On October 13, the General Conference (GC) announced two new applications built to strengthen the OneVoice27 initiative at Annual Council.
The GC developed Adventist Knowledge is Adventist Intelligence (AKAI), an AI platform produced by the Church designed to answer questions about Adventism. The platform draws all of its responses from the Bible, the Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists (ESDA), and the 28 Fundamental Beliefs.
AKAI is designed to “help the church remember the rich history we have as God’s people,” said Richard Stephenson, GC associate treasurer.
Stephenson cited a study that showed 99 per cent of Americans have used AI within the past week. People are digital, he said, and this platform is a way to meet people where they are.
During a demonstration, Justin Woods, Hope Channel International director of Technology, said, “It’s a chatbot, but what makes it special. . . . [is that] we built our own sovereign infrastructure with our Church’s own documents.”
Because AKAI is owned by the GC, “we can ensure authenticity and accuracy by controlling the body of knowledge it pulls from,” said Stephenson.
During the demonstration, Woods asked AKAI several questions about the Adventist Church. When the chatbot responded, it provided direct links to the ESDA article it used to generate the answer.
When asked how to change the oil in a car, AKAI responded that it did not know. Because the chatbot can only draw from the Bible, ESDA, and the 28 Fundamental Beliefs, it does not attempt to make up an answer, said Woods.
Stephenson made it clear that AKAI is not an official voice of the Church or a source of spiritual authority. It is also not a rival of other AI tools Church entities have created. It is a part of the “family of tools” that can be used to uplift Jesus.
AKAI was built in partnership with Hope Channel International. The app will be implemented in ESDA next week, Stephenson said. AKAI will initially be launched in English only, but plans are in place to expand its language database.
Stephenson and Woods also announced the Adventist+ app. Stephenson described it as “a unique combination of a Bible reading app, plus digital media, plus an artificial intelligence in one platform.”
Adventist+ will provide access to the Bible in more than 2,000 languages, reading plans, Scripture art, and more, and will be integrated with AKAI.
“The aim is Scripture in as many languages as possible,” said Stephenson.
Adventist+ will put the Word of God at the center, Stephenson stated, and then pull in streamable media based on the Bible.
During a live demonstration of Adventist+, Woods emphasized that the app “will not try to nudge them [users] to simply watch more. Adventist+ will nudge them deeper in their faith.”
Adventist+ is designed to help Church seekers move from curious observers to active members. All streamable content will be scanned by AKAI, which will then ask users questions to help them dig deeper into their faith. If a user decides to interact with a prompt, the chat interface opens, and a real person will begin a spiritual discussion with the user.
Although AKAI can answer questions about the Church, it has guardrails in place to prevent it from offering spiritual guidance. A specific example is that it cannot pray for users. If asked to provide prayer, AKAI connects the user to a real person in the chat who can provide prayer, spiritual guidance, Bible study, and more.
Adventist+ can be personalized for each entity, allowing content to come from both the global and local Church.
Stephenson said these new digital efforts are not meant to replace the traditional methods of spreading the gospel. “We are adding to that. . . . This is one more opportunity for us to uplift and glorify the name of Jesus.”
