In many faiths, the Sabbath Day is considered a day for worship and rest. But for LDSBot, an AI trained on information from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it’s the busiest day of the week.
“People want to talk to LDSBot about a lesson they're teaching at church that day or a talk they're giving,” said creator Josh Coates. “Or perhaps they're in a class at church and they want to ask [LDSBot] questions while the teacher is teaching.”
Coates created LDSBot in 2023. He’s a former computer programmer and executive director of the B.H. Roberts Foundation, a Salt Lake City-based independent nonprofit that supports educational programs related to the Latter-day Saint faith.
LDSBot is their most popular project. It reaches 1,500 users a day and has had nearly 800,000 unique conversations since it began. To create it, Coates and his team compiled a database of theology, history and scripture. When the bot, which was built using OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 model, formulates an on-demand answer, it’s reaching from that store of information.
The church has issued multiple public teachings about Artificial Intelligence. In June, it updated official guidelines for church-generated AI content. And last year, it published guiding principles for members.
At the Religions for Peace World Council in Istanbul, Turkey, Elder Gerrit W. Gong gave a speech titled “Faith, Ethics, and Human Dignity in an Age of Artificial Intelligence.” He’s a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, part of the church’s governing body.
“No set of utilitarian AI algorithms should determine or speak for our most treasured human values and spiritual experiences,” Gong said in his July 29 remarks. “AI cannot provide inspired divine truth or independent moral guidance.”
Toward the end of his speech, Gong proposed that religious leaders work with programmers to train artificial intelligence systems, so they fairly and ethically handle religious questions.
LDSBot and secular AI approach church-based questions differently.
On the welcome page of LDSBot, pre-generated questions cycle through the screen. One of the prompts reads, “Why does the Church have so much money?”
The answer from LDSBot was the church’s teachings on prudent financial management. It cited a 1995 General Conference talk by President Gordon B. Hinckley concerning saving and said that church money goes toward global humanitarian efforts.
With the same prompt, ChatGPT gave a numbered list of reasons for the church’s finances, including tithing, investments and for-profit companies. “Frugality and Financial Discipline” was fifth on the list. Once prompted further, LDSBot confirmed the same details.
LDSBot’s website notes that the bot is programmed to be faith-positive and can make mistakes.
Beyond facts and history, Coates said the bot can also be helpful for more subjective conversations about individual crises of belief.
“Some people want to talk to the bot about faith issues they're having or questions or concerns,” Coates said. “And honestly, the bot is so patient and so kind, much more so than most humans. And so it's a great partner to have hard conversations with.”
Patrick Mason, a historian of the LDS Church at Utah State University, acknowledged that AI, like books or the internet, is a helpful tool to spread belief.
“It can be meaningful and positive in the lives of its members,” he said, “but these things can also be enormously destructive.”
When members turn to AI instead of a bishop, friend or family member, they potentially lose out on a part of the faith-building process, Mason said. He has heard of church members — and leaders — using LDSBot to write talks for Sacrament Meeting at Sunday Services.
“One of the remarkable features of the church has been its lay ministry,” he said. “If we outsource that to AI, what does that do to religious formation within the community?”
Still, Coates is optimistic about the potential of LDSBot.
“Ultimately, humans are who we need to connect with,” he said. “That's what's real in this life. But tools can help us do a better job at that.”
