Artificial Intelligence Use in the Church of Jesus Christ
The surge of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in 2024 has caused some people to be worried about the possibilities while others are thrilled.
Knowing that the proper use of artificial intelligence will help The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accomplish God’s work of salvation and exaltation, the Church has issued guiding principles for using AI.
On March 13, 2024, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder John C. Pingree of the Seventy (and executive director of the Correlation Department) spoke to Church employees worldwide on the topic of artificial intelligence.
“We can create appropriate balances in our perceptions, plans, and implementation of generative AI that are realistic both of opportunity and challenge — put another way, that are neither giddy nor alarmist,” Elder Gong said of these principles.”
Elder Gong and Elder Pingree discussed the following principles:
Contents
Spiritual Connection
- The Church will use artificial intelligence to support and not supplant connection between God and His children.
- The Church will use artificial intelligence in positive, helpful, and uplifting ways that maintain the honesty, integrity, ethics, values, and standards of the Church.
Transparency
- People interacting with the Church will understand when they are interfacing with artificial intelligence.
- The Church will provide attribution for content created with artificial intelligence when the authenticity, accuracy, or authorship of the content could be misunderstood or misleading.
Privacy and Security
- The Church’s use of artificial intelligence will safeguard sacred and personal information.
Accountability
- The Church will use artificial intelligence in a manner consistent with the policies of the Church and all applicable laws.
- The Church will be measured and deliberate in its use of artificial intelligence by regularly testing and reviewing outputs to help ensure accuracy, truthfulness, and compliance.
“The guiding principles are intended to support the responsible use of AI by the Church workforce,” Elder Pingree said. “These principles may also be helpful for members and friends of the Church as they navigate a world changing due to AI.”
In RootsTech 2024, which was held two weeks previous to the worldwide meeting with Elder Gong, FamilySearch President and CEO Steve Rockwood said that FamilySearch sees an “incredible future” for the use of generative artificial intelligence in boosting genealogical work.
Jen Allen, director of RootsTech, said that Generative AI will help the human family tree to expand in new ways.
- “We’re going to see that artificial intelligence come in and help us [answer] the really hard questions or [discover] the records that were destroyed or are really hard to read,” Allen said during the conference. “That computer is getting in there and figuring it out for us. It’s going to start with those brick walls, those areas where it’s been really hard for us to penetrate. We’re going to see that human tree grow because we are able to find more people.”
The Church of Jesus Christ sees several opportunities with AI including in family history work, accelerating and automating processes, and great potential for language translation and interpretation. Generative AI may also offer natural language queries and prompts to help Latter-day Saints find current, accurate information from designated, grounded, and approved Church sources, such as ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“Overall, I am optimistic about our ability to use these AI technologies wisely and effectively, and to protect Church members and friends from deceitfully spread falsehoods or untruth,” Elder Gong said.
Elder Gong said reliance on the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and trusted sources can help inoculate against deepfakes.
The Holy Spirit
“‘Light and truth’ are a scriptural definition of intelligence,” Elder Gong said, speaking of Doctrine and Covenants 93:36. “While generative artificial intelligence may be quick to offer information, it can never replace revelation or generate truth. If something does not feel right or is inconsistent with what you know is true, seek to discern before believing.”
Wisdom
“Wisdom,” the Apostle said, “helps us use knowledge, experience, and judgment to make good decisions. The scriptures remind us: ‘blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom’ (2 Nephi 28:30). Draw from your experiences and apply wisdom to know what is true.”
Trusted Sources
Because so many voices vie for our attention, it is critical we “anchor ourselves with trusted sources of truth,” Elder Gong said. These include “the Holy Ghost, scriptures, words of the prophets, and the Church’s authoritative website, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.”
