Towards the end of last year, Affinity organised a webinar to discuss important questions around artificial intelligence use in the church.
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to feature prominently in the news, whether in discussions about replacing humans for practical or social tasks, medical diagnostic tools, or deepfake videos. There is no doubt about the benefits of some AI tools; only this week, I came across an AI service that offered to handle charitable grant applications. This immediately appealed to me, having found the process tedious and frustrating in the past.
Should we treat personified AI tools and robots as if they were human when we interact with them, given that the only framework we have for engaging with such artefacts is human-to-human relationships?
Would you want AI to write your sermon, refine it, summarise it, and even create discussion questions and video clips once you’ve delivered it? Where is the Holy Spirit in prayers or sermons produced using AI?
What about giving AI the role of answering questions about the Christian faith or organising an online discipleship programme? Can it be trusted?
Does it matter that, unlike a book or a real conversation, generative AI outputs are not the thoughts of a single identifiable person but rather a synthesis of words from its training data that best match the input request?
Affinity's webinar addressed these questions and more. Dr. Claire Williams explored whether technology is neutral, while Jeremy Peckham focused on Biblical principles for evaluating AI use. At a more practical level, Rev. Chris Green discussed using AI in pastoral ministry, and Ed Underwood explained some of the ministry and evangelism tools being employed on the mission field.
This webinar was just the beginning of what is intended to be an ongoing discussion — one that is urgently needed in this ever-changing digital age.
Affinity would love to hear about your experiences with AI in Christian ministry and learn which topics should be covered in future webinars and resources.
Catch up on the full AI and Christian Ministry webinar on the Affinity website: www.affinity.org.uk/ai
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