Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is talked about all the time and in fact, it’s everywhere now. And churches should also take advantage of the power of this technology. Churches can harness the power of AI in various ways to enhance operations, improve communication with members and guests, and streamline back-office tasks. Here are five ways churches can leverage AI:
- Generate Simple Communications Messages: AI tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini can help you generate content for newsletters, bulletins, announcements, and website copy. Register for a free ChatGPT account, copy in information you already have and then ask it to generate newsletter content. You can then cut and paste that content into Mailchimp, Constant Contact or Faith Teams newsletters.
- Create Sermon Outlines: Yes, ChatGPT can also be asked to create a sermon around a topic. Should you use a complete sermon that is AI generated? Probably not. However, to get key topics and points on paper allows you to then edit, enhance and add your voice to core content saving you valuable time. And you can ask questions back to ChatGPT and get new versions of the generated sermon.
- Generate Pictures for Your Online Posts: Why try and find a picture when you can generate it. Canva offers an AI Art Generator allowing you to type anything and get back usable artwork. Microsoft also offers a free image generator at Microsoft Designer.
- Add an AI Chatbot to Your Website: Of course, you’ll need a website that has plenty of content. These chatbots use the information on your own site to make finding information on that site easier. Examples of chatbots of this sort are Tidio, Botsonic and Chatbase. All three have both free and paid options. Chatbots though can also be configured to act on requests by a person such as “please let the pastors know about my situation” or “can you send me the address of the church?”.
- Do Rapid Research on Topics: Well before a sermon is written, or a Sunday School lesson is created, a pastor or teacher must do a good bit of research. This can be time consuming, even with Google Search at our fingertips. ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot can not only make search easier, they can also provide answers to questions, not just links to topic areas.
Create an account at ChatGPT or use Copilot and Gemini and test the waters. These tools can help you better construct messages and automate simple interactions saving you time to better focus on your members and guests.
