Faith and AI

The Risk and Opportunity of AI for Faith

Jaisen Mathai

August 12, 2026 · 5 min read

This post was not written with or by AI.

Generative AI is simultaneously the most powerful and most dangerous technology to our faith.

Scripture has always taken the shape of the medium which carried it. In the Old Testament, Israel carried God’s word across generations through oral tradition.

We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous works that he has done. -

As time went on, oral traditions evolved to writing, copying, and preserving. God instructed Isaiah to do exactly that and these manuscripts remain in existence today.

Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever. -

Scripture then crossed language boundaries. It started becoming translated; from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to over a thousand languages today.

He said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He begged Philip to come up and sit with him. -

Then the printing press made scripture reproducible at scale. The internet made it accessible. The mobile phone put it in everyone’s pocket. Now AI makes it conversational.

Where it goes wrong

AI isn’t held accountable by the truth. Whatever it tells you, it says it with confidence. Even when it performs verifiable tasks incorrectly. Like misquoting scripture; which the YouVersion CEO claims it can do 15-60% of the time. We trust the response without understanding how it was formed. It’s simply too large of a responsibility to hand companies like Google, OpenAI or Anthropic.

And the risk isn’t new or hypothetical; there’s research backing it up. John Dyer surveyed Bible app users for his book, People of the Screen, and found that 30% of screen readers came away confused, compared to 16% of print readers, and fewer of them felt spiritually nourished. That’s Bible apps without AI. Extend that research to a chat interface and you can envision the direction it goes.

Where it goes right

In the same breath, AI can be immensely powerful. It makes scripture accessible across languages and reading levels in ways study Bibles and apps cannot. I’ve personally asked AI questions I would only ask 1 or 2 people I trust - but at 1am when no one was awake. I’ve also asked it some questions I’m not courageous to ask anyone.

I’m exploring this topic with optimism. Can AI deepen faith? Can it direct people away from itself? Can it be made free to use? I’m finding the answers to be yes and that has me excited. As Christ followers, we are called to spread the good news. We need to take the reins before the Google’s of the world doing it inadvertently.

For those curious - my current exploration is through and app I created named Sojourn. I think it’s doing a good job of getting people out of chat and into scripture. If you’re exploring, I’d love to chat.

Philip and the Ethiopian

Acts 8:26–31

26But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.” 27He arose and went. Behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship. 28He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.” 30Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31He said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.

World English Bible · public domain