Artificial Intelligence and the Preacher’s Craft

Artificial Intelligence has arrived, and it is here to stay. From text message composition to the professional analysis of sensitive datasets, AI has been widely incorporated into the existing technologies and processes that we have grown accustomed to. Like any other epoch of rapid technological change, the church is now faced with the question of how it may use this newfound technology in a way that bolsters —rather than detracts from —its ministry to a world in need of the gospel. Whatever the right appropriation of AI may be, I would like to draw attention to an inappropriate use that has become a serious issue in many churches: the growing reliance of preachers on AI to generate their sermons.