“We can’t just be those saying, ‘What you’re producing is not good.’ We need to produce some things that actually evidence a better way,” said Dr. Ed Stetzer, dean of the Talbot School of Theology and editor-in-chief of Outreach Magazine, in an interview with ChurchLeaders on Thursday, Oct. 9. Stetzer was among the speakers at Gloo’s third AI Hackathon, which took place Oct. 8-10 in Boulder, Colorado.
A repeated theme from experts (including Stetzer) who spoke to ChurchLeaders at the 2024 AI Hackathon was that, at this nascent stage for AI, the church has a unique and urgent opportunity to shape how culture engages with this technology.
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“And I think that a year ago we weren’t close to producing some of those things. Now we are actually seeing some of those things come to fruition,” said Stetzer, who mentioned as an example a new partnership between YouVersion and Gloo that YouVersion CEO Bobby Gruenewald announced during the opening session Wednesday evening.
“I’m encouraged,” Stetzer said, “that it’s not like, you know, the World Wide Web when it took Christians 20 years to figure out it wasn’t of the devil…so we’re moving faster and wiser, I think.”
At the same time, there are dangers Stetzer believes that pastors, and all believers, need to bear in mind. “I think we’d be naive at best, reckless at worst, not to recognize there are going to be significant failures and misfires on technology that will bring significant harm to humans,” he said when addressing hackathon attendees Wednesday evening.
Ed Stetzer on Living in an ‘AI-Shaped World’
Gloo, a technology platform with a mission to “release the collective might of the faith ecosystem,” held its first AI Hackathon in 2023. One hundred ninety people attended that inaugural event. The 2024 AI Hackathon had 235 attendees.
This year, attendance tripled, at close to 700 participants, requiring event coordinators to move the hackathon from the Gloo offices in downtown Boulder to the Limelight Boulder hotel and conference center.
This year’s three-day event “brings together developers, content creators, Bible translators, publishers, church leaders, game designers and more to harness AI for human flourishing and organizational thriving within Christian communities.”
People from 42 states and 27 countries competed on 98 teams for $250,000 in cash prizes. Universities represented include Biola University, Austin Christian University, Colorado Christian University, Boston University, and MIT. Steele Billings, president of Gloo AI, told ChurchLeaders that Gloo anticipates a multi-city hackathon in 2026, potentially including a location overseas.
“We can't just be those saying, ‘What you're producing is not good.’ We need to produce some things that actually evidence a better way,Click to PostRELATED: AI Conference Explores How Christians Can Shape the Future of Tech
