3 Things AI is NOT!
We hear every day a new story about an AI technology breakthrough, a new AI application that will change your life, and news stories of nefarious new ways it is being used by bad people. And myself and my peers in the world of church consulting and coaching are promoting and teaching tools and methods to make “church work” more effective and efficient. But many pastors and church leaders are still confused and concerned about using AI in the ministry even though it has been baked into many of the applications we have been using for several years.
I think one perspective to take in better understanding how artificial intelligence can assist us is by looking at what AI is NOT. Here are three things that in my opinion AI does not do for us in our pursuit to make more disciples of Jesus Christ.
First and foremost, AI is not a magic bullet. There is not an application or a bot that will replace human resources and save you millions in staffing costs. The reality is that AI applications, bots, and agents require a colossal amount of human labor to create, code, and train to become an effective tool for our use. I feel that the best use of AI in our church processes is to utilize it to automate mundane and repetitive tasks that will allow your teams to focus more time and attention on the people they serve and are serving with in their ministries.
Second, AI is not a replacement for personal relationships. There are many AI applications that can respond and communicate directly with people on your digital and social platforms. But AI can not replace the intimacy and compassion humans can share with each other, particularly in times of grief and pain. Effective evangelism and disciple making are dependent on personal relationships between human individuals, and I don’t see that changing
AI bots can be created and deployed to connect with requests or questions on your website or social media posts. The goal with these applications is two-fold. First, giving the person making the request or question an immediate response ensures that they feel they are being seen and heard. Second, the communication bot can provide answers and direction for simple requests for information that are easily accessible or it can connect the inquirer with a staff person for a more complex request or situation.
Finally, the third thing AI is not is a disciple maker. Artificial intelligence can be a very effective and efficient tool to help our disciple making processes. In the strategy I teach, two of the components, connecting and engaging, can be enhanced with the use of AI tools. As I mentioned in the second point above, we can use communication bots to be connectors that respond immediately to people when they seek answers for their life. AI can even help us in the third component of the proactive strategy, guiding, where we train people how to mentor and support disciples on their journey. We can use AI to help research and resource our disciples with relevant next step opportunities for their journey.
I hope you can see a little more clearly how AI apps can be effective tools to support our ministries in the church. We have just scratched the surface in this brief article. If you want to look for opportunities in your work to employ AI to be more effective and efficient, connect with me, Mark Wilson, on LinkedIn or via email at mark@churchcmo.com. I promise that I personally will respond, it just might be from a golf course, LOL. Let me know in the comments your success stories using AI or your questions.
