On this Logos Stay episode, Kirk E. Miller sits down with Mark Barnes (principal product supervisor at Logos) to debate accountable use of AI in Bible examine and ministry. They discover cautions to implementing AI in Bible examine and the way Logos is constructing instruments that use AI nicely—with discernment, safeguards, and theological convictions on the heart.
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Episode visitor: Mark Barnes
Mark Barnes has twenty years of expertise in pastoral ministry, holds an MPhil in biblical theology, and has served as visiting lecturer at Union Faculty of Theology. He’s a former editor of Evangelical Journal and has additionally written for Grace Journal, Evangelicals Now, and Evangelical Instances. He now serves as product supervisor for the Logos and Verbum apps and lives within the UK together with his spouse and two sons.
Episode synopsis
What can we imply by AI?
Earlier than we take into account a accountable use of synthetic intelligence (AI), we should always first outline what is supposed by AI. Mark affords a working definition, particularly because it pertains to instruments like ChatGPT and Logos.
Whereas AI has been round for many years, it solely entered mainstream consciousness not too long ago by means of giant language fashions (LLMs) that generate textual content in response to human prompts.
What theological ideas & scriptural passages ought to we use to consider AI?
How ought to we go about considering theologically about AI? What theological ideas or key biblical passages come to bear?
Whereas the Bible doesn’t tackle AI straight, it nonetheless equips us theologically to navigate new applied sciences. Mark mentions a number of key theological ideas:
- Knowledge: True knowledge comes from God, not from machines. Bible examine is basically a religious self-discipline, not only a course of of knowledge obtain.
- Discernment: Christians should domesticate the power to differentiate good from evil, particularly as expertise affords new types of comfort and temptation.
- Stewardship: Believers are referred to as to steward their time and sources nicely, which can embrace the accountable use of technological instruments.
- Group: AI can by no means substitute the position of the church. Looking for solutions from machines reasonably than from different believers dangers undermining God’s design for communal discipleship.
- Humility: Information can puff us up. With huge info now at our fingertips, we should guard towards delight and the phantasm of self-sufficiency.
Kirk provides one other essential theological lens for evaluating expertise and AI: the framework of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. Know-how, together with AI, could be seen as an outworking of the creation mandate—a device of tradition for human flourishing. However due to the autumn, it will also be misused in ways in which promote delight, self-reliance, and distortion of God’s functions (e.g., the tower of Babel in Gen 11). An outworking of redemption is harnessing these instruments correctly in service of God’s mission.
See our whole sequence of articles offering considerate engagement of AI.
What are a number of the potential dangers in utilizing AI for Bible examine or ministry?
Mark and Kirk warning towards a number of risks of over-relying on AI in religious disciplines.
Learning Scripture is supposed to be laborious work. The objective of Bible examine just isn’t merely to reach at a proper interpretation. The very act of wrestling with Scripture is supposed to have a formative affect on us. When AI short-circuits this, whether or not by producing sermons or circumventing deep reflection, we rob ourselves of the advantages that come thereby.
The very act of wrestling with Scripture is supposed to have a formative affect on us.
Mark notes that if a younger preacher depends too closely on AI, they’ll stifle their progress as a pastor, interpreter, and expositor. Kirk likens this to atrophied muscular tissues: If we fail to make use of our exegetical expertise, they’ll inevitably weaken over time.
Moreover, whereas plagiarism isn’t a brand new problem, AI supplies new methods to do it. It tempts customers to substitute automation for unique work.
In brief, instruments meant to help our work can turn into instruments that substitute it. There’s a hazard of turning into overly reliant on AI, even transgressing moral boundaries.
Can AI interpret the Bible like we will?
AI can assemble information and use language era capabilities to “interpret” and clarify Scripture. But the Bible teaches us that correct engagement of Scripture is a religious job involving the particular illumination and work of the Spirit (e.g., 1 Cor 2:12–14; Eph 1:17–18; Heb 4:12; 1 John 2:27). So what elements of Bible examine would it not be unattainable for AI to exchange?
As Mark explains, giant language fashions don’t truly perceive texts. They merely predict the subsequent most definitely phrase based mostly on statistical patterns. AI could imitate human language convincingly. However AI doesn’t have a soul, doesn’t pray, and doesn’t commune with God. It can’t expertise, and subsequently can’t draw upon, the illumination of the Spirit in its engagement of Scripture. AI additionally doesn’t know the individuals in your congregation or the state of your personal coronary heart.
All these dimensions of Bible examine and preaching should stay totally human and Spirit-empowered.
How is Logos designing its AI instruments to keep away from encroaching on contemplative Bible examine?
So how is Logos incorporating AI in a theologically and ethically accountable method? Mark outlines just a few guiding ideas:
Most of Logos’s AI-powered instruments, like Good Search and Good Bible Search, are targeted on retrieval reasonably than era. As an alternative of making new content material, they assist customers discover related passages or books from their library.
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Summaries and synopses are additionally powered by AI, however they level again to supply supplies (full with citations) so customers can test the unique context. This differs from open-ended fashions like ChatGPT, which frequently provide unverifiable responses.
On condition that precisely finding out God’s Phrase is of such significance to Christians, how is Logos designing its instruments to offer dependable outcomes?
Mark observes that AI fashions can “hallucinate” and produce plausible-sounding however incorrect or fictional info, particularly when requested extremely particular questions. This danger will increase when AI is used for duties like language evaluation or theological claims.
Logos goals to mitigate this danger by rigorously limiting the place and the way AI is used within the app. Fairly than coaching their very own LLMs, Logos makes use of third-party fashions however feeds them rigorously curated information from Logos libraries. For instance, when producing a synopsis, Logos sends the AI solely the highest search outcomes from a consumer’s personal library. This strategy drastically reduces the probability of hallucination and ensures a better stage of trustworthiness.
Customers can even restrict the scope of their searches (e.g., solely looking inside Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics), giving them much more management and specificity.
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How is Logos approaching its design selections to make sure that its AI instruments respect the sacred nature of preaching?
One would possibly specific concern that introducing AI into the sermon course of undermines its innately pastoral nature. So what particular moral pointers does Logos use to make sure instruments like Sermon Assistant are used as inventive aids, reasonably than replacements for the pastor’s prayerful work?
Mark makes clear: Logos is not going to construct a function that writes sermons. That’s a theological determination, not only a technical one. (Logos has the aptitude to construct such a device, but it surely’s intentionally selecting not to take action.) Sermon writing and preaching is a pastoral duty that can’t, and shouldn’t, be outsourced.
Sermon writing and preaching is a pastoral duty that can’t, and shouldn’t, be outsourced.
So even in terms of sermon outlines or illustrations, Logos intentionally restricts how highly effective or polished these outputs are. The goal is to spark concepts, not substitute pastoral preparation. Sermon Assistant instruments are designed to be “not fairly ok to make use of straight,” in order that they encourage creativity reasonably than copy-and-pasting.
Strive Sermon Builder with its new AI-empowered Sermon Assistant instruments.
What methods can AI support our Bible examine (with out changing our position in it)?
Whereas the hazards are actual, so are the alternatives. When used correctly, AI can improve and deepen our engagement with God’s Phrase.
One of many best benefits of Logos, and now AI in Logos, just isn’t a lot that it saves time, however that it permits customers to go deeper throughout the identical period of time. Duties that used to take hours—flipping by means of indexes or skimming dense sources—can now be accomplished in moments, releasing customers to speculate extra power in examine, reflection, and prayer.
What guarantees would possibly AI maintain for the work of the Nice Fee & seeing the gospel unfold?
AI-powered instruments may also help democratize in-depth Bible examine analysis, empowering extra individuals to go deeper into Scripture. As an example, Good Search eliminates the necessity for studying and utilizing technical search syntax, decreasing the barrier and making deep library searches accessible to extra customers. Analysis that after required a extra specifically educated ability can now be achieved by any critical Bible reader.
Moreover, Logos’s AI can translate works, making extra sources accessible to individuals regardless of language obstacles. That is particularly useful for college students all through the world which have an absence of theological sources in their very own language. Even English audio system can now entry theology written in different languages, increasing the worldwide attain of non-anglophone voices. Logos additionally has partnerships with Bible translators who use the AI instruments in Logos to assist them in translation work.
Conclusion
As Kirk summarizes, we will consider the position of AI in Logos as one thing like a built-in analysis librarian. A analysis librarian helps you discover the very best sources. It factors you in the proper route, however doesn’t do the examine in your behalf. Or as Mark places it, AI must be a servant, not a substitute. AI can’t know Scripture, pray, or be conformed to Christ—however it will possibly help those that do.
Instruments like Good Search and Factbook make Logos extra usable than ever earlier than, whereas Logos stays true to its core mission: to assist deep, critical, Spirit-led examine.
Strive Logos at present!
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