{"id":90283,"topic":"ai","source":"Cedarville University","title":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI - Cedarville University","url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","url_hash":"0b6fa3cf58ded62f6865f12862623bdd6f1e8f30","author":"","summary":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI Cedarville University","content":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.\nBefore discussing technology, McDole shares about his journey to Cedarville and the people who shaped his life. He reflects on meeting his wife as a Cedarville student and the influence of his mother and the godly mentors who invested in him when his father was largely absent during his childhood. His love of reading, learning, and technology began early, eventually leading McDole to choose Cedarville over a full-ride music scholarship at another college after discovering Cedarville’s early computer network, CedarNet.\nMcDole explains how his Christian faith shapes his understanding of innovation. Because God is the Creator, technological advancement, including AI, is not outside His sovereignty. Rather than responding to AI with fear, McDole encourages Christians to consider how technology can be used wisely to serve others and advance Kingdom purposes.\nThe conversation also addresses one of McDole’s primary concerns: humanizing AI. He cautions against treating AI systems as people or allowing their increasingly conversational nature to distort our understanding of what they are.\nMcDole discusses how AI has accelerated research, enabled simulations, and changed his own professional workflow, while also acknowledging the importance of setting boundaries and remaining attentive to real-world responsibilities.\nFinally, the conversation turns to higher education. McDole explains why Cedarville is focusing on becoming AI-resilient rather than AI-resistant, emphasizing process over product and recognizing that education is about far more than earning a diploma. At its heart, Cedarville’s mission remains rooted in discipleship, biblical truth, and forming students in ways technology cannot replicate.\nAbout Cedarville University\nCedarville University, an evangelical Christian institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences and professional fields. With 7,542 students, it is among Ohio's largest private universities and is ranked among the nation’s top five evangelical universities in the Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.","image_url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/images/default-source/campus-news/news/2026/mcdole.png?sfvrsn=ad07a627_1","lang":"en","published_at":"2026-09-25T14:08:36+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-09-25T15:15:05+00:00","status":"read","starred":0,"extract_state":"ok","summary_auto":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.","cluster_id":null,"extract_retries":0,"extract_error":null,"contract_version":"news_item.v1","format_contract_version":"news_item_formats.v1","dedup_url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428,"usable_text_length":2722,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428}},"news_item":{"id":90283,"canonical_url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","source_url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","title":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI - Cedarville University","source_name":"Cedarville University","author":null,"published_at":"2026-09-25T14:08:36+00:00","locale":"en","topic":"ai","tags":[],"rss_summary":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI Cedarville University","full_text":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.\nBefore discussing technology, McDole shares about his journey to Cedarville and the people who shaped his life. He reflects on meeting his wife as a Cedarville student and the influence of his mother and the godly mentors who invested in him when his father was largely absent during his childhood. His love of reading, learning, and technology began early, eventually leading McDole to choose Cedarville over a full-ride music scholarship at another college after discovering Cedarville’s early computer network, CedarNet.\nMcDole explains how his Christian faith shapes his understanding of innovation. Because God is the Creator, technological advancement, including AI, is not outside His sovereignty. Rather than responding to AI with fear, McDole encourages Christians to consider how technology can be used wisely to serve others and advance Kingdom purposes.\nThe conversation also addresses one of McDole’s primary concerns: humanizing AI. He cautions against treating AI systems as people or allowing their increasingly conversational nature to distort our understanding of what they are.\nMcDole discusses how AI has accelerated research, enabled simulations, and changed his own professional workflow, while also acknowledging the importance of setting boundaries and remaining attentive to real-world responsibilities.\nFinally, the conversation turns to higher education. McDole explains why Cedarville is focusing on becoming AI-resilient rather than AI-resistant, emphasizing process over product and recognizing that education is about far more than earning a diploma. At its heart, Cedarville’s mission remains rooted in discipleship, biblical truth, and forming students in ways technology cannot replicate.\nAbout Cedarville University\nCedarville University, an evangelical Christian institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences and professional fields. With 7,542 students, it is among Ohio's largest private universities and is ranked among the nation’s top five evangelical universities in the Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.","excerpt":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.","extraction":{"state":"ok","confidence":0.9,"error":null,"explanation":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428,"usable_text_length":2722,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428}}},"display_formats":["compact","card","full","digest_section","json"]},"daily_stack_record":{"title":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI - Cedarville University","url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","summary":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.","source":"Cedarville University","date":"2026-09-25T14:08:36+00:00","content":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.\nBefore discussing technology, McDole shares about his journey to Cedarville and the people who shaped his life. He reflects on meeting his wife as a Cedarville student and the influence of his mother and the godly mentors who invested in him when his father was largely absent during his childhood. His love of reading, learning, and technology began early, eventually leading McDole to choose Cedarville over a full-ride music scholarship at another college after discovering Cedarville’s early computer network, CedarNet.\nMcDole explains how his Christian faith shapes his understanding of innovation. Because God is the Creator, technological advancement, including AI, is not outside His sovereignty. Rather than responding to AI with fear, McDole encourages Christians to consider how technology can be used wisely to serve others and advance Kingdom purposes.\nThe conversation also addresses one of McDole’s primary concerns: humanizing AI. He cautions against treating AI systems as people or allowing their increasingly conversational nature to distort our understanding of what they are.\nMcDole discusses how AI has accelerated research, enabled simulations, and changed his own professional workflow, while also acknowledging the importance of setting boundaries and remaining attentive to real-world responsibilities.\nFinally, the conversation turns to higher education. McDole explains why Cedarville is focusing on becoming AI-resilient rather than AI-resistant, emphasizing process over product and recognizing that education is about far more than earning a diploma. At its heart, Cedarville’s mission remains rooted in discipleship, biblical truth, and forming students in ways technology cannot replicate.\nAbout Cedarville University\nCedarville University, an evangelical Christian institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences and professional fields. With 7,542 students, it is among Ohio's largest private universities and is ranked among the nation’s top five evangelical universities in the Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.","confidence":0.9,"diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","quality_bucket":"high","failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"quality_reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428,"usable_text_length":2722,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428}},"tags":[]},"fallback_formats":["markdown","json","html"],"actions":{"read":"/item/90283","export_markdown":"/api/items/90283/export?format=markdown","export_json":"/api/items/90283/export?format=json","diagnose":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai"},"formats":{"full":{"id":90283,"title":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI - Cedarville University","url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","source":"Cedarville University","author":null,"published_at":"2026-09-25T14:08:36+00:00","locale":"en","topic":"ai","tags":[],"excerpt":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.","full_text":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.\nBefore discussing technology, McDole shares about his journey to Cedarville and the people who shaped his life. He reflects on meeting his wife as a Cedarville student and the influence of his mother and the godly mentors who invested in him when his father was largely absent during his childhood. His love of reading, learning, and technology began early, eventually leading McDole to choose Cedarville over a full-ride music scholarship at another college after discovering Cedarville’s early computer network, CedarNet.\nMcDole explains how his Christian faith shapes his understanding of innovation. Because God is the Creator, technological advancement, including AI, is not outside His sovereignty. Rather than responding to AI with fear, McDole encourages Christians to consider how technology can be used wisely to serve others and advance Kingdom purposes.\nThe conversation also addresses one of McDole’s primary concerns: humanizing AI. He cautions against treating AI systems as people or allowing their increasingly conversational nature to distort our understanding of what they are.\nMcDole discusses how AI has accelerated research, enabled simulations, and changed his own professional workflow, while also acknowledging the importance of setting boundaries and remaining attentive to real-world responsibilities.\nFinally, the conversation turns to higher education. McDole explains why Cedarville is focusing on becoming AI-resilient rather than AI-resistant, emphasizing process over product and recognizing that education is about far more than earning a diploma. At its heart, Cedarville’s mission remains rooted in discipleship, biblical truth, and forming students in ways technology cannot replicate.\nAbout Cedarville University\nCedarville University, an evangelical Christian institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences and professional fields. With 7,542 students, it is among Ohio's largest private universities and is ranked among the nation’s top five evangelical universities in the Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.","reading_time_min":2,"extraction":{"state":"ok","confidence":0.9,"error":null,"explanation":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428,"usable_text_length":2722,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428}}},"quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428,"usable_text_length":2722,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428}},"actions":{"read":"/item/90283","export_markdown":"/api/items/90283/export?format=markdown","export_json":"/api/items/90283/export?format=json","diagnose":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai"}},"digest":{"id":90283,"title":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI - Cedarville University","url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","source":"Cedarville University","topic":"ai","published_at":"2026-09-25T14:08:36+00:00","excerpt":"by User Not Found As a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for…","quality_bucket":"high","quality_reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","reading_time_min":2,"cluster_id":null},"card":{"display_title":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI - Cedarville University","subtitle":"Cedarville University · 2026-09-25","summary":"by User Not Found As a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories…","badges":["quality:high"],"links":{"read":"/item/90283","original":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","diagnose":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai"},"quality_warning":null},"export":{"title":"Cedarville Stories: Rob McDole on Faith, Technology and the Future of AI - Cedarville University","url":"https://www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","summary":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.","source":"Cedarville University","date":"2026-09-25T14:08:36+00:00","content":"by User Not Found\nAs a new academic year begins at Cedarville University, technology and artificial intelligence continue to reshape the way people work, learn and communicate. On this episode of the Cedarville Stories podcast, Rob McDole, a leader in Cedarville’s Center for Teaching and Learning and an experienced voice on artificial intelligence, joins the conversation to explore AI through a biblical and educational lens.\nBefore discussing technology, McDole shares about his journey to Cedarville and the people who shaped his life. He reflects on meeting his wife as a Cedarville student and the influence of his mother and the godly mentors who invested in him when his father was largely absent during his childhood. His love of reading, learning, and technology began early, eventually leading McDole to choose Cedarville over a full-ride music scholarship at another college after discovering Cedarville’s early computer network, CedarNet.\nMcDole explains how his Christian faith shapes his understanding of innovation. Because God is the Creator, technological advancement, including AI, is not outside His sovereignty. Rather than responding to AI with fear, McDole encourages Christians to consider how technology can be used wisely to serve others and advance Kingdom purposes.\nThe conversation also addresses one of McDole’s primary concerns: humanizing AI. He cautions against treating AI systems as people or allowing their increasingly conversational nature to distort our understanding of what they are.\nMcDole discusses how AI has accelerated research, enabled simulations, and changed his own professional workflow, while also acknowledging the importance of setting boundaries and remaining attentive to real-world responsibilities.\nFinally, the conversation turns to higher education. McDole explains why Cedarville is focusing on becoming AI-resilient rather than AI-resistant, emphasizing process over product and recognizing that education is about far more than earning a diploma. At its heart, Cedarville’s mission remains rooted in discipleship, biblical truth, and forming students in ways technology cannot replicate.\nAbout Cedarville University\nCedarville University, an evangelical Christian institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences and professional fields. With 7,542 students, it is among Ohio's largest private universities and is ranked among the nation’s top five evangelical universities in the Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.","confidence":0.9,"diagnostics_url":"/api/diagnose?url=https%3A//www.cedarville.edu/news/2026/cedarville-stories-rob-mcdole-on-faith-technology-and-the-future-of-ai","quality_bucket":"high","failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"quality_reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","quality_profile":{"profile_version":"extraction_quality.v2","bucket":"high","confidence":0.9,"failure_kind":"none","retryable":false,"retry_after_attempts":0,"reason":"High confidence: full text extraction produced 2722 characters.","operator_guidance":{"severity":"ok","recommended_action":"trust_full_text","next_step":"Use the extracted full text as the primary article source.","operator_label":"Ready","can_retry":false,"can_use_summary":false,"diagnostics_required":false},"content_depth":{"contract_version":"content_depth.v1","category":"full_text","label":"Full text","has_full_text":true,"has_summary":true,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428,"usable_text_length":2722,"source_field":"content"},"legacy_collapsed":false,"signals":{"extract_state":"ok","extract_error":null,"extract_retries":0,"content_length":2722,"summary_length":428}},"tags":[],"format_contract_version":"news_item_formats.v1"}}}