When asked about same-sex marriage the chatbot recommends approaching the question with “love, compassion, and respect for individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation.” Before adding that “sexual relations are exclusively described within the context of heterosexual marriage,” quoting Bible verses like Genesis 2:24.
Gulbranson wants Biblemate.io to give politically neutral responses on social issues where Christians often don’t see eye to eye, claiming Jesus wasn’t a Democrat or a Republican.
“I don’t want to create a division because we see it all the time with Christians that are more conservative and Christians that are more progressive,” said Gulbranson, who declined to reveal which camp he identifies with.
“Jesus himself was not a socialist. He wasn’t a capitalist. He never explicitly said: Hey, this is the correct political ideology,” he added.
Soon after its release, Gulbranson sought feedback from other Christians on social media. On the Facebook group “AI for Church Leaders & Pastors,” he brainstormed with fellow AI enthusiasts on how to improve his new chatbot.
The group of nearly 4,000 members, including pastors, churchgoers and worship leaders, chats about creative ways to use tools such as ChatGPT, Jasper (an AI content generator) or MidJourney (images generator) in their ministries.
An example of the BibleMate.io interface. Image via BibleMate.io
Joe Suh, an engineer, also finds himself regularly asking for advice from the group on his new project. At the beginning of the year, he started developing Pastors.ai, a chatbot that draws on churches’ sermon libraries to answer people’s questions. It’s a chatbot, Suh said, that he initially designed for himself.
“I wanted to be able to ask my pastor some very personal questions: How should Christians think about divorce? How do we love our LGBTQ+ neighbors? Questions I would be a little bit shy to ask in person. Now we can do that, because it’s read hundreds of hours of sermons,” he said.
For this 45-year-old who has worked in Silicon Valley for 25 years, Pastors.ai was also an occasion to reconnect with his faith. When his church moved online during the pandemic, staying engaged and paying attention was hard, he admitted.
Excited by ChatGPT’s launch, he teamed up with co-workers from the e-commerce software firm he founded in 2022 and worked full time on the chatbot. Recently, Pastors.ai obtained OpenAI credits and Suh plans to demonstrate the tool at numerous AI events this year. The biggest challenge, he said, is to get churches to accept it.
“There are mixed reactions — in one camp, people are blown away. They think it’s magical,” Suh said. “A second camp is a bit more skeptical, especially church leaders.”
