WSJ: US pastors turn to AI to help prepare sermons

American pastors are increasingly using artificial intelligence to assist with sermon preparation, with some even developing AI models specifically designed for religious work, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

Darrell Stetler II, founder of a Bible Methodist church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, actively uses AI to prepare sermons more quickly. His colleague has gone even further by creating an AI model trained on sermons, according to the newspaper.

Stetler said he uses AI to save time when writing sermons, as he is a father of seven children and works additional jobs to afford housing for himself and his family.

The pastor also occasionally develops training programmes for other clergy members, a process he said has been significantly aided by artificial intelligence. Stetler is the founder of a group of pastors experimenting with AI applications for churches.

Meanwhile, in California, 37-year-old Reverend Justin Lester developed an AI model called PastorGPT. The system is trained weekly on sermons available online, continuously uploading and processing new data.

PastorGPT also includes a type of early warning system that can notify pastors about the need to deliver a lecture on a particular topic based on the number of related requests received.

At present, more than 30 churches are using PastorGPT for their needs.

By Jeyhun Aghazada