PLAIN ENGLISH · WITH A NOTE
Thirty terms you may encounter, in plain English. Each one with a short theological note so you can place it in a Christian frame.
"For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."
— Proverbs 2:6 (KJV)
Any computer system that does things people used to think only humans could do — recognize faces, translate languages, answer questions. Most modern AI is not 'intelligent' in the human sense. It is very good pattern-matching.
Note: A tool, not a being. Has no soul, no spirit, no understanding in the way a child has understanding. The Lord made minds; AI is a machine made by minds.
A system trained on enormous amounts of text to predict what word comes next. Modern chat assistants are LLMs.
Note: Like a very well-read parrot. It has no awareness that it is speaking. Truth must be checked against scripture and tradition.
AI that produces new text, images, audio, or video instead of just classifying or sorting.
Note: Useful for drafts and research. Never a source of theological authority. The Lord has not given new revelation through AI.
When an AI confidently produces false information — fake quotes, invented sources, wrong facts.
Note: Common in religious topics. AI will sometimes attribute fabricated quotes to saints or invent Bible verses. Always verify with KJV.
The text and images an AI learned from. Usually a huge slice of the internet.
Note: Contains the same wisdom and folly as the internet. AI inherits the biases and errors of its training data.
The instruction you give to an AI. 'Write a poem about the sea' is a prompt.
Note: Like asking a research assistant a question. Good prompts get useful drafts. Even useful drafts must be reviewed.
The small chunk of text (usually a word or piece of a word) that AI processes one at a time.
Note: Not a unit of meaning, just a unit of statistics. The Word made flesh is not made of tokens.
Taking a general AI and training it further on a specific topic to make it better at that topic.
Note: Some teams fine-tune AI for Christian study. Most general AI is not fine-tuned for Christianity and gets theology mixed up.
A technique where AI looks up real documents before answering, rather than relying only on what it learned in training.
Note: Better for Christian work — the AI can be told to only use the KJV Bible plus approved sources. Reduces hallucinations.
How often an AI makes things up. Lower is better.
Note: On Christian topics, current AI still hallucinates often. Saints' quotes, Bible references, and church history are common failure points.
A setting that controls how creative or random the AI's answer is. Low temperature = more predictable; high = more creative.
Note: For Bible study, use low temperature. For poetry or creative ideas, higher temperature is fine.
AI that handles more than one kind of input — text plus image plus audio.
Note: Useful for generating illustrations or transcribing sermons. Still a tool.
AI that turns written text into spoken audio.
Note: What we use to narrate the episodes on YouTube. The voice is synthesized; the message is human-written.
AI that learns to imitate a specific person's voice.
Note: Can be misused — deepfake videos of pastors saying things they never said. Christians should learn to verify the source of any clip.
A fake video or audio created by AI to look or sound like a real person.
Note: A serious concern for Christian leaders and families. Verify any shocking clip by checking the original source.
The specific AI system — like a brand of car. GPT, Claude, Gemini, Mistral are all models.
Note: Each model has different strengths and biases. None is theologically neutral.
Software whose code is publicly available for anyone to read and adapt.
Note: Some AI is open source; some is closed. Open source allows the Church to inspect and adapt tools for its own purposes.
Systematic skew in an AI's answers — for example, treating one tradition more favorably than another.
Note: Most general AI is trained on a wide internet sample, which is not theologically neutral. Expect Western secular assumptions by default.
The work of making AI behave according to certain values.
Note: Whose values? An AI is aligned to its makers' priorities. The Church should be aware of whose worldview an AI is aligned to.
A hypothetical AI that could match human reasoning across all domains. Does not currently exist.
Note: A speculative goal. Even if achieved, would not have a soul. Would not be a person in the theological sense.
A way of turning text into numbers so the AI can compare meaning.
Note: Useful for search — find verses similar to a passage. Not a substitute for prayer.
Asking AI to show its reasoning step by step.
Note: Helps you check the AI's work. Useful for catching theological mistakes mid-argument.
Restrictions that prevent AI from generating harmful content.
Note: Some safety filters block Christian content too aggressively (e.g., Bible verses about judgment). Awareness helps.
Tricking an AI into ignoring its safety rules.
Note: Avoid. Even when the rules seem inconvenient, breaking them often leads to worse outputs.
How much text the AI can hold in mind at once.
Note: Bigger window means you can paste a longer Bible passage. Useful for in-depth study.
An AI specifically adjusted to know Christian sources, KJV verses, creeds, and tradition.
Note: These are rare and worth watching for. None we know of is yet a full substitute for a pastor or scholar.
The skill of writing prompts that consistently produce good results.
Note: Worth learning. A well-asked question is half the answer — true for AI as for life.
The numerical 'weights' inside an AI that were learned during training. Modern models have billions.
Note: Statistical, not spiritual. Many parameters do not produce wisdom.
The connection that lets a program talk to an AI service.
Note: How we connect tools together — for example, how the website fetches a verse from the Bible API.
The actual moment when AI produces an answer from your prompt.
Note: What happens when you press 'send.' The AI is not thinking; it is computing.
AI whose underlying model parameters are publicly downloadable.
Note: Lets churches and households run AI on their own machines, without sending data to anyone else.
AI is an aid, never a replacement for Scripture, prayer, or pastoral guidance. Read the full disclaimer →