14th March 2025

In my last Thought for the Day (5 February) I wrote about reading aloud. After reading that, one of my sons decided to see what AI (Artificial Intelligence) might make of the subject. After giving instructions to something called ‘Chat GPT’ it came up with what appeared to be an acceptable Thought, although not in my style! For example it said:

When we proclaim Scripture together, we unite in faith and purpose, sharing God’s message of love, hope, and redemption. As Baptists we cherish the tradition of reading the Word.

Recently I attended a service (not in Tyndale) where the preacher began by reading from a prepared script, which he then revealed had been written by AI. After a few minutes he abandoned it, saying it didn’t do justice to the text, and proceeded to preach a ‘normal’ sermon.

Apparently some students use AI to write their essays, some of which are accepted by their tutors who fail to spot what they have done. So why shouldn’t preachers use AI to write their sermons for them?

Commenting on the sad case of a young lady who fell in love with a phantom boy who had been generated by AI, a professor of neuroscience (Christopher Summerfield) wrote: “AI chatbots do not have feelings. They are very good at working out which words to put in the right order to make it seem like they do”. We might add that they do not have souls. For me that’s why preachers should stick to seeking their inspiration from God, rather than from AI!

David T Roberts