In the Savior’s gospel, we often gain insights from people of various careers and occupations; from pilots and heart surgeons to gardeners and shepherds, many professions point us heavenward!

However, when you envision a computer scientist, making those associations might prove a bit more challenging. The mere thought of computers could conjure frightening images of binary and code. You might even think of that awkward date you went on 3 years ago that still haunts your memory! Regardless, a computer scientist certainly seems like an unlikely person to ask about any sort of life advice.

Yet, from my studies at BYU-I, I’ve learned that there are many gospel lessons we can learn from the perspective of a computer scientist. These principles are applicable even if you wish you never had to stare at a computer screen again! ¹

1. Algorithms

An algorithm is a step-by-step process that computers follow to solve problems. For example, there are algorithms for sorting numbers quickly or displaying the information you’re looking for on the internet. Algorithms usually take an input and produce an output.

Likewise, there are gospel algorithms we can follow that can help us solve our life’s problems. These steps we follow can bring order to and simplify our lives. Obedience to these divine laws always brings the promised blessings (D&C 130:20-21).

One of my favorite algorithms is found repeatedly throughout the Book of Mormon: “Inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land” (Alma 36:1). ²

It is important to realize that we, as mortals, do not and cannot change divine law. We do not set the conditions of these algorithms, or turn God’s laws into a “cosmic vending machine” where we input our desired actions and expect certain blessings to come rolling out (“Our Relationship with God”, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, April 2022).

Instead, we learn gospel algorithms from the scriptures, the prophets, and other divine sources.

The Savior’s gospel is an algorithm optimized for joy! The Lord will magnify our input to produce a miraculous output.

2. Tradeoffs

In real-world applications, computer scientists often must choose between trade-offs — if you optimize for recall, you’ll pay for it in precision. If you go for speed, you may lose out on accuracy.

We face many more of these tradeoffs in our daily lives, such as

• Doing something quickly vs. doing it well
• Exploring new ideas vs. exploiting proven ones
• And spending time at work vs. time with family

All the time in computer science we have to decide between tradeoffs like these.

But unlike computer science, the Savior’s doctrine has no tradeoffs!

There is no tradeoff between optimizing your earthly life and your eternal life. They are the same!

There is no tradeoff between loving God and loving others. They are the same!

There is no tradeoff between happiness now and happiness in eternity. They are the same!

The only optimization that we have to do is to serve God 100% of the time.

As President Nelson taught last general conference, “the very things that will make your mortal life the best it can be are exactly the same things that will make your life throughout all eternity the best it can be!” (“Think Celestial”, October 2023).

3. Machine Learning

Recently, it seems like the world has exploded with AI, with ChatGPT and other large language models leading the way. Machine learning is behind many of these tools, and as the name implies, it involves helping computers learn in a way similar to how humans do.

Often when dealing with a machine learning problem, the goal is to help the computer identify patterns, correlations, and trends in the data that we may not be able to notice on our own. With machine learning, we can train computers to recognize a dog from a cat, unlock our phones with only our faces, and estimate how tall someone is from their shoe size.

And yet, machine learning still has limitations. I’ve spent hours testing and tweaking models to help them perform a little better — and yet, they still often predict the wrong thing!

All of this has helped me to realize how amazing God’s love and knowledge of us is.

God knows us perfectly.

With 100% accuracy, he can classify each and every one of His children. And it doesn’t stop there — he doesn’t just know about us, but he knows us. He knows our hopes, our dreams, and our fears. He knows us deeply and intimately, as only a Father would, and as a computer can never hope to do.

He doesn’t need to consult a large language model to remind Him who I am. He doesn’t need dozens of features and thousands of rows of data to predict my potential. He knows me by name. He knows you too. You are His.

Knowing how you are known, “can you imagine how a perfect, glorified, loving Heavenly Father feels about you?” (“God Knows and Loves You”, Alan T. Phillips, October 2023).

Conclusion

You may not choose to work with computers every day — I never thought that I would! — but I pray that we might all choose to implement divine algorithms into our own life programs.

I also hope that you can recognize how all things testify of Christ — including your own chosen career path (see Alma 30:44, Moses 6:63).

Let us “think celestial” and optimize our lives for happiness now and in eternity.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)