AI Involvement in Ministry: From Proofreading to AI-Generated Content

Not All AI Involvement in Ministry Is the Same

In my previous post, I suggested that the most important question is not, “Did AI write this?” Rather, the better question is, “Whose wisdom, experience, and discernment does this material represent?” That question gets to the heart of responsibility, trust, and ministry integrity.

However, many discussions about AI assume there are only two possibilities: either a human wrote something, or AI wrote it. In practice, AI involvement in ministry is far more complicated.

For example, a missionary may use AI to proofread a prayer letter. Meanwhile, another worker may ask AI to organise meeting notes. Someone else may use it to summarise several reports. Still another person may spend hours discussing a biblical passage with AI, testing ideas and refining conclusions. Finally, a user might ask AI to produce an entire article from a short prompt.

Although all of these situations involve AI, they are clearly not identical.

Discussions about AI often generate more heat than light. When people say, “I used AI,” they may be describing entirely different activities. Some are talking about editing. Others mean research assistance. Still others are referring to brainstorming, collaboration, or content generation.

Because of this confusion, I recently developed a framework called Levels of AI Involvement in Ministry. The framework distinguishes AI use according to two questions: What is the primary source of the content, and what role did AI play in producing the final result?

The Six Levels of AI Involvement

1. Mechanical Assistance
2. Assisted Expression
3. Synthesis and Knowledge Retrieval
4. Facilitated Collaboration
5. AI-Generated Content
6. AI-Autonomous Creation

These levels are not simply a measure of how many words AI writes. They describe the changing relationship among the human author, the source material, and the AI tool.

AI as a Tool

At one end of the spectrum, AI functions primarily as a tool. In these situations, the content originates with the missionary, ministry leader, or teacher. AI simply helps present that content more effectively. For instance, it may correct grammar, improve formatting, create a transcript, or reorganise a document.

Many of us have been using technology in this way for years. Spell-checking software, grammar suggestions, and automatic transcription tools all perform similar functions.

Therefore, most people would not consider these tools to be authors. Instead, they support the author’s work.

AI as a Writing Assistant

In other situations, the ideas remain entirely human, but AI assists with communication.

For example, you may have several pages of notes from a conference or training you attended. The insights are yours. However, the notes are somewhat disjointed, and the conclusions and possible action steps are scattered throughout the notes. AI can help turn those notes into a clear and concise summary you can share with your team.

Likewise, you may have already prepared a Bible study but want help adapting it for another age group, translating it into another language, or creating better discussion questions.

Here is what I often do when preparing a Bible study for our small group. After choosing the passage, I share my Bible-study notes with the AI agent and provide a previous handout as an example. I identify the themes I want to explore and describe the kind of questions I need: an introductory hook, questions exploring the meaning of the text, a question about how the passage points to Jesus, and several application questions. I then ask AI to develop and format the questions using my notes and instructions.

In these cases, AI involvement in ministry is less about generating ideas and more about expressing existing ideas clearly and more quickly.

As a result, cross-cultural missionaries may find this type of assistance particularly valuable. After all, many of us regularly communicate in languages that are not our mother tongue. Anything that helps us communicate accurately and sensitively can strengthen ministry effectiveness.

AI as a Research and Organisational Assistant

A third type of AI involvement in ministry occurs when AI helps us work with large amounts of information.

As mission workers, we frequently deal with reports, meeting notes, surveys, planning documents, newsletters, and organisational resources. As these collections grow, finding the information we are looking for becomes increasingly difficult.

Consequently, AI can serve as a research assistant that gathers, organises, and summarises information from multiple sources.

For instance, suppose you need to prepare an annual ministry report for one of your sending churches. You could provide access to your calendar, newsletters, prayer updates, and reports you wrote for your leadership, and ask AI to put together a one-page summary from these various sources. Rather than you spending hours reviewing what you did in the past year, and then writing up a report, AI can quickly identify recurring themes, group similar ideas, and produce a concise summary.

Of course, organisational or personal information should only be used with an AI service that your organisation has approved for that type of data.

Importantly, the underlying information still comes from human sources. Furthermore, the human remains responsible for determining what is significant, what is accurate, and what should ultimately be communicated.

AI as a Conversation Partner

Perhaps the most interesting form of AI involvement in ministry occurs when AI becomes a conversation partner.

Rather than requesting a single answer, the user engages in an extended dialogue. Questions lead to further questions. Assumptions are challenged. New possibilities emerge. Over time, thinking develops through interaction.

This is how I often use AI when studying Scripture or exploring ministry issues.

For example, I may begin with an observation or question from a biblical text. AI offers a possible explanation. I then raise objections, identify weaknesses, or suggest alternative interpretations. I may insert short quotes from a commentary I have read on the passage and ask AI to evaluate the strength of the commentator’s argument. The discussion continues until the ideas become clearer and more refined.

In this type of interaction, the value is not that AI provides the answer. Instead, the value comes from the process of exploration. In the end, the final product may look quite different from anything either AI or I initially proposed.

In fact, I often find that this approach stimulates creativity rather than replacing it. By forcing me to evaluate, question, and refine ideas, the conversation helps me think more carefully about the subject.

AI as a Source of New Content

At the other end of the spectrum, AI may contribute substantial content that does not originate with the user.

For example, someone may request a devotional, training module, article, or presentation from a relatively brief prompt. In such cases, AI is doing far more than correcting grammar or organising notes. Instead, it is contributing significant ideas, illustrations, explanations, or applications.

I once asked AI why some Christians prefer sermons that strongly condemn sins in society even when those sins are not significant problems within their own congregation. The response drew on insights from psychology, sociology, religious history, and group dynamics that were largely outside my own area of expertise. I evaluated the explanations, compared them with Scripture and my own experience, and incorporated what I found helpful. Then I asked AI to draft a statement that I could share with other church leaders about what I had learned. In this case, AI was not organizing my existing knowledge or helping me refine an emerging idea. It was generating much of the explanatory content itself. This would fit Level 5: AI-Generated Content.

There is also a sixth level, which I call AI-Autonomous Creation. At this level, the human provides little more than the initial request and conducts only limited review before using or publishing the result. I have not normally used AI this way in ministry, and many ministries may conclude that this level is inappropriate for certain ministry functions.

Levels 5 and 6 are often what people imagine when they hear that someone has used AI.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that this represents only two forms of AI use. Many ministry applications fall much closer to proofreading, editing, research assistance, or collaborative thinking than they do to full content generation.

Recognising that distinction helps us discuss AI more accurately and more fairly.

Why These Distinctions Matter

Once we recognise the various ways AI can be used, the conversation changes.

Instead of asking,

“Is it acceptable to use AI in ministry?”

we can ask,

“How is AI being used in this ministry task?”

That second question is usually much more helpful.

After all, proofreading a prayer letter raises different concerns than drafting a sermon. Organising ministry reports differs from creating theological content. Likewise, using AI to brainstorm ideas is not the same as publishing material with minimal review.

Therefore, wisdom requires discernment rather than simple rules.

The Real Question

Ultimately, discussions about AI should not focus exclusively on technology. Instead, they should focus on responsibility.

Even when AI contributes ideas, summaries, structure, or wording, human beings remain accountable for what they teach, publish, and communicate. AI cannot bear spiritual responsibility. AI cannot exercise pastoral care. Neither can AI replace wisdom, judgement, or dependence upon God. Human beings remain responsible for evaluating accuracy, exercising discernment, and deciding what should be communicated.

Therefore, the most important question is still the one from the previous article:

Whose wisdom, experience, and discernment does this material represent?

As AI becomes more common, that question will become increasingly important. Furthermore, it may prove more useful than trying to determine whether AI was involved at all.

In the end, faithful ministry is not primarily about who typed the words. Rather, it is about who exercised the judgement, accepted the responsibility, and stands behind the message.

AI Involvement in Writing: Level 4 – Facilitated Collaboration. AI was used as a thought partner and drafting assistant. The header image was generated using Microsoft Copilot.