it is human. It is not human, nor will it ever be, so do not talk to it as if it were human. Don't say "please," don't say "thank you," don't seek companionship from it — and I would warn against giving your AI tools human qualities or human names.
Has there been a moment when AI surprised you?
Hands down, it’s the speed things are changing. After November 2022, the rate of change has outpaced most people's capabilities to keep up with the advancements in models. I believe it’s penetrating the market and changing the world faster than Gutenberg's press, the Industrial Revolution, electricity, the telegraph, the telephone, or the Internet. OpenAI alone boasts 900M active weekly users.
What skills do you think AI actually makes more valuable?
Tools amplify, and this is a computational math machine. So, those who already use mathematical reasoning, recognize useful patterns, and operate with the wisdom of Christ will be able to leverage the tool for good while avoiding error.
Anyone trained in the aesthetic arts or with any formal math or science training under the Lordship of Christ will find themselves with opportunities now and in the future.
How is Cedarville preparing students to lead in a world shaped by AI?
By doing the above. We want to teach Christ first, then train the mind, body, and soul with those behaviors and concepts that honor Christ and provide for the ongoing mission of His Church and those outside the Church.
If you could give Cedarville graduates one piece of advice about AI, what would it be?
Make the most of the opportunities afforded to you to learn Christ and apply that to your use of AI tools for God's glory.
Ten years from now, what do you hope alumni, parents, and friends will say about how Cedarville handled this technological moment?
That we were fearless and faithful for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ.
No AI was used in responding to these questions.