AI Bible commentaries are “essentially helpful,” giving proper food for thought, encouraging Christians in their faith and walk with Jesus.

While there’s much debate and even controversy in the Christian world regarding the use of artificial intelligence, my curiosity wanted to know how AI would (and could) work with respect to a Bible commentary.

I was pleasantly surprised.

These commentaries, though, should be considered as an experiment and not as a final product.

Since the goal was to see how AI would (and could) write a Bible commentary, I’ve only used minimal edits. They are listed and explained in the introduction to the commentary.

At first, I used a “conversational” tone. While there’s a place for such a tone, I preferred something more formal. As such, I left the optional tone blank.

The main issue was to find the right keywords. Often, AI had to rewrite the essay in order to have “essentially helpful” comments that would give the basics of the verse and passage, either with or without practical applications.

Since I wanted to find out how AI would work with each Bible verse, there are overlaps and repetitions that I could’ve easily removed but chose not to do so. The goal was to let AI “speak” for itself.

Furthermore, since the program didn’t have a “write a Bible commentary” option, I chose “essay paragraphs.” This made it somewhat more of a devotional commentary than a formal one.

At times, the essays were far more in relation to a new age worldview than the Christian faith. By changing the keywords and the process of rewriting, I was able to “manipulate” the program into writing an essay that would be part of “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

Essentially helpful…

I define AI Bible commentaries as “essentially helpful.” It was non-negotiable to me that these commentaries are basically true to the meaning of the verse and passage, apart from the fact that sincere Christians differ when it comes to secondary matters. I had to be able to endorse each essay, at least in broad terms.

While these AI essays are certainly different from how and what I would write, I do believe they are “essentially helpful” to give the basics of the verse, which often includes practical applications.

At times, though, the verbiage is too much for me, especially when AI writes in the first person, stating how the verse deeply resonates with “me.”

Obviously, the reader should realize that such verbiage is AI generated and not my personal statement.

That brings us to the main question.

The first person…

In the AI Bible commentaries, a non-person writes in the first person, as though it was written by someone with thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Isn’t that deceptive?

Is a simple disclaimer that the content is AI generated sufficient to overcome this concern or objection?

I do believe so.

Additionally, I want to stress what I wrote in the first paragraph. I defined in what manner these commentaries are helpful, which is “giving proper food for thought.”

Even though it’s written by a non-person, can the content help us understand and apply God’s word?

The answer is a resounding yes.

What about plagiarism?

Isn’t AI just taking what others have written and repackaging it?

Since I’m not an expert when it comes to artificial intelligence, I have to quote from the makers of the program that I use.

While I certainly know how to use the tool, I don’t know the mechanics of it.

Here’s their answer regarding plagiarism:

A common misconception is that the AI goes out into the internet, lift relevant content from online sources, and rewrites it. This is wrong.

In actual fact, the AI is based on a generative language model. In other words, it predicts the next few words, given a sequence of words, with a certain amount of variability or randomness. The AI does not actually “understand” what it writes.

If you truly comprehend how the AI works, you would also understand that plagiarism, in general, is not an issue.

The chances of your generated article being identical to another is practically zero. Sure, there might be the occasional instance where a phrase or two appears somewhere else (especially if it’s a common phrase), but this happens by chance, rather than by “plagiarism”. It’s highly unlikely that Google would penalize a site just because one or two phrases appear in another site.

Lastly…

While you may or may not embrace artificial intelligence, especially when it comes to Bible commentaries, God can use anything. He isn’t threatened by the increase of knowledge or the latest technology (Daniel 12:4).

He who is able “from these stones to raise up children for Abraham” is certainly able to use artificial intelligence for His purpose (Matt. 3:9).

Nothing, though, should replace personal Bible study and preparation. It’s when we immerse ourselves in God’s word that we find the greatest benefit and growth, even though Bible commentaries can certainly help us.

Here’s your free copy of The AI Commentary on Galatians

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

In Christ Alone,

Mr. Jan Blonk

P.S. I use Wordhero and their “Lifetime Pro” (affiliate links).

P.P.S. For more AI generated content when it comes to Bible verses, passages, and books, you can like and follow my Facebook Page.