The problems with promoting Ai generated Bible teaching
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Perhaps so. But noting that there may be a worse danger out there is hardly a strong argument for using a potentially flawed tool.
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I would argue that all tools are potentially flawed.
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That's a truism. It's also not very helpful. We all know that some tools are much more dangerous than others. (I say that as someone who has ended up in the ER after making a simple mistake with a table saw.) As I mentioned before, the use of AI in legal research has led to attorneys being censured in court due to hallucinations in their filings. That level of danger goes way beyond "all tools are potentially flawed."
For me, it's not worth the risk. You may view the trade-offs differently.
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Anything powerful has inherent risks if used improperly. The answer isn't getting rid of AI (which isn't going to happen anyway). The answer is proper training on how to use it effectively.
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Actually, much of the Logos tagging was done using AI … less powerful and more directed but AI nonetheless.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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"AI" is a blanket term encompassing a variety of technologies. Many are mature technologies now, and have solid, well-understood use cases. The current rush to deploy the newer generative AI tools is the focus of my concerns. Its use has caused documented real-world problems in a variety of settings. Given the professional embarrassment that research performed using generative AI has caused for professionals in other disciplines, I personally consider it dangerously premature to use it in my own Bible study and teaching.
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Actually, I don't mind folks using AI to their hearts content. I've never met an admittedly unwise Logosian (ok, maybe spending so much). We ARE all wise.
My problem is presenting AI as an 'oh wow', and leaving those thousands of authors in the dust of 'summaries'. Lost nuances. The logical arguments. The AI chooses … but the AI also looses. It's much like telling our pastor, yep, I read the AI summary on your sermon. Great work.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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I share your concerns but tend to be more pessimistic re: the use of natural intelligence. Simply listening to a few of the social/political statements on the California fires provides negative evidence.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Coming from a background like you described, I can totally agree with you! I get more from the AI generated synopsis on a passage than I used to get from the long winded sermons the two persons in charge of “preaching” used to preach! I kid you not! The preaching was mostly this: Read a story from the OT and then fill it with your own stories for about an hour and change. It was terrible 😣
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AI is a starting point, not a destination. I have discovered many resources I owned (and many I didn't) that I never knew existed, that nevertheless proved useful. And I only discovered them because of AI summaries.
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Maybe spending a bit of time in your library might be of use? Open a book, maybe? I'm smiling.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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@MJ. Smith You're not wrong about that. But I'd like to think those of us who serve the church by preaching and teaching would hold ourselves to a higher standard. (I'll admit that this hope may be a bit naive, though.)
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Being of the not-a-denomination background, the elders were/are the criticality, the 'preacher' potentially just visiting. I've never expected elders to have a great informational sermon available. I do expect them to have good judgment and good example. Neither, yet AI-able.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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IMO, no, y'ain't.
Stories are told of how POWs in the Hanoi Hilton were able to reconstruct almost all of the NT from their collective memories. That will never happen in an AI world.
I'm not afraid of the new technology, and see positive uses for it. What I'm afraid of is how badly totally depraved people will abuse it. 👍️
Eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river.
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I don't think the 'View Post' works. I clicked on Doc B's referenced Ryan post and then 'View Post' and it just reloaded this page. No benefit to reporting bugs that become features.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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I don't see any advantage part of searching resources.
Blessings in Christ.
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“1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” - James 3:1
I believe James said it right! Not many know how to "rightly dividing the word of God" - 2 Timothy 2:15. If one does not study and understand the word of God for themselves, they are nothing more than a hinderance to the work of God. We must know God's word, not what some machine or someone else says about it. How will we know if what the machine of the someone else is following God's word or embellishing it?
AI may be a help, but it is definitely not a substitute for one knowing the word of God! IMHO…. 😎
xn = Christan man=man -- Acts 11:26 "....and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch".
Barney Fife is my hero! He only uses an abacus with 14 rows!
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Mark has a point. Smart search allows me to identify relevant resources that I would not have found using precise search. The ability to switch between the two is a great asset to me.
It is worth considering that there are different approaches to library building. I am not suggesting that one approach is better than the other, but after a few purchases of large Logos library bundles one quickly loses sight of one's library. I agree that for small, carefully curated libraries smart search is less necessary. But things look a bit different for a library of 20,000+ books.
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Well, sure. Buy big libraries, and then need/buy tools to dig thru the libraries. The Logos business model. But I think there's greater profitability in being actually familiar with the Biblical authors. And their commentators.
BTW my understanding, is smaller libraries is the primary Logosian's largesse. Not extreme examples.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Having a large library doesn't preclude familiarity with the Biblical authors. And what's the problem with large libraries? Would you want to attend a university or seminary that had a small library?
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I guess I'd start with whether you really need it. Or you've got money to burn.
Are you a university or seminary? Just wondering.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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True that the average user likely has a relatively small library. But it's worth mentioning that smart all search searches the entire Logos catalog, so its ability to identify unknown relevant resources is applicable also in these use cases.
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Everyone needs more books. Especially people who think they have enough books. I've known pastors who literally used a single study Bible and never referenced any other source for their sermon prep.
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I think we're locating the problem.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Everyone needs more books.
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I clicked on 'Quote' from Aaron's post and got a blank comment box. Twice. Well, ok.
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Well sure … it's FL's dream come true. Embedded selling during Bible study. Ka-ching.
I remember formumites were a bit uncomfortable with embedded selling, prior to AI. But now, they're just expanding searches, right?
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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You can search your own library instead.
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