3 ethical ways your parish can use AI right now

A humanoid robot walks over a broken, post-apocalyptic landscape scanning for signs of human life as it carries out a mission to terminate it.

Four individuals in dark trench coats and sunglasses carry out clandestine missions in a computer simulated world, a matrix, seeking to awaken humans that are being held captive by machine overloads and used as an energy source.

Despite the intentions of a brilliant scientist, a robotic protector determines that humanity is too evil to survive and must be eliminated. The only hope to defeat this impossibly smart machine warlord is to create a robotic being of equally powerful magnitude.

When I think of artificial intelligence, these are the scenarios that pop into my mind. Of course, all are taken from popular movies created well before the current AI revolution.

But have we gotten post-apocalyptic landscapes and robots with a heavy appetite for the destruction and enslavement of humanity?

No. Instead, we’ve gotten an epidemic of plagiarized ideas and endless hours of meme generation. Perhaps AI was more evil than we thought.

Anytime I bring up the topic of artificial intelligence I’m met with a variety of reactions, often negative. Many people—especially those in the church—are skeptical of the use cases of AI and the potential it has to further dehumanize our interactions and the implications of a continual stream of AI-generated knowledge. In January 2025, the late Pope Francis published a document outlining the ethical implications of AI, calling for this new technology to complement human intelligence rather than replacing it and warning of the sociological, educational, and privacy implications of artificial intelligence platforms.

There is a tension we must lean into, because AI is not going away. Many years ago, when discussing social media, a good friend and mentor said to me, “It’s a brick—you can use it to build a house or you can throw it through a window.” In other words, it’s morally neutral. What we do with it matters.

Artificial intelligence, while the stuff of science fiction movies in the late 80s and 90s, is a profoundly powerful “brick” that is going to radically impact our lives. As Church leaders, we have an ethical responsibility to use this new technology well and demonstrate to others the way that AI can complement, enhance, and even elevate our work and ministry while avoiding the significant and serious pitfalls that exist.

There are several church leaders I’ve encountered already leaning in. Edmund Mitchell, founder of Zealous ministries, frequently highlights positive uses of artificial intelligence and how it can enhance the work of ministry leaders on his TikTok and Instagram. Rafael TestAI is an AI consultant for non-profits, helping organizations understand the moral and spiritual lens through which we can view AI agents and the implications of this technology. Beyond that, there are numerous pastors, church workers, and ministry leaders leveraging AI to benefit their ministry.

They recognize something that is underneath the discourse and the science fiction: Ministry has often been limited by people, time, resources, and even expertise. There are numerous administrative tasks that take time away from people. It can be hard to be creative. We feel like we need to do 100 things but we’re only one person. Suddenly, AI presents us with an opportunity to level the playing field with a few simple tools.

There are three ways I’ve seen and experienced ministry leaders utilizing this new technology, and each one is incredibly simple to begin using in any context and provides immediate return on investment:

1. The digital administrative assistant

Perhaps the most common application, but a powerful one. AI can become a powerful administrative assistant, helping to organize tasks, keep a schedule, and even ghostwrite emails. This can feel a bit uncomfortable at first, e.g. “It’s wrong to have AI write an email reply!” But consider how many people, for decades, have had an administrative assistant craft replies or ghostwrite an email (or letter). I would never recommend sending an AI-generated email without reviewing it and modifying it, but this is a great way to start off a reply. I also know one executive leader that has AI review emails he writes to check for tone and clarity. He has probably saved so much time going back and forth because an email was unclear or misrepresented his point. Email isn’t the only application here—organizing lists, compiling information, even presenting sources for research are all great uses of an AI administrative assistant.

2. AI meeting notes

There are a couple of teams (including mine) that utilize an AI notetaker for meetings. This is a game changer and goes far beyond a transcript of the meeting. After the call, the AI will generate a to-do lists of follow up items based on the information it heard and then will email it to participants. How many times has someone said, “Hey, someone should do this task?” Everyone agrees, but nobody records it. An AI notetaker not only captures those tasks, but also can answer questions for participants about the meeting and even during the meeting. Some platforms have this baked in, but there are numerous programs available as add-ons. One important note: AI is recording these meetings, so always be sure to let your participants know about the technology you are using ahead of time to ensure they are comfortable and understand the purpose.

3. Creative sparring partner (not a creative replacement)

One of the best ways I’ve heard of leaders using AI, specifically ChatGPT, is as an intellectual “sparring partner” or creative brainstorming assistant. They’ve trained the AI model to give them critical feedback on their ideas and to help them develop those ideas. This has incredible applications. One pastor puts his sermon into the ChatGPT and then asks the model to evaluate it from the perspective of a type of person (let’s say a “seeker”). He gives some parameters: Is anything unclear? Does something resonate well? What am I missing? He then gets notes and feedback that he can incorporate. Another leader runs ministry initiatives or ideas by the AI to get feedback on how to further develop them. I know one advancement director who gets feedback on grant proposals with areas for improvement. Keep in mind that these people are not using ChatGPT to write the homily, come up with the initiative, or write the grant proposal. Instead, they’ve trained the model to give critical feedback so they can improve. That’s a powerful way to use AI to elevate your ideas and put forward the best possible product.

Ultimately, artificial intelligence poses an interesting tension for leaders. On the one hand, there is great temptation to use it to replace human thought, ingenuity, and even interaction. We can waste it on memes and plagiarism. On the other hand, it can be a powerful tool that maximizes our time specifically so we can focus on more human interaction. The best leaders right now are using it in this way and, if we can follow their lead and example in the positive use cases above (only three of what are many), not only can we maximize our energy and effort as a Church, but we can lead the way in the moral use of this technology as well.

DISCLAIMER: this content has been generated, at least in part, by artificial intelligence.