Pastors can find creative sermon illustrations or everything Matthew Henry wrote on Romans. Busy housewives can find a list of devotionals they may want to use to start their days.
Troy Miller, president of National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), know that AI chatbots can be very useful Bible study aids.
"I use it as a tool to do research and other things that it can do more efficiently than me grabbing the concordance," he tells AFN. "But I also have to remind myself that I have nearly 40 years of experience in Bible training."
Though he sees AI's "great potential" in helping people with productivity and workflows, he cautions against getting too dependent on the technology or elevating AI bots to a much higher level than they actually are.
"When we start to look at AI as being our teacher that disciples us, I think we have to step back," he says.
Miller points out that chatbots are notorious for being flat-out wrong. And even though they may be getting better, Miller recognizes that chatbots are built to engage users continuously, meaning their underlying codes and programmed algorithms reflect human biases. They are all trained to affirm users' self-image, butter them up and make them feel good about themselves.
Users, in turn, put too much confidence in them.
"We sort of put them on this super cognitive intelligence level, like all of a sudden we're talking with the brightest theological theologian in the world," he warns.
NRB views AI chatbots as powerful communication tools that carry significant moral risks, requiring careful oversight, strict data boundaries, and discernment.
A good rule of thumb, Miller says, is to make sure chatbots remain merely helpers — tools instead of teachers.
