NOTE: This final reflection was written by ChatGPT with prompts from Justin Long who explains his process at the end of the article.

AI tools have revolutionized various sectors by analyzing vast data, generating human-like text and speech, and learning and adapting over time. The rise of AI introduces important questions regarding the future of work, creativity, and relationships. For the church and missions, a critical question emerges: How will AI impact gospel sharing and disciple-making?

Historically, missions have adapted to technological and cultural shifts. The 15th-century printing press allowed Scripture mass production, fueling the Reformation and increasing Bible access in local languages. The 20th- century advent of radio and air travel expanded missionary frontiers, enabling gospel broadcasting and reaching previously unreached groups. The internet further allowed missionaries to communicate remotely, train leaders, and distribute resources on a large scale.

AI represents the next major shift, fundamentally different from prior advancements. Unlike the printing press or the internet, AI doesn't merely transmit information; it learns and generates it. It can translate complex languages instantaneously, draft theological content, and engage in simulated faith conversations. This offers vast potential: AI could accelerate Bible translation, facilitate personalized outreach, and provide strategic insights into mission focus areas. Nonetheless, it raises significant concerns. AI lacks spiritual discernment, operating on patterns and algorithms rather than the Holy Spirit's guidance. Could AI-generated theological content introduce distortions? Might an AI-overreliant approach weaken missions' relational, incarnational heart?

Opportunities for AI in Missions Work

AI transforms industries globally, including missions work. While AI cannot replace relational, Spirit-led missions, it can enhance communication, expand outreach, and support global ministry logistics and strategy.

Language and Communication
Language barriers have long challenged missions work. Bible translation into new languages, discipleship material preparation, and communication with unreached groups require substantial time and resources. AI can significantly accelerate this process.

Wycliffe Bible Translators, for instance, utilizes AI in minority language Scripture translation. Machine- learning algorithms identify linguistic patterns and suggest translations, reducing initial draft time from years to months. Tools like Google Translate and DeepL allow real-time conversations in native tongues, even previously inaccessible dialects.

However, AI translations pose risks. Many minority languages lack sufficient training data, potentially yielding translations reflecting Western linguistic patterns over cultural nuances. For example, AI might translate “shepherds” or “kings” in ways resonating with Western frameworks but failing to connect with non-Western communal structures. Translation accuracy isn't solely linguistic; it's theological. Misunderstanding cultural frameworks behind biblical terms can subtly alter the gospel message. Human oversight remains essential to ensure AI-generated content’s linguistic accuracy and theological sensitivity.

Training, Discipleship, and Strategy

AI's data analysis capability can transform missionary training and support. One major missions work barrier is contextualization—understanding specific cultural, social, and religious frameworks. AI can aid strategy development by analyzing demographic data, social media patterns, and cultural trends to identify spiritual openness and resistance.

AI tools can analyze surveys and social patterns to identify unreached groups accurately. AI-generated data can create contextualized training materials and discipleship plans tailored to local norms. AI-driven platforms can suggest Bible study content and theological resources based on locals' backgrounds and spiritual development.

AI-driven chatbots and virtual mentors can provide consistent, theologically sound guidance where pastors and missionaries are scarce. Chatbots can walk seekers through Christian faith basics, answer Scripture questions, and offer spiritual encouragement. While AI can't replace human mentoring, it can support spiritual growth in resource-limited contexts.

Evangelism and Outreach

AI is driving content creation and engagement in secular industries, tools adaptable for evangelistic outreach. AI can create linguistically accurate and culturally resonant content. Mission agencies can utilize AI for social media campaigns, video content, and evangelistic materials. AI tools like ChatGPT generate full-length articles, sermon outlines, and posts, employable for outreach content that speaks to target cultures’ worldviews and values under theological oversight.

AI also enables effective real-time seeker engagement. Chatbots trained in theological and apologetic content can address seekers' questions online, offering personalized answers and directing them toward local Christian engagement. AI-driven tools can provide initial contact points, fostering relationships leading to in-person ministry and discipleship.

Challenges and Risks of AI in Missions Work

AI presents significant missions work opportunities alongside profound practical and theological challenges. AI processes patterns and data, not spiritual truth. Without careful oversight, AI could introduce theological content distortions, undermine missions’ relational core, and expose missionaries and local believers to persecution and security risks.

Dependence on Technology and Loss of Human Connection

Christian missions hinge on relational, incarnational ministry. Jesus modeled ministry through personal presence—walking with disciples, teaching in homes, eating with marginalized individuals. AI risks weakening missions’ core by encouraging reliance on automated tools.

AI-generated sermons and outreach content may suggest spiritual depth, lacking relational ministry substance. AI might deliver information effectively but miss the emotional and spiritual depth offered by personal testimony and human interaction. AI-generated evangelism, if unaccompanied by genuine connection, risks greater reach but shallower engagement. However, AI could free missionaries from routine tasks, allowing more direct pastoral care and discipleship, potentially deepening personal connection.

AI automating administrative tasks is a double-edged sword. It can free missionaries from time-consuming activities, diverting focus to direct ministry. Conversely, reliance on AI for outreach and teaching might lead to missionary disengagement from personal connection.

Security and Persecution Risks

AI-driven surveillance tools, including facial recognition and online activity tracking, are already in government use for religious activity monitoring. If employed in restricted countries, AI-assisted outreach platforms could expose underground churches and local believers to arrest or harassment.

AI’s risks are tangible, but with thoughtful oversight, its ministry-enhancing capacity can foster deeper missionary engagement with served communities.

Conclusion

AI offers profound opportunities and poses significant challenges for global missions. It can accelerate Bible translation, enhance evangelism effectiveness, and aid missionary training and strategy unprecedentedly. However, AI lacks spiritual discernment; it generates content from patterns, not the Holy Spirit's lead. While AI may help spread the message further, the Holy Spirit’s work—through human relationships and faithful witness—ultimately transforms hearts and lives.

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Prompting Process

The editor of Mission Frontiers asked me to use AI to write an article about the impact of AI on missions, and I embraced the challenge. In passing, I note that while this is a very interesting process with significant implications, my own writing for my Weekly Roundup—the curations, the Essential Trends, and the Weekly Commentary—are all mine, with the exception that I use tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm and Grammarly to clean up the more egregious mistakes. While ChatGPT can clearly write, I’m not ready for it to write for me.

To draft this article, I have copied the entire process—my prompts, ChatGPT’s responses, etc.—into a note in my Apple Notes. The process began at 7:33pm on the night of March 8 and ended at 8:32pm. Aside from drafting this basic description of my process, the whole thing took me an hour.

I posed this to my “Spiritual Direction” GPT. This uses the ChatGPT-4.0 model but has about 8,000 characters worth of instructions on how to respond to theological questions (including my carefully designed “Interwoven Translation” model, which combines English and Greek when presenting Scripture).

I began with a very basic prompt and had GPT-4 give me an outline and prospective word count. Here is the bit some may find interesting: I took this outline and submitted it to ChatGPT-01 (I have a pro subscription). GPT-01 is a far more advanced model, capable of “reasoning”—but you only get so many queries to -01 in a month. So, I do most of my work in GPT-4 but ask -01 to be a critic. I then took its critiques and fed them back into GPT-4, which revised the outline.

I then had GPT-4 generate drafts. I had to do this in stages, because GPT-4 can only do about 1,500 words at a time. For an article that would be close to 2,000 words, I did it in 4 stages. Once it was done, I combined them into one file and again fed it back to -01, got its critiques and gave them back to GPT-4.

By the time all this was done, GPT-4 had pushed the article to nearly 4,000 words! Getting ChatGPT to write is not a problem. Getting it to cut is the challenge. But we went through four passes and got the article down to close to 1,500 words.