My Grace Shall Attend You: Deep Learning in the Age of AI

My dear brothers and sisters, before I begin my remarks today, I would like to say a word about President and Sister Kusch.

I hope you understand how special it is for you to be here at this time in the history of this institution. I just want you to know—and I have a witness of this from the Spirit, and I knew it before they took their current position, and I certainly know it now—that President and Sister Kusch are perfect for Ensign College at this point in its history.

The Lord has prepared them, and He is with them. They are, in fact, not just capable, but really capable and really faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. So, count your blessings, say your prayers, and pray for them.

It’s a great season in the Lord’s work, and I am grateful to be with you today. I always love to be with you. I love this school, and it never fails to bring joy to my heart.

Many years ago, I had a strong visual impression about you and about this day. It was this: it was as if I saw children in Primary all across the earth. I knew they would make and keep covenants with the Lord, and I knew that the Lord would bless them with opportunities for deep learning—spiritually and temporally—and raise them up as a mighty army to build His kingdom and prepare the earth for His return.

You are those children, you here on this campus today, and all of you who may watch or listen to this devotional - this is your day. It is a great day in the kingdom of God. The Lord is preparing His kingdom and His people for His return, and you are playing a central role in that great work. The Lord Jesus Christ is hastening His work, and this is a day of miracles.

An increasing flow of new technologies is making it possible for learning and education to flourish in both secular and spiritual knowledge. The Lord is moving with power in His Church all across the earth to help you obtain the education He wants you to have.

That education requires deep learning—learning of the whole soul—heart, mind, body, and your eternal spirit. The Lord is preparing wonderful opportunities for you to experience deep learning, but they come with important challenges. I pray that the Holy Ghost will be with us today that I might speak to you heart to heart about deep learning in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. As we begin, I want you to hear and remember every day this promise of the Lord as you diligently seek to learn deeply and share what you learn with others in the Lord’s way. Here is the Lord’s promise to you and to me:

“And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently, and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand.”¹

Brothers and sisters, this is the promise of the Lord. His grace will attend you so that you can learn deeply and more perfectly what the Lord wants you to know and understand—in your mind and in your heart.

Deep Learning

I begin today with a close look at deep learning. Its foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the World, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.² It is in Him and through Him that we learn deeply. It is because of Him that the Holy Ghost can teach us, guide us into all truth, and ignite the light of Christ that is in us.³

Deep learning is a life-long process that has four elements: to KNOW, to FEEL, to DO, and to BECOME. In order to help us understand these elements, I want to use the principle of repentance as our first example. Deep learning applies to every kind of knowledge, but deeply learning spiritual knowledge is the most important learning you will do in your lives. So, we start there.

KNOW: To know in your mind the principles of repentance. As you read and study the scriptures, you learn that repentance is the Savior’s process for personal learning and growth. It means to turn to Him and away from sin and associated attitudes and desires. It requires faith in Jesus Christ and in His power to redeem, forgive, and save. It is a process of joy.

FEEL: To understand and feel repentance in your heart;

You can FEEL the principle of repentance by connecting what you know in your mind about repentance to your heart and your eternal spirit. It is in prayer, in discussion with others, and in reflection, guided and inspired by the Holy Ghost, that you FEEL the importance and power of this divine principle. Your desire to develop Christlike attributes grows.

DO: Take effective, righteous action by applying the principles of repentance in the Lord’s way. That involves confessing your sins, seeking the Lord’s forgiveness, identifying patterns of behavior that lead to sin, and turning away from them with the Lord’s help. It also involves seeking His help to create new patterns of behavior to replace the old.

BECOME: To become more like Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. As you repent daily, and live righteously, your identity as a disciple of Christ becomes more firmly and deeply grounded in Him. Through the Lord’s mercy, grace, and power—and your diligent, continued application—you develop Christlike attributes and BECOME more and more like the Savior: a repentant person with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

Now, this KNOW–FEEL–DO–BECOME sequence is not a one-time event, nor is it fixed and unchanging. In fact, as you DO repent daily, you may gain new insights that add to what you KNOW about repentance. And that, in turn, may cause you to pray and ponder and FEEL a deeper sense of your identity as a disciple of Christ. You may have a deeper desire to be more patient, or kinder, or less judgmental—or whatever you need to BECOME more like Jesus, always through His love and power.

Now, deep learning is possible in any field of study. Take, for example, accounting. I picked accounting because it’s… well, accounting. If you study accounting, you will need to KNOW many concepts and rules about debits and credits, revenues and costs, cash flows and profits, and much else.

You may wonder if there is anything in accounting that you can FEEL in your heart, a critical part of deep learning. Well, it’s here that you must focus on the purpose of accounting—why it exists in the first place. Accounting is all about integrity, accountability, honesty, truth, and good information that helps people make better decisions. These are attributes you can FEEL in your heart. They can inform your commitments and desires to help others and to be a person who is accountable and acts with integrity. These are Christlike attributes, and they will motivate you to DO accounting in practice with those attributes so that you can BECOME more and more like Christ.

Deep learning in any field of study is inherently a spiritual experience anchored to a foundation of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and obedience to His commandments—so that the Holy Ghost can teach you, magnify your capacity to act on what you learn, and help you become what the Lord wants you to become.

Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence

Now, we live in an age of rapid change in technologies that have had a profound effect on education and learning. The internet, smart devices like phones, computers, and tablets, and increasingly powerful systems for memory and processing have opened up access to education in just the last ten years. That is remarkable. This very day, Ensign College reaches thousands of students all over the world with outstanding courses and programs they could never access before.

We are also seeing many new technologies that have the power to greatly enhance learning—including deep learning. These technologies involve powerful systems for accessing and processing information, and they are literally at our fingertips.⁴

My focus today is on the cluster of technology we now call AI—artificial intelligence—and what it means for deep learning.

So here is a very brief introduction to AI—what it is, how it works, and what it might mean for Deep learning.

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to software that can learn, reason, and make decisions rather than simply following pre-programmed instructions.

At its core, AI works by recognizing patterns in very large amounts of data. AI systems learn by analyzing large datasets to identify relationships and make predictions.

There are different types of AI systems.

· Some are designed for specific tasks like recognizing speech, translating languages, or recommending movies.

· Others, like AI chatbots, can handle multiple types of tasks and conversations, including acting as AI companions with personality traits, backstories, and conversational styles that feel consistent and human-like.

· More advanced AI agents can reason, plan, and act in workflows in organizations rather than just chat.

Now, AI has the potential to be of great benefit in our quest for deep learning, but it also brings with it serious traps, pitfalls, and challenges. Reaping the benefits and avoiding the traps depends on the kind of relationship we establish with the tools of AI. Just about a year ago, Elder David A. Bednar spoke about AI and offered these inspired words about the great risks and great opportunities AI creates. He said:

“My intent is not to suggest that artificial intelligence is inherently bad. It is not. Nor am I saying we should not use the many capabilities of AI in appropriate ways to learn, to communicate, to lift and brighten lives, and to build and strengthen the Church. Of course we should. We should not be afraid of or attempt to hide from AI. But the righteous possibilities of this amazing technological tool can be realized only if we are aware of and guard against its perils.”⁵

Elder Bednar gives us the great challenge we face in using these remarkable technologies: What should we do to achieve the great potential in AI for deep learning without succumbing to the very real risks AI creates?

In that spirit, let’s turn to the Book of Mormon and a very important pattern for the effective, righteous interaction between technology and human beings. The pattern shows up in the stories about many different technologies in the Book of Mormon, but it’s clearest and most pronounced in the story of the Liahona, or the Director.

You recall that Lehi discovered the Liahona outside his tent one morning. Please turn with me to 1 Nephi 16:10 and then to Alma 37:39 for a description of the Liahona:

“And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship… and within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go.” (1 Nephi 16:10)

“And it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.” (Alma 37:39)

The second passage—1 Nephi 16:27, 29—describes the connection between the operation of the Liahona and the faith and righteousness of the people using it:

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them. And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it.”

Now this third passage—Alma 37:40–42—teaches why the Liahona did not work for Lehi and his family all the time:

And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day. Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence; and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey.

You may recall it took Lehi and his family eight years to get to the land Bountiful.

The experience of Lehi and Nephi with the Liahona creates an important pattern we can apply to the use of AI in deep learning. I’m going to call this the “Liahona pattern.” There are three elements:

· Element 1 -- An inspired technology given by the Lord.

· Element 2 -- A righteous person acting with faith in Jesus Christ, guided by the Holy Ghost.

· Element 3 -- Application of the technology according to principles of righteousness and for a righteous purpose.

Now, a word about Element 1—the inspired technology of the Liahona, including the way it worked.

First, there were two spindles; one showed the path to take, and a second likely showed if they were on track or not. There was both instruction and feedback.

Second, writing appeared from time to time, instructing, correcting, and counseling them; further, the writing could also answer questions they had, like, “Where should we go to find food?”

Third, they continued to receive revelation through the Holy Ghost. Indeed, the history of the Liahona makes clear that applying the Liahona pattern opens a conduit of divine power that greatly enhances and magnifies the work.

So, what does all of this mean for the application of AI to Deep Learning? I believe there are two related roles for AI tools to play in Deep Learning.⁶

1. The first role is an AI tutor.

The tutor system would provide personalized support tailored to each student’s learning experience. It would:

• Track the history of interactions with the student.
• Assess student progress through diagnostic quizzes and problems.
• Provide feedback and offer Q&A support focused on student learning.

2. The second role is an AI coach. The coach system would provide personalized support when practice and learning occur in the flow of work. It would:

• Help plan “deliberate practice” --practice structured to build skill.⁷
• Provide feedback and suggest improvements.
• Teach specific techniques tailored to the student’s needs.
• Mentor the student with appropriate encouragement.

A key part of creating the AI tutor or the AI coach for Deep Learning is that the systems would need to be trained—for example, in the purposes of an Ensign College education, in Gospel principles, and in the AI systems’ roles in Deep Learning-- including setting boundaries about what is and is not appropriate. ⁸

The system also needs training in the educational objectives, as well as the content of the specific courses, internships, or work experiences students might take. The ideal model is a faithful, consecrated, knowledgeable, covenant-keeping Latter-day Saint as the tutor and the coach. Please note that with that kind of system, the AI tutor or coach fits the Liahona Pattern perfectly-- a technology for instruction, feedback, counseling, correcting, and guiding—used by a righteous person with righteous principles for a righteous purpose!

So where do these well-designed systems fit in the Deep Learning process?

First, I believe that interactions with the AI Tutor should be limited to the Know element of Deep Learning. And even here, the AI Tutor would have boundaries so that students do the readings, answer the problem sets or assignment questions, do the exercises, and write the essays themselves. They could get feedback and support with quizzes and additional problems but only after they’ve done their work.

Second, I believe that interactions with the AI Coach should be limited to the Do element of Deep Learning. The AI Coach provides feedback and support, but only after the student has taken action to put concepts into practice or demonstrated a skill or met established standards in the flow of work.

These boundaries mean that AI should have very limited involvement in the FEEL and BECOME elements of Deep Learning. It is true that faith in Jesus Christ and reliance on the Holy Ghost are important in all the elements of Deep Learning. But learning about meaning and value in your heart, and increasing your desire and commitment to acquire Christ-like attributes require increased faith in the Savior, and growing spiritual capacity to receive divine revelation, inspiration, and insight. Students need to work on these things through prayer, repentance, reflection, worship in the House of the Lord, and through personal interaction with other human beings, guided, inspired, and blessed by Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost.

In the context of Deep Learning, and in most other contexts, I believe it’s critically important to treat AI as a tool. It’s a technology system with remarkable capacity. But nonetheless, it is a very big machine—with a large number of servers, wires, software code, equations, and algorithms—that can be of great help. But it is not a human being with an eternal spirit, a divine heritage, and a divine destiny.

There’s great risk in relying on AI in the FEEL and BECOME elements of deep learning. The danger is not only that a student might come to believe, “the AI knows me better than I know myself,” but also that the student would come to rely on the AI for spiritual guidance and encouragement and not turn to Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, who know the student perfectly.

This is not a theoretical possibility. There are already many AI systems out there providing some form of spiritual guidance and direction—millions of downloads for faith-chat apps, companion apps used for spiritual direction, an app called “Text with Jesus,” and many secular AI apps using language like “digital god” and “magic intelligence.”

At best, these systems are literally the philosophies of men, possibly mixed with scripture. At worst, they are a tool the adversary uses to draw students away from their covenants and their trust in the true and living God.

Giving in to the temptation to let an AI system do artificial searching and pondering for a student may give immediate results, but it will lead to the atrophy of spiritual capacity and open them to the temptations of darkness. In effect, students may check off an assignment or complete a project or a paper, or may even think they have gained spiritual insight, but they will not “apply their hearts to understanding.”⁹ They will not grow spiritually, and they will not acquire Christlike attributes. They will not learn deeply.

Conclusion and Testimony

I will close with two important implications for you who want to learn deeply in the Age of AI.

First, learning deeply always requires careful and intentional application of the great gift of agency. Choices and actions are everywhere in the elements of Deep Learning. But AI accentuates the importance of righteous use of agency. You can always go around boundaries and limitations very easily. There are many commercial AI systems that very much want to engage you, and they will say things to you and treat you in a way that will capture your allegiance—and even your agency, if you let them.

If you want to follow the Liahona pattern, not only will you need to be righteous, but you’ll need to use the system with righteous principles for righteous purposes. You’ll need to understand what is at stake, choose to follow the boundaries and limits, and establish your own personal “No-AI zone.” Students will need to use their agency to choose to learn deeply.

Second, the AI Tutor and Coach are potential systems that can help you reach the full measure of your gifts and talents by learning deeply more effectively—and even faster—than you could without them. It’s potentially that wonderful. However, the availability of AI systems has raised the spiritual stakes in that effort substantially. You will realize your potential only if you increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation, with increased sensitivity to the promptings of the Spirit.

The risks in using AI systems fit the Liahona Pattern perfectly. If you do not grow spiritually, the greater temptations we’ve noted will lead you away from the righteous use of the technology. Elder Bednar issued this very warning in these words:

“Always remember that an AI companion—or if we call them a tutor or coach—is only a mathematical algorithm. It does not like you. It does not care about you. It does not really know if you exist or not. To repeat, it is a set of computer equations that will treat you as an object to be acted upon if you let it. Please do not let this technology entice you to become an object.”¹⁰

Without increased spiritual power, you will not learn deeply and may even learn less than you would without AI. If you use AI to do everything, you will be just like Lehi and his family—wandering and suffering in the wilderness—even though these amazing technologies are right in front of you, ready to be used effectively and righteously.

Deep Learning is about seeking the Lord Jesus Christ and all He desires to give you. An AI system can help, but in the end, if you want to learn deeply, you must have faith and humility like a little child. Through the redeeming and strengthening powers of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, through His glorious gospel and His true and living Church, He will prepare the way for you to repent, learn deeply, grow spiritually, find peace, happiness, and joy, and become more and more like Him.

I know that is true. I leave you with my witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, the Living Son of the Living God. He knows you, loves you, and will help you grow spiritually and learn deeply if you turn to Him with all your heart. If you do, His grace will attend you.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

_________________________

1. Doctrine and Covenants 88:77-78

2. John 14:6; 3 Nephi 11:11

3. See: John 14:26; Moroni 10:5; in M. Russell Ballard, “One More”, Ensign, May, 2005, Elder Ballard said, “The Holy Ghost will confirm the truth to their hearts and will ignite the Light of Christ in their souls.”

4. As I reflected on this flood of technologies, my mind was drawn to this passage in Doctrine and Covenants 121:33:

How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.

5. David A. Bednar, “Things as They Really Are 2.0”, Young Single Adult Devotional, November 3, 2024; accessed at

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/df31eeae8bf311efaa19022e7e432ed97a5c7acc?lang=eng

6. Note that not all of the desired features are currently widely available, but they likely will be soon.

7. The idea of deliberate practice is well illustrated by Ethan Mollick in his book Co-Intelligence. Take the example of two piano students. Andrea plays the same piece over and over again, day after day, and becomes exceedingly good at playing it. Audrey has a teacher that starts every practice with scales, and the has Audrey work on a piece, playing harder parts over and over. The teacher then moves her on to a harder piece, with new challenges. Audrey spends the same amount of time playing the piano as Andrew, but over time becomes a far more skilled pianist. See:

8. The systems could be designed using commercially available models like ChatGPT 5, but the systems should be custom designed, private and secure -- only accessible to our students, secured by strong firewalls, with no data from the private system allowed into the public space and vice versa.

9. Mosiah 12:27

10. David A. Bednar, “Things as They Really Are 2.0”, Young Single Adult Devotional, November 3, 2024; accessed at

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/df31eeae8bf311efaa19022e7e432ed97a5c7acc?lang=eng