How can ChatGPT help in Bible Translation and Scripture Engagement? #2

Artificial Intelligence is not a replacement for Actual Interaction …in other words we still need to talk to real people!
One of the current challenges of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots is that they use their existing experience to create plausible sounding answers that aren’t always accurate. Real people tend to do the same, they may tell you what they think you want to hear or tell you what they think based on their interpretation of your question and upon their existing knowledge and experience. (I’ll comment further in a moment but the next three paragraphs are generated by ChatGPT)

AI chatbots like ChatGPT have the potential to help us understand people better by analyzing and processing vast amounts of data from their interactions with the bot. By studying their language, tone, and patterns of conversation, ChatGPT can help us identify trends and gain insights into what people are really thinking and feeling.

One area where ChatGPT can be particularly useful is in helping us create products and strategies that will help people engage with the Bible. By analyzing the way people talk about the Bible and the questions they ask, ChatGPT can help us identify areas where people are struggling or have misconceptions. This information can then be used to develop resources and approaches that address those specific issues and help people better understand and connect with the Bible.

Of course, it’s important to remember that AI chatbots are not a replacement for actual interaction with real people. While ChatGPT can provide valuable insights and help us understand people better, it’s still important to talk to real people, listen to their feedback, and engage with them directly. By combining the insights we gain from ChatGPT with actual human interaction, we can create products and strategies that are both effective and meaningful for the people we are trying to reach.

…and back to the human author

Here are a few things I’ve done so far.

• Asked ChatGPT  to correct the automated transcript on some training videos.
• Asked ChatGPT to rewrite an academic paper in more of a magazine style – the original author will use this for production of a final article.
• Asked ChatGPT  to identify Children’s Bibles that have been translated into 20 or more languages, giving me title, publisher, date and number of languages where available.  Asking for 20 at a a time it generated a list of 100. Several of these weren’t correct (or even real) but it gave several leads to ones that are.
• Asked ChatGPT to suggest innovative ways to promote a particular product to a particular audience.
• Asked ChatGPT  how to write a bit of code  for sorting data in a Google sheet. (It also successfully explained how a bit I wrote earlier actually works)
• Asked ChatGPT to help find passages of scripture – a traditional search finds verses with the exact words or phrases you look up, Chat GPT can cope with questions like “what are the Bible verses that talk about being prepared and ready to share our faith”. So far ChatGPT has been very good on things like this and hasn’t made up any Bible verses.
• Asked ChatGPT to identify times characters in the Bible expressed strong emotion but weren’t condemned by God for it.
• Asked ChatGPT to identify passages in the Old Testament referenced or alluded to in the book of Romans.  The ones I checked were correct, but I’d not lean too heavily on the Chatbot’s understanding.

There is a lot that Chatbots and other forms of Artificial Intelligence can already help with, or will be able to help with soon. The EMDC conference will include several seminars on AI. Maybe the presenters will use ChatGPT or more traditional methods to summarise in a few blogs in the months to come.