Australian Adventist leader promises AI guidance on human roles and limits

A framework being developed

The president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Australian Union Conference says practical AI guidance is being developed to address human involvement in generated material and uses that should be avoided. Brendan Pratt made the commitment in a November 2 response published by Adventist Record. It is a statement of work underway, not a released policy. Source: record.adventistchurch.com

Pratt argues against a blanket prohibition while acknowledging risks to trust and creativity. He identifies translation and administrative support as potentially useful applications, and describes training and guidance across ministry and other parts of the church. His response does not supply a completed framework or a publication timetable.

Spectrum reported the exchange on November 6, citing Adventist Record. That later report brings attention to the commitment; it is not evidence that the promised guidelines have since been adopted. Source: spectrummagazine.org

The disagreement concerns the work itself

The response follows a letter by South Queensland secondary teacher Mitchell Strahan, published October 27 as a shortened version of a September 30 letter. Strahan describes concern about AI-generated church media and calls for greater investment in human creative contributors. He also questions what happens to the person preparing a Bible study when the difficult work is delegated. These are his observations and arguments, not a representative survey of Australian congregations. Source: record.adventistchurch.com

For ministry teams, the exchange suggests a distinction worth testing: checking an output and learning through producing it are different activities. A reviewer may correct an error without having done the interpretive work that the original assignment was intended to develop.

A question for the next staff conversation

Consider a hypothetical church asking a trainee to prepare a short Bible study. Before choosing a tool, the supervisor could identify what the trainee must practise: reading the passage, explaining its context and defending the proposed application. Assistance with formatting need not transfer those responsibilities to software. This is our practical suggestion, not a rule announced by the Australian Union Conference.

When the promised guidance appears, readers can ask whether it specifies who performs and checks those tasks, rather than treating a general commitment to human involvement as sufficient. We have not evaluated implementation or interviewed the participants.

Gifts exercised in service

First Peter 4:8–11 places the use of gifts within a community practising love, hospitality and service. Its instruction to serve with what one has received offers Christians a reason to develop contributors, not merely obtain content. Applying that principle to AI requires judgment about the particular task; the passage does not prescribe a software policy. 1 Peter 4:8–11, NIV 1 Peter 4:8-11 (NIV)