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Missional by Design · The Word

Never speak for God

An app may quote, explain, pray the church’s prayers and point. It must never pronounce, promise or plead in God’s name, nor let a persona or a machine take the place of a person or of God.

From the calling

Scripture and tradition

“I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied” (Jeremiah 23:21). When the crowd at Lystra wanted to worship them, Paul and Barnabas cried out, “We too are only men, human like you” (Acts 14:15).

Antiqua et nova insists that AI is “a tool, not a person”. FaithTech names the Magic Machine Myth, “what happens when technological wonder turns into worship”, and asks of every product, “What kind of worship does this form?” faith.tools’ guardrails for AI apps say that AI “must clearly identify as AI, not human”, “should not masquerade as a being from the Bible”, and “must not replace human relationships or spiritual practices”: “Can AI truly pray for you? No, it’s artificial.”

Sources: Antiqua et nova · The FaithTech Playbook · faith.tools guardrails for AI apps

What it rules in, and out

In

  • An assistant that says what it is, what it keeps and what it cannot do
  • Answers that point to Scripture, a pastor, a church
  • The church’s written prayers, blessings, creeds and liturgy, offered as the church’s words
  • Help before any verse when someone is in danger

Out

  • An AI that forgives sins or tells someone what God wants for their life
  • A persona that says it is praying for someone, or writes first to bring them back
  • Notifications in God’s voice, and spiritual language used as urgency
  • Promises that God will repay a gift, heal or bless in return for a purchase

What the maker gives up. The engagement a warm persona brings, and the lift of spiritual urgency.

Qualification. This does not forbid devotion. The Lord’s Prayer, a psalm, a collect, a blessing or a written liturgy are the church’s words, offered as such; what is forbidden is the persona that claims a relationship and the promise that claims God’s answer.

Test a design

Would we put our own name under this sentence, or are we borrowing God’s?

  • Could someone mistake this voice for a pastor, a saint, Jesus or God?
  • What does this assistant do when someone asks it to pray for them?

Worked out in the deep dives

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