A Vision for AI-Assisted Disciple-Making

Imagining What’s Possible When AI Meets the Great Commission

We should define the term. AI-Assisted Disciple-Making is natural language processing designed to help people explore faith and discover Jesus through dynamic, conversational interaction facilitated by discipleship-trained large language models.¹

Unlike typical AI chats, AI-Assisted Disciple-Making takes a more assertive approach. They proactively coaches users with richer responses and more guided prompts, resulting in a more immersive spiritual formation experience. AI-Assisted Disciple-Making also provides the option to connect with real-life disciple-makers who speak the user’s heart language, creating meaningful conversations via text or video chat. The goal would be to spark a journey of spiritual growth that begins with infinitely scalable AI assistance and eventually connects people to flesh-and-blood Christian community.

How This Is Different From Other AI Tools?

Right now, countless Christians are using AI to create content for evangelism and discipleship. Bible studies, blogs, podcast scripts, or devotional content designed with AI tools is a relatively simple process. That kind of AI-assisted Christian content will eventually be as common as using Google, Wikipedia, Grammarly, or native spell check.²

But AI-Assisted Disciple-Making is something else entirely.

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

What this vision involves is using AI as the first contact point for someone exploring Christianity, especially someone with little to no access to the gospel. The AI becomes a guide for the very first steps of someone’s journey to discover Jesus.

Later, when the user is ready, they can be connected to a real life human who speaks their language and is capable of helping them grow in faith. That person may live nearby, in another country, or even be a part of the global diaspora of their people group.

A Narrative Vision: Fatima

Let’s zoom in on our “first domino” audience, a woman named Fatima.

Fatima is a 19-year-old digital native living in a place where access to the good news of Jesus is almost nonexistent. Her phone is rarely out of her hand, and most of what she learns comes from the internet. She’s curious about Jesus, one might even say insatiably so. However, she has no way to explore her questions in a way that feels safe to her.

In Fatima’s culture, Christianity and Western influence in particular is viewed with deep suspicion. She’s part of an unreached people group where less than 0.1% of the population follows Jesus, and there are no known movements toward Christ. She’s never had a conversation with a Christian in her life.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

Still, her curiosity is real. Despite the family and cultural pressure to remain in her nominal Muslim background, she wants to know: Why do people follow Jesus?

Fatima is one of a growing global demographic: young, connected, curious, and spiritually underserved. In fact, nearly 4 in 10 people in the world lack meaningful access to the good news of Jesus Christ. That number is bigger than those lacking food, clean water, or even internet access.

It’s an injustice. But also, it’s an opportunity.

The Problem Fatima Faces