A new study has found that nearly all US pastors (94%) are concerned about artificial intelligence (AI) misinterpreting the Bible.

The research, conducted by religion think tank Barna, found that pastors were more concerned about AI's influence on scripture than regular churchgoers were. 

The survey also revealed a distinct difference between pastors and practising Christians regarding expectations of AI. Whilst just one in ten pastors would like AI to name the “correct” interpretation of a difficult Bible passage, practising Christians are 2.5 times as likely to want a definitive answer.

When Barna asked what AI should do when faced with passages where interpretations differ, three in five pastors (60%) said AI should present all the major interpretations and explain the differences, without giving an opinion as to which is "best". Yet only about a quarter (26%) of practising Christians agreed with this approach, whilst another quarter wanted AI to name the "best" interpretation. However, 5% of pastors and approximately 20% of typical believers said that when presenting contested scripture, AI shouldn't offer any of its own interpretations at all.

When it comes to how AI should handle uncertainty in scripture, all groups surveyed agreed that they'd like AI to present multiple interpretations side by side. Two in five pastors favour this method, compared with one in three practising Christians. Christians were more likely to want AI to include disclaimers or caveats, while about a third of pastors preferred AI to cite scholarly disagreement and name the sources of disputes.

“Pastors seem to want people to use the tool, but to let it expand their understanding and push them to think for themselves,” said David Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research. “Writing dozens of sermons a year means testing an interpretation against multiple commentaries and traditions before deciding what to teach. The best gift you can give people isn’t always what you know, but how you arrived at what you know.”