From Minerals to Minister: Exploring the Materiality, Embodiment, and Place of AI-Generated Sermons
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15695/hmltc.v51i1.5852Abstract
AI cannot preach, claims one blogger, since preaching involves “real people, in a real place, through a real preacher.”[1] AI’s presumed lack of physicality has been one argument made against its use in preaching.
However, are sermons generated by AI truly so disembodied, immaterial, and placeless? This paper traces, step-by-step, the actual development of one AI sermon – from the extraction of rare earth minerals, all the way to a completed manuscript upon the preacher’s desk. In so doing, this paper reveals that AI preaching is, in fact, multi-bodied, multi-material, and pluri-local. It raises the question: if these are the actual bodies, materials, and places used for AI preaching, what does this mean for a preacher's use of it?
[1] Brett Landry, “Should Pastors Use AI in Sermon Preparation?,” The Gospel Coalition Canada, May 26, 2025, https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/should-pastors-use-ai-in-sermon-preparation/.
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