Minister Meets Machine #3

Join Brandon, Caleb, and Dale for some fun, AI, and info

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hey Brandon. Hey, hey Dale. How are ya? I am blessed. I am blessed.

SPEAKER_04 0:05

He said good morning.

SPEAKER_03 0:06

Good morning, Beck.

SPEAKER_04 0:07

Oh, good morning, afternoon, or evening. That's right. Whatever you may be.

SPEAKER_03 0:10

Good evening, and good night. Good movie. Good movie. So, when I started out in AI, one of the things that that I did was I debated AI to further think and better understand and clarify what are some different arguments regarding something like baptism.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Welcome to Minister Meets Machine, a podcast helping ministers use AI.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Of course you debate it.

SPEAKER_04 1:04

Why wouldn't you debate AI?

SPEAKER_03 1:07

I'll debate you. So what what has been y'all's experience with this? Have you ever sat down and gone, okay, I am convicted in in this in my belief here in something simple. Baptism is for the forgiveness of sins, and therefore you take to some form of AI and go, all right, um debate me. Take the perspective of a Baptist pastor who vehemently disagrees with me. Um and and let's just go back and forth for a little bit. Have you ever done that? Oh, absolutely.

unknown 1:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:43

I like to take it from a standpoint of how do I approach somebody. Yeah, that's that's uh and and I I haven't debated it a whole lot because uh either either my my impression is it's probably never going to relent. It's it's uh it's gonna keep coming at you.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

It keeps coming at you eventually it will acquiesce. Um it'll change its it'll it will change its idea, but it it's designed if it has a um a good statistical reason for pushing an idea, it's gonna use that momentum and it's gonna push pretty hard. It's gonna it's gonna keep coming back. But eventually, if you um persist, it's not it's not programmed to just hold up against really strong pressure.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Um you know, before we get ahead of ourselves, the main goal of this episode is to look at really practical uses.

SPEAKER_04 2:44

Yeah, and and I'm just gonna talk about debate.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

Yeah, we're not just talking about debate, but but I it it is interesting. I think that this was one of the first things I did when I was introduced to ChatGPT in particular. And um I was like, okay, uh, what does the Bible teach? And when it came back with some junk, we went back and forth. And uh I converted ChatGPT. Me, I did. No, I'm not um but eventually getting to that point of asking it, hey, hey, take the perspective of this and let's go back and forth. And and that has been a very practical use for me. Um and and still I can use that in a way that challenges me. What are other ways though getting back to the practical side of this other than debate that that y'all have used? And we talked a little bit about it, but but what are other examples?

SPEAKER_04 3:24

Well, you you talked about sermon illustrations, I think, the other day when we were talking.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah, I uh this past Sunday I was preaching a lesson and it had three key ideas, and I had some ideas about what I wanted to use as sermon illustrations, and uh and just asked chat to to help me create some others that would go along with it, see if it could produce something better than what I was thinking along the same lines as I was thinking, and so uh it it brought up some stories that I might not have been able to recall or have have been aware of. It it can search news programs and find real life illustrations of the thought and idea that you're going through. And I've I've used it a lot for that to help me.

SPEAKER_04 4:11

You can do again, remember we talked about the prompt and everything. So you take, all right, here's three paragraphs I've written that I'm gonna preach on this verse right here. I don't have a clue how to illustrate that. So I'll toss it in there and say, I need illustration on this. But let's take it at the pro level. I'm preaching next Sunday in Startville, Mississippi. Is there an illustration from Startwell history or from the city of Startwell? Something that people here would relate to that that will illustrate this point well. Or I'm speaking to a group of teenagers and I'm teaching I'm teaching them. I I don't want to be cheesy, but how can I say something? How can I how can I illustrate this in a way that will affect those kids I'm talking to? So the illustration is more than just I need an illustration for, which is which is great. It's when you get you start digging down a little deeper, all right? I want an illustration from history of this. I want illustration from the news in the last three years of this thing. You start getting real specific and it finds it for you.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

And and you know, you went into those different levels of you know what's what's appropriate here for youth, what's appropriate here for adults. Um, I've had an example of speaking at a Clarksville Christian School's lower school chapel. I do not ask AI to just make those. I say, hey, I'm speaking to toddlers. And so I I I want it animated. I don't want anime, I want animation that that looks memorial level-ish. Um and it's just something that helps them draw their minds to it. Um image creation has been that's an if you're not if you're using PowerPoint and you're not using AI to help generate images, please try it. That is that is an incredible tool that if I I if you pushed me, I might take AI only for images alone.

SPEAKER_04 6:04

Yeah, that I I imagine I use it more for images than anything.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:08

But what other things? What other things? Well, let's let's quickly I want to go back to illustrations for one second. If you do the history thing or the location thing, or anything with it, double check it.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Oh yes.

SPEAKER_04 6:20

Because it'll it'll get a fact wrong.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Or it'll create a story as though it's historical elements, and it sounds very, very real.

SPEAKER_04 6:29

It's like, oh yeah, of course. Yeah, I remember that. Yes. No, you don't, it happens. So, okay, but let's talk about about about uh about images. Some we talked about that a little bit the last show, but uh it's such a large area. Oh, yes. So it can give you any kind of art that you want. Yep. So I like more cartoonish art. I'm uh maybe I'm kind of weird about that, but I like the the plastic superhero collectible image type styles. I like that style. It's in my mind is tricky. Some people like more gothic to stuff, darker stuff. Some people like uh something that's real artsy. Yeah, real real pretty.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

What what do y'all just depends on context? Um, I mean, and and and it's interesting to say, okay, here's here's my context that I'm preaching in, or this is a class, and here's the audience, um, here's the material. What's the best um type of art that the image is going to create? And it is fun to just sometimes say, create me this picture and just see what it comes back with. Most of the time, I'm I'm quite impressed. But when you do that, for the rest of the thread, it will be that type of setting, of type of art. Style. Yes, style. Wow, my grammar is my dictionary. I need to work on it. Big word there. Style, style.

SPEAKER_04 7:52

Um, when you don't have any, it's good to oh man. Oh man. So so the the deal with that is um I'm glad you you emphasize that because let's say you have 20 slides. Yeah, man, I can't tell you the number of times creating PowerPoints through the years that my slides had nothing at all to do with each other, nothing about them related to the other. But you get that style and you a completely different slide, but it's the same style. It does make the things go a whole lot smoother.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

And and I think I think for the the purposes of a class or a sermon, it you know, maybe feel free to disagree, but I think it is probably good to have the same style throughout all pictures, unless there's a point here that just it would be weird to have it in that style that you've been in. Um, but I do like it for that purpose. But if it's not the style you want at the beginning, make sure you get that quick.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

So and that GPT may be the easiest in producing those images, but I think Canva produces some of the most beautiful imagery and and does keep that style and allow you to build on that style and and work through it, and they have their own AI uh in Canva, and and using that helps um keep everything organized. But it it the quality, the finish, the the colors just seem more vibrant, better uh image creation through Canva.

SPEAKER_04 9:20

So Canva is one we've not talked about Canva a lot. We probably should have a whole show on Canvas because there's so much it can do, but but uh let's talk before we leave this, let's talk a little bit about uh about different tools that we use to create images. Um my experience so far, Clawed thus far has not done as good a job in my opinion. Um especially with slide design, it seems to be much more look much more business like. Um I like I like co-pilot. Uh I've gone away from it, I use chat more, but but the co-pilot I think does a pretty good job overall. Yeah. Gronk.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Yeah. Uh that much experience with Gronk. Um, I mean, in my experience, it's I I've image-wise, it is Chat GBT. Um, and and the reason for that is just it's what I've started out with, and I need to, I'm continuing to try to push myself to explore different um avenues of creating images. Um but but I do like chat that it does seem it seems pretty easy to adjust images. You know, back in the days of the seven fingers, uh you know, you sit there and you'd see two extra fingers over here. Um if you have this the membership version, which is $21.90, um you you can work it for me. Hey, I had to I had to do my taxes eras at least, that's why I know 80% of that was a write-off. Um, but you can click select area at the top right corner, and this is if you have the membership version, you can click the top right corner select and then basically highlight the area that needs improvement and going, this looks awful. Or like, do you see a problem with this? And then it'll go, you're right. There shouldn't be that many fingers. It doesn't, and once again, it's it's gotten better with the fingers. I don't think it's near as bad as it used to be. Um, but you'll still find some things that need improvement, and so I've I've settled with, and I need to not settle with, but just continue to explore. But ChatGPT is my go-to.

SPEAKER_04 11:19

One more thing before Liban images, when you create one you like, figure out a way to save it somewhere. Yes. Uh now the the the AIs are beginning to get where they're doing some saving of images for future reference, but that's still not as easy. Create you a file of some sort, whether it's a word file or pages file or a reminder, wherever, whatever file you use, there's somewhere you can keep that because you want to use it again, maybe that same style.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

What else? I have created some projects in Claude and in ChatGPT so that I don't have to rework the wheel every time I want to go back and look at baptism, or I want to go back and look at original sin or uh some topic biblically. I can I can create a project, name it baptism, and then store conversations into that project. And so they're all there together. Uh, it's easy to find again. I'm working my way through, and um, and I I find that that helps me with some organization of thought uh in there, but I I'll also just take um an idea or a topic and mind map, talk, talk to myself or write down a bunch of different thoughts about it, and then allow AI to help me organize those thoughts. What would where would I where would the audience be benefited if I started at at that point and and moved through that progression? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:52

Okay, let's stay with projects a minute, because projects are a problem for some people. It's hard. You're working on a project, you come back, you do some more work on it. You so you've got to sometimes tell it, be sure and save this in that project. That sometimes is the the other thing, and this is something kind of neat, you you're who introduced this to me, is the um ability to collaborate with others in a project. So we have a shared file in chat that that's part of the Minister Meets Machine podcast. Yeah, and so we can go in there, we can add to it, we can have a conversation, we can work on, we can co-work on. So if you're working on a book together or a gospel meeting together, or an article you're writing, or a group of elders working together, you can put a project in there and you can work on it. That's kind of a cool use of it. Oh, I think it's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

And I wish I could, I wish I could say that it, you know, I've done a bunch of that, but y'all were actually the first two that I sent a collaborated conversation with. Well, I mean, if you were to look through mine, I think I've got maybe two or three chat conversations with others, and um, and it's it's really pretty cool. Um, and it's something that I'm looking forward to continuing continuing to explore, especially. It'd be really cool to sit there and have a hey, let's study this text together. And I'm seeing, you know, we're reading each other's thoughts, and I'm like, Dale, I have no idea why you asked that question. Brandon, you're smart, and you know, you know, all these different things. Can't wait for this conversation. Um, but but that collaboration there is really cool, and I'm excited to see what it'll continue to do. Um, but that organization there of of being able to see it in person, all three of us connected to it, similar to a Google Doc that we're all connected to, but but with AI helping us is really cool.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

Well I want to I want to talk about a specific area that that that when you said projects, it's not in our show notes, but but the ability to create a a to create a project. Uh I'll give you a few illustrations of some things that I've done. I'll try not to take too long to do this, but have you ever thought I wish I could do this, but I don't have the manpower, I don't have the mind power, I don't know how to do it. AI will allow you to do those things. So I w in some of our in some of our surveys, or I want to be able to curate the results from this survey that I've asked all guys that are in their twenties, all guys in their forties, all guys in their sixties, pull them apart in in this and tell me what their percentage of it in the uh guys are in their twenties that they wear a tie or they don't wear a tie. Is it higher than guys in their sixties that wear a tie or don't wear a tie when they preach? That's just an illustration. We could do anything with it, but whatever the survey is. Then I've gone in and I've been able to create things like uh I created a uh a uh a system through which a church can can predict obviously the results are not final, but predict is future growth based upon a list of parameters that that church puts in there. Here's who we are, here's what we're like, and and now it will tell you not only the likelihood of your growth in the future, but also will tell you some things you can do to correct that if there's a problem there. So that's that's an amazing tool.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

The the last one that you said about uh uh church assessment. Like how how is my church doing? What what are some areas of great strength, and what are some areas that are we need to really work on this? Um we we've done that for Stroudsville where I preach at. And um, I would highly recommend that tool. Just uh that that's that's a great tool. Want to recommend that.

SPEAKER_04 16:29

So we did that, I did that with sermon assessment as well, where I I can take a sermon, your sermon, my sermon, I can put it in there, and it'll give you a a one a 2,000, a 5,000, or a 30,000 word review of that sermon, and where you're strong and where you're weak, and it'll grade you in different areas. Like did you introduce it well? Did you did you misuse the text? Did Christ show up in the text? Was it engaging? It'll it'll take everyone and it'll give you a grade on where you were. And some of us need that. Not everybody needs that, but some of us need that. So I love creating tools. Oh, yeah. I've created whole worlds of tools with it. There's I can tell you 10 or 12 projects I've done, but I don't want to spend all time on that.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

That is a practical use. I I can I can evaluate my preaching, I can evaluate our situation as a as a congregation of the Lord's church in in a specific location with those those are real-world uh applications.

SPEAKER_04 17:26

I've got a friend that created one. This is really sharp. I'll tell you about two if you don't mind. One one is this this friend put the zip code of all his members in a small area, like there were five zip codes or members came from. It had that to go into statistical studies that the city and county and state have generated on average income. Then he put in the age of his members, then put in members' names, age of the members, what would be the expected capita of our income based on the area we live in and the the the number of working adults and their ages. What should our contribution be? That was kind of cool, you know. I have another guy that put in five styles of preaching, and he writes his sermon, he writes his sermon, does all his research, does all his text study, then he takes his sermon, and he says he puts in his program he's developed in Claude, and he says, now tell me which of these styles would be the best style to preach this sermon in.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

Yeah. That's amazing. Um, I don't know if I'll are we I may be jumping too far ahead, but uh sermon review. How have have y'all y'all how have y'all used AI to Sunday afternoon, which I probably wouldn't be doing it Sunday afternoon, I'm too exhausted. Sermons in the in the past. Um but Monday, you know, or Tuesday, it's hey, I don't want to want a review of what I could have done better. How have y'all have y'all used AI to go, this is what you did, this is where for next time improving these areas. What have y'all used?

SPEAKER_04 19:08

That's what that tool is one of the tools I mentioned. That's one of the things it does. It it'll it'll give you grades and tell you how you could have done it better. Now, again, remember it's just a tool, it'll get it wrong sometimes. Mine became very Calvinistic for a little while, and I had to fuss at and say, no, this isn't correct, because this is what the Bible says. And you know, but you correct it and it corrects itself. And again, if if you get a 30,000-word review, you can't say everything it says in a sermon, but you might find one or two jewels in there. It's like, all right, that right there was spot on. Um it's right, I need to do better than that, and here's and it tells me how to do better with it. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Talk about transcription services, because that's that's huge.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Go ahead. I don't know. I don't use it. Um I'm not the one on on the transcription. I I'll I'll pull text sometimes, but um, but I'm just using chat uh to do to do any of that kind of heavy lifting of moving. But I I haven't um I haven't used transcription a lot.

SPEAKER_04 20:10

Okay, I I use plawd. Plawed is a little device you'll wear or you carry. They're two different it comes in two different forms. You can download your audio from it if it courts audio. Recording capability is amazing how well it picks everything up, and then it'll transcribe it. And then it will, you can use AI through it, and you can say, all right, pull out from this elders meeting I was in. Well, maybe recording not recordell I was in this pull out the assignments that we're doing this meeting. What am I supposed to do if we roll this meeting? Um what did we not do in this meeting that we should have talked about in this area? So yeah, that's it. Transcription services are absolutely phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 20:55

I want to explore that. That's that's something that I think Dale's got me beat in.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

So yeah. We record sermons, but now I can I'm I'm being motivated to have them transcribed so that I can put them into service, yes. Let let AI correct me and admonish me. Yeah, yeah. Um about that.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

I know we talked about it a lot last episode um of generating series ideas and helpers. Um something I I think simpler, but just a sermon title. Um have y'all used it in that regard? I personally I use it all the time in that regard. I I know this is what I want to accomplish in this sermon. Um, here's an idea for the sermon. Or maybe I just have no clue what I need to call this thing so that it's a hook. And I'll I'll say, Hey, I have no idea, help me out. And it'll come back with you could ask it for fifty ideas. And forty-nine of them are awful. And one helps you then continue, get to that one that you want. Um that's kind of the way I do it. What do you what's y'all's experience?

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Uh I'll let it. I let it throw as much at me as possible and then just sort through it.

SPEAKER_04 22:03

Yeah, rarely ask for one thing. Maybe five, ten, twenty, whatever, and sort through it. Yeah. And and it and and you can tell it, I want it to be very serious in this. I want something that's catchy, or I want something that rhymes, or I want something I want I've got seven points here. I did a I did a area wide youth devo a few weeks ago for uh church in Murray County, and uh there were gonna be like 400 kids there. I had eight points. They're not gonna remember eight points. I alliterated eight points with the letter Z. Eight Zs. I never come with eight Zs on my own.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

Are there eight Z words? Yeah, there are, trust me, at least. The only one I can think of is zebra.

SPEAKER_04 22:47

Zebra was not one of my points.

SPEAKER_03 22:51

Zenith.

SPEAKER_05 22:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

But yeah, that would be that would be an effective use and a practical way of bringing it into your ministry. Um, letting it do. I'm I'm not a Greek scholar. I don't know many preachers today who take a Greek New Testament into the pulpit with them. Um I know some folks that are really conversant with it and use it in a really good fashion. But I'm able to gain a lot from my for my personal study, but also some things that I can bring into discussion with with members from Greek language, from word usage, from all of those things that that I wouldn't have known enough about the Greek to be able to research it the way that an AI can. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:41

I I can't be the only person that struggles with pronunciation of Greek words. Yeah. I'm all flat. So what I will do is I will do what you're talking about. I'll do, you know, the Greek word charos or whatever. I will say, tell me a way that I can remember this word. You know, give me some mnemonic device that that rhymes or that pulls it in, and then it kind of cements that word in my mind. It's really useful thing for me.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

And that would be a great way to use it. Uh, we'll get to some practical applications outside of just preaching uh that we can use in ministry. But that would be a place where I'm I'm reading through a uh uh a funeral announcement. I've got to do the obituary, and it's got 16 different names, and some of those I've never heard before. Yeah. Um you you ask the family and they tell you how it how it's supposed to be. And you you take that to chat and say, okay, I need a way to remember that that's how you know I I understand phonetic um writing, but sometimes if I'm reading through an obituary, I get confused and I I need I need more than that. And chat would would help keep those names straight.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

I recently helped with my first funeral, and uh, yep, there you go. First funeral. So um, but 12. 12. And I graduated high school yesterday, some of our youth group kids will get that. Um, but but I, you know, go to the family, make sure there were several names that I needed to. I was like, oh man, these are these are not not the most one, the ones I say the most often. And so um got them wrote written down in a way that I'm like, I'm good. But I I wish I'd have thought of that, of of putting into some AI of what's a good way to remember this.

SPEAKER_04 25:22

Well, here, let's talk about weddings and funerals. That that's that is something. Uh man. I have a I have a dear friend who he passed away a few years ago, but uh he had one funeral sermon. This guy preached hundreds of funerals at one sermon. And and uh I picked up on it because I was I was uh he was a member of what I preached when I got to know him. He was a retired preacher. And I would go to every funeral, of course, and he was the guy. So he was the guy to do the funerals, he'd know these people wherever. And I started noticing he was John 11 last time and the time before that. He's only got one funeral. He memorized the text and it was awesome, and quoted. So I asked him about it. I don't call his name, but I said, What are you gonna do? And he said, What you need to be aware of is every funeral audience is different. He said, On Sunday you go and preach, you got the same audience there every week. He said, But you have a handful of people that'll come to every funeral, but for the most part, it's a different audience. And the people that count at that funeral, and it wouldn't be ugly, but the family, the the distant kin, the folks aren't Christians, they need a good sermon. And they're not gonna be in any other funeral ever preached, so there's not they're gonna hear they're not gonna hear it ten times. Yeah. Funerals and weddings, it's hard to be original.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Yeah. Especially when you don't know or have a deep connection to the family of the one who has passed away or the person who's passed away. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:59

Well, I mean This guy was a logger. I don't know anything about being a logger. Okay, give me some things I could use that may relate to the family and him being a logger.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

And and AI is great at creating that type of there there isn't a passage that we can go to. Here is how you do a funeral service, here is how you conduct a wedding service. And so, um, and so there is a lot of freedom there that we probably don't take advantage of because we we do want to do the best that we can do, and we we have a thought or we have an idea and we we get cemented into that. But I think it would be better if we could connect to those people even in a deeper way, and and chat can and AI can help us dive deeper into some of those thoughts and and plans. Absolutely, absolutely. What else we need to talk about? Anything before guardrails y'all can think of. Contrasting religious thought. I I find it it it does help me not to straw man. I think Caleb, that's a that's a term that you are talking about.

SPEAKER_03 28:02

When you straw man, you are arguing against them, but you're not accurately representing them. They are a straw man. This is uh this is I don't think it's fair.

SPEAKER_04 28:12

Catholics don't believe the Bible.

SPEAKER_03 28:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 28:14

I mean it it is uh not a true statement, but but we've got yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

It angers me to see it done to others. I mean, I it it it's it's a sign of weakness in arguments, and so using an AI source to say this is this is my goal in this conversation with UAI. I want you to pretend to be a uh Baptist pastor. We're discussing uh once saved, always saved. Um take that position, and for the next 10-15 minutes, let's just go back and forth. And and Brandon, I appreciate one thing you said. It's if you're gonna do this, well, which well, I might be getting ahead of the guardrails. But um, is that a good time to go into it? Okay, so straight into guardrails, as far as this goes, you you need to have a um a that was a good way to put this. Make sure your faith has a bit of a spine before you get into this because you are about to get challenged. Um and it can be in a very, very good way. And honestly, maybe even better than actually sitting down with a person. And I mean that you are gonna because you're you're arguing nearly against however many Baptist pastors um have the notes online, AI's accessing it, and so it is coming at you potentially with everything.

SPEAKER_04 29:27

And it's not gonna pull back. You know, you go to an old preacher, I used to go to Glenn Posey, uh, Brother Posey is a dear friend of mine, and I'd ask him a question, and he'd he'd give me what was false, and then he would say, now here's how you answer that. Here's the truth. AI may not pull back on that, it may keep coming at you, and what you were saying a minute ago, you better know what you believe and be solid in your belief before you start allowing somebody to challenge your belief.

SPEAKER_03 29:56

Do you do y'all think that have in y'all's experience with that, have you noticed that because there isn't a a person behind AI, that sometimes it is it's it's repetitive and it's almost like it is actually not listening. Does that make sense? And granted, people can do that too. Sure. Um, but but what's y'all's experience in that area?

SPEAKER_01 30:16

I think it does um get focused on the goal of the first question in the conversation or in the chat, and then sometimes it it doesn't want to follow the the conversation where you're trying to get it to go. It wants to accomplish that initial task, yeah. And so it it will push push in a direction. And and one of the prompts that I will use in order to help prevent some of that straw manning is I want you to to function like a a Baptist pastor, but but I want you to to function as one who has studied some of the most highly regarded Baptist works. So incorporating the the ones that have the greatest reach and the ones that have the greatest respect in that in that thought process or in that group and and share those because in any group there are some outsiders, some some weird ways of thinking, and and chat will pull from those. And so I don't I don't want to allow it to give me some fringe belief of a Baptist group or of this group and so.

SPEAKER_04 31:25

Or you may want it to. Sometimes you may say, all right, this is I know the person I'm talking to. They're of this specific they're King James only Baptist.

SPEAKER_03 31:32

Right.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

They're out there. Yes. I need to know how to talk to that person.

SPEAKER_03 31:36

That's right. You could make it go, um, you could debate the most scholar scholaristic. Scholarly scholarly. Scholaristic, that's a good word. Scholaristic, hey, my dictionary, it's growing. Um so you could go to the most scholarly level one and debate that, and oh, you're gonna be pulling your hairs out. I mean, you're gonna want to throw your phone, so set the phone down.

SPEAKER_04 31:58

Or or that, you know, you may be in a small town of Hat and Hat's not a town, that's it. That's just a church.

SPEAKER_03 32:04

Yeah, and you can say, I want to debate a friend.

SPEAKER_04 32:07

I want to debate an old country Baptist preacher. Yeah, he's he hadn't been to you know seminary a whole lot. He doesn't know he hadn't he he's not the greatest scholar on earth. He's just a practical guy. How do I talk to this guy?

SPEAKER_03 32:17

And and even the the the farmer who's who's claimed to be a Baptist and goes very rarely but I believe the Bible. Yes. Yeah, let's have a conversation, and it will pretend to it will be that guy for a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 32:30

Okay, so into the wild, let's head out there. Where are we going?

SPEAKER_01 32:34

To Mary Magdalene. Um, I was preaching Easter Sunday and uh talked about the resurrection and and focused on on her as a character, as a person who uh who lived, and we look back and we put our norms into her world. We view her as though she was our neighbor down the street or the woman at the bank or whatever the the case may be, and that's not who she was. She she didn't live in our world with our norms and and the things that we're accustomed to. So, what I did is I asked um AI, who is Mary Magdalene in the world of her contemporaries? Give me a biological biographical sketch of this person in first century perspective. And so it it worked through geo geography and origins, social class and economic status, which is so vital to that culture, um, religious um identity. Was this person uh a scribe, a Pharisee? What was she allowed to do those things? Or how did um her religious identity affect who she was? Uh physical appearance and dress, what would she have looked like? What would she have dressed like? And that helps us create a better mental image. Um what was her life expectancy? Because that does affect a character's motivation at different points in life. Um, legal and political standing, I think, were important to note how oppressed the role of a woman was. Oh, yeah. And then the honor and shame dynamics. We we do not have that type of culture. No, and it permeated everything of the first century. Yeah, and for her, that would have been such a vital part of how she lived. Honor and shame. And she one of the reasons she was so concerned about the physical body of Jesus was that's gonna bring shame if he's been taken, if he's been desecrated, if those and she did not want any shame to come to Jesus, and so it it helps me understand some of those motivations, um, how she related to the power structures that were in place, to the Jewish power structure, to the Roman power structure. Um, what this was one that I would never have really considered. What would have been scandalous or counter-cultural about her as an individual? Yeah, and and oftentimes as we read the biblical narrative, the characters that we find were were scandalous in their culture or were at least.

SPEAKER_04 35:28

But but in her culture, it would have been big time.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

For her to be a prominent figure in proclaiming the risen Jesus, the most important message man has ever heard. It is death, burial, and resurrection. And she's the one who kind of witnesses that and then testifies to it. Um, we we lose a lot of that richness if we don't get back to that first century um idea and and asking chat to help you with that cultural perspective. Yes, you could open up uh a lot of the rows uh publishing information and you'll find some of some of this same stuff, but it's it is easier, it is more readily accessible, more comprehensive, more comprehensive to have an AI gather that information and and push into areas where you might not think to look in written material.

SPEAKER_04 36:25

So one of the questions you always ask is, what have I missed? Yes, that's so important we deal with AI. What have I missed in this? Right? You've told me a lot of stuff, I've asked you a lot of questions. What have I not asked that I should ask?

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Yeah. So how could we further that and go even deeper into a a view of Mary Magdalene of what she did, and and so if especially if you're if you're looking at the resurrection, um, which is why that biographical information is so important, um, and it and then it it helps you understand in that culture her being one of the first ones to appear at the tomb is a sign that this was not man-made. Like this this record, this event, it it isn't fictional. It it is something that actually happened because if you're just making it up, you'd have changed it. And so uh AI can help bring that into the forefront as well.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

And bringing all of that incredible information to, okay, so what does this mean for every single one of these audience members? How what what help having AI help me go? What's something I'm not thinking about my my so what? Okay, so I've learned this, it's encouraging. Okay, so what? When it comes to Monday, what do I now view differently about how I am a Christian? And just like Mary Magdalene is a Christian, using AI for that is incredible, incredible.

SPEAKER_04 37:52

So Caleb, do I have any questions this week?

SPEAKER_03 37:54

We do have a question, and we will go to that question now. So thinking about AI use in our daily routines, outstanding question, and it's it's not so much um, I'd say, about making the sermon, and it I don't want it to be um I I go up there, I've done nothing for my sermon. Sunday morning I wake up, here's what I need, and I go up there and do it. I I don't I don't want that. But in the sense of practical use, I want it to help me think about different things more. What is something I haven't thought about? And then when it points up a thought for me, I can then continue to meditate on it, pray about it. That's one of the practical ways of just helping me go, what is something I haven't thought about yet? For y'all, what do y'all got?

SPEAKER_04 38:43

Here's one. I had 30 visits to make, 30 visits to make over a weekend. And a lot of people I need to see all the same city. Put in all the addresses, map it for me. Now Google could do that, and then this is one of the ways you can do it. Um, you know, you you can you can figure out all sorts of daily routine type things that you do. When is the best time of the day for me to do this? Uh traffic-wise, money-wise, when's the best time for me to to buy this? Yeah. What is the best local place to get this done? Those are those are not necessarily ministry-related, but they are ministry-related because we're ministers.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

Yeah. Ministering to people who have um emotional or psychological needs. We get we get asked to do a lot of pastoral counseling, and that's based on a biblical principle. We start there, we we but I haven't found a person yet who is dealing with uh a psychological issue, an emotional issue, who you quote a Bible verse to them. They say, Oh, well, thank you. I'm I'm I'm better, I feel better now. Um there has to there, there is a mechanism that can help. And very cautiously, um, I will ask Chat GPT to use cognitive behavioral therapy principles and practices and give me some ideas that might help somebody dealing with with this issue, yeah, and then relate it to biblical text, and and then I'm going to take those ideas and say, is it biblical? Is it the right way that that God talks about it? And if so, do these practices help further that biblical principle? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:27

And I'm dealing with the person they're labeling it this. What are biblical principles then that can relate to this in the way the world relates to it, but but as from God's viewpoint, from what he's told us? Because I I don't want to, I don't want to be a pop psychologist. No. Uh and and it's easy to become that in this culture. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

Brandon, you brought up something incredible that uh, you know, tragic event happens, and I have never in my life dealt with this situation with this soul over here who's hurting. I I could and I'm on my way. I'm driving there. How I could I could try to try to get a hold of you know the five-15 people I know that could have dealt with this, maybe have dealt with this, maybe no, give me the words to say. Or I could say, hey, hey, hey guy, hey chat GBT. Um, this is the situation. What recommendations do you have? Because I don't have all the answers, and I I don't I don't have to, but I just need to be there for support. What recommendations do you have? That's an incredible use to to to faithfully guide souls and in ways that we can. Um and and Gail, getting back to what you said about um organization. Um, for me as a young guy and trying to get my groove in preaching, um, I still haven't figured it out.

SPEAKER_04 41:39

But but you know, something I've never used in my life. Get my groove in my group.

SPEAKER_03 41:43

You know, I'm old, I guess. Go ahead, go ahead and one guy. But but figure out, okay, well, what do I do after I wake up? This, what these are some things I need to get done. Um, what what are some other ways where I can challenge myself and get my schedule going? For as a young guy.

SPEAKER_04 41:57

I've got these 20 things I need to accomplish in the next three days. What's the best order for me to do the beginning?

SPEAKER_03 42:02

Is there something in my career that I probably ought to be doing, and I have never done it? Um, what do I do? And and that that's organization-wise, it's incredible. Um, ready to move on to the second part of the question?

SPEAKER_04 42:15

Yeah, we're better.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

So Dave's got the second part of the question asking um moral considerations that we have to make towards AI in our work. And we talked about that a little bit, uh a good bit last episode, but any any other things y'all want to add to that?

SPEAKER_01 42:29

Right now there are no guidelines that are codified or unified, and so we really you you've got to spend the time thinking about it for yourself. You've you've got to make a determination um in your own mind.

SPEAKER_03 42:44

Y'all forgot your donuts.

SPEAKER_01 42:46

We want our donuts, thank you. Thank you. So we um brought to you by Dunkin' Donuts. That's it. Brought to you by Dunkin' Donuts. We want to make sure that we have some rules because the time to decide whether you're gonna drink alcohol or not is once the bottle gets passed to you. And at that point, it's too late to make that decision. You don't want to be in the midst of a very hectic week where you're coming toward the end of it, and it would be very tempting to just let AI do all the work for you and then try to make a decision. Well, is that ethical? Because it's gonna sure seem ethical when I gotta preach today. When Sunday's coming. And uh, and so as you're as you're kind of getting into it, as you're beginning to work with it, go ahead and make some rules. Make yeah, make some guidelines, find find a place where you are comfortable, and then don't don't approach the the gray areas. Don't don't push it. Don't yeah, don't try to get to the edge of well, I know that I know that's wrong, but yeah, um just just use it wisely and and stay within those bounds.

SPEAKER_04 43:49

Oh, I have anything to add to that. It's good. Well done.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:52

Well guys, what we're gonna do next time.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

Next time, I think we're we're gonna talk about some of the AI biological. Specifically, you know what which ones are better for this, that, the other thing, and then talk about where they're fantastic. What is so great about Chat GPT? What's so great about Claude? What's so great about these uh individual um chats and and how they benefit.

SPEAKER_04 44:20

Probably some you've never heard of that we'll talk about too that do some very specific things. So looking forward to it, guys.

SPEAKER_01 44:25

Very excited. Like, subscribe, share, send ask questions, we would love to uh to engage.

SPEAKER_04 44:33

So uh there's two things real quick.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

If you want to write us, you can write us at ministermeetmachine at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_04 44:42

Or you can call any one of the three of us, and if you don't have our numbers, send a email that number, we'll send you our number, and you can call and leave us a message. All right, guys, excited to be with you.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

Enjoyed it. God bless.