James Cuthbert from Biblica

Don from the International Misson Board

Dan from Prediction Guard

Scott Meyer from Chipp.ai

See how easy it is to create AI Agents

We’re going to build an AI Agent.

Why would we use Chipp.AI?

• because it’s better for team development
• it allows us to build CONTROLLED or GOVERNED ChatBots

A sales pitch for Chipp Academy and their 4:30 session.

Chipp Academy

• RIPE framework

From a collaboration standpoint

• you can create much faster than usual

Venture AI: AI-Powered Spiritual Formation for GenZ and Beyond

People are coming to faith online, but one-to-one discipleship isn’t possible.

Venture AI is trying to fill the gap in discipleship and mentorship. Making a powerful and scalable digital discipleship experience.

GenZ in a digital-first world

• Digital Natives
• Lonely
• “I’m unique” with the expectation of personalization
• Authenticity
• Peers > Experts
• Zealous (about whatever it is they’re excited about)

Two types of “new” Christians

1. BRAND new
2. RE-new (used to be Christians or in the church, but left for some reason - like deconstruction or church hurt)

Key Tech Shifts

• big data: can we understand people distinctly and uniquely
• LLMs: allows hyper-personalization to every user
• new GenAI app stack: enables custom, kingdom-minded, redemptive AI
• AI Agents: helps create “teams” for everyone

How does Venture AI serve GenZ well in a digital-first environment?

Venture AI is “Your coach for the Christian journey.”

• don’t automate or outsource, but support and guide
• the person drives their own journey with the support of the AI

micro-discipleship

• personalized (addresses uniqueness)
• bite-sized (meet them where they are and support each step)
• transformative (not just content consumption)
  • see the image of their transformation model

way of Jesus framework

• see image for the 5 components
• How is the new Christian progressing in each category?

Are we offering things and answering questions that people aren’t asking?

Venture AI is looking for:

• partners to pilot the tool
• talent (engineers, designers, developers, etc.)
• funding

Ben is the founder of servant.io

Ben was a marketing professional who has moved into thinking about and developing discipleship tech.

The presentation was pretty marketing focused.

Discipleship is hard.

• reach people
• get them into the funnel
• keep at arms distance while you work through the funnel
• reengage to get people to buy

What is the difference between discipleship and teaching?

• We are currently operating in a box driven by market forces (maximizing profitability).
• We optimize around a high-reach, low-touch systems
• Teaching and Preaching operate in this model
• Discipleship does not operate in this model
  • Discipleship operates in high-presence, low-reach system

The marketing solution to this is AI.

• removes the technical constraint (now I can quickly create specialized content for each individual)
• removes the cost constraint (I no longer need a huge team to do this.)
• reduces adoption resistance (people are becoming more comfortable with these approaches)

Discipleship is very conversational, not like a funnel.

• Think conversationally, not structured (How does this impact recruitment?)
• Multimodal Engagement (website, AI chat, human conversation)
• Transform the organization to have rich, adaptive experiences while not losing the connection
  • more capacity with the same resources and technology

Technology has a “Shadow Side”

• Tech will do what you tell it to do.
• So take the time and thoughtfulness to tell it what to do.

Kingdom-Centered Design Principles

1. Enhanced human connection (human in the loop)
2. Co-laboring Together
3. Augment Don’t Automate the Human Condition (are we replacing the human or are we helping them flourish)
4. Faith is a Market Only You Can Serve
5. Governance Yes, Silos No
6. Focus on Felt Needs

Steps for Moving Foward (see image)

Next is David Kinnaman of Barna Group on How AI is Shaping the Future of Faith

Part 1: Five Trends from the Research

1. People are thinking about the value of humans and AI:
   • People Fear Being Replaced
   • Younger Generations Believe God Can Work in AI
   • Christians Prefer a Human Touch for Most Church Functions)
2. [Missed Trend 2]
3. People are turning to technology for answers:
4. People are spiritually open and curious
5. People are turning to Jesus
   • The work we’re doing matters. Keep going!!
   • This is especially true with young men.

It’s an amazing time to be alive and see God work.

Part 2: Opportunities to Shape the Future

• We are “competing” in an era of hyper-personalization.
• People need a life-giving, formational community - which they can best find in the Church.
• The Church should be the place where their unique “masterpiece” is discovered and developed.
  • Are we serving all types of people in the Church? (the geeks?)
  • Spiritual mentoring may be a good method to reach geeks.

The next keynote is by Liz Grennan of McKinsey (soon in a new role) discussing law and responsible AI.

She’s a lawyer and will likely present a unique perspective on AI.

“As Christians, we have a responsibility… to use AI to help people… flourish.”

How do we develop trust in AI and develop responsible AI?

• trust is gained in drops and lost in buckets

1. Trust in AI

• technical trust: reliable, secure, accurate, … Can we break it?
• ethical trust: justice, morals, values, … Should we do it? (key for Christians)
• relational trust: we are relational beings

2. Lessons from Practice

• dynamic pricing, when we figure out it’s happening, erodes trust
• Apple card giving men a higher credit limit than women
• healthcare being dependent on AI algorithms - black people “need” less healthcare because they typically receive less healthcare
• Christians didn’t show up in social media development. We missed it. We must show up in AI.

3. How do we build it practically?

• Dr. John Lennox: AI is not a mind, but it reflects our mind.
• We must show up!
• We need to instill Christian values into AI. (biblical truth and redemptive focus)
• We need to build systems that reflect God’s kingdom people.