An open letter to the developers of The Bible Memory App:

I’m heartbroken.

Truly.

For more than a decade, part of my morning ritual has included a refresh from hundreds of carefully curated Bible verses using the Bible Memory App (I started using it under the previous name, “Scripture Typer.”) Nearly every morning I’ve prayed, “Lord, please shape me by your holy Word,” and then I’ve practiced, out loud, verses I’ve scheduled for weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and quarterly review in your app.

But no more.

Why? Because yesterday, July 13, the app was updated for Android beta testers (like me) to include their new feature: “Bible Intelligence.”

When I saw that name, my countenance fell.

Here’s how they describe it:

Introducing Bible Intelligence!

Unlock a deeper understanding of Scripture with Bible Intelligence, harnessing the power of AI in the latest addition to The Bible Memory App. Bible Intelligence transforms your Bible study experience into an immersive journey, connecting passages and bringing the interconnectedness of the Scriptures to life right before your eyes.

The beta app crashed on login attempt, but that’s not why I’m done using your app even after my huge time investment. It’s because of the tragic level of poisonous deception involved with adding generative AI and claiming it to be “Bible Intelligence.”

Hypnotized by Hype

Please indulge a few more Bible-memory-inspired thoughts here.

O foolish developers of Bible Memory App, who has bewitched you?

You were running well; who hypnotized you into bringing today’s AI-fueled delusion into an app that helps people memorize the word of God?

I know: it was the Big Tech hype-machine.

I’m a software engineer too. I see the daily barrage, the hypnotic thrum-thrum-thrum of their claims that generative artificial intelligence large language models (GenAIs) are the transformation everyone is longing for.

But by nodding along under their hypnotic spell, you’ve introduced layers of deception into your app. Let me count some of the ways (more detail here):

• GenAI is not intelligent. Intelligence requires sentience, consciousness, and especially a true connection with reality. GenAI has none of these. The very term “Bible Intelligence” is simply false.
• GenAI has no understanding of the underlying semantics of language. It has no idea what words mean. Therefore, it is a deception to claim that your app will help us “unlock a deeper understanding of Scripture with Bible Intelligence.” It will do no such thing; in fact, it may very well do the opposite.
• The words statistically chosen by GenAI bear no true relation to the Spirit-inspired connection across the scriptures. As such, anything that looks like it is “connecting passages and bringing the interconnectedness of the Scriptures to life” is just as likely to lead people astray through confident errors, made-up references, and hallucinations.

These deceptions are a fatal poison to your original objective.

Missing the Mark

All successful software products focus carefully on what is called “product/market fit.” This vital connection is established when developers understand the needs and desires of their audience, and build a product that fits them.

Who invests years practicing to memorize the Bible? People who care deeply about the precise words of Scripture. Those of us who believe that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16 ESV) know that the words matter, and are life-changing.

We also know the incredible work of the Holy Spirit when God brings his word to mind in critical times. All of that happens because we’ve “hidden his word in our hearts.”

Many studies and personal experiences show that GenAI can be confidently wrong. What happens when your audience is led astray by error-laden “understandings” of scripture, by “connections” that are false? Professor Gary Smith says, “if you know the answer, you don’t need an LLM, and if you don’t know the answer, you can’t trust an LLM.”

Yet you’re hoping people will trust your “Bible Intelligence”? If so, your trust is misplaced.

Will You Consider Repentance?

I believe in the God whose “mercies are new every morning.” His “lovingkindness is everlasting.” And He calls us all to repent. I’m who I am by God’s grace, and because of his willingness to accept my cries for forgiveness and invitations to repentance.

You know what repentance looks like in this case? A great big git revert, with a full removal of any generative AI. (And the same applies to moving it to another app instead — GenAI isn’t for Bible study.)

You could do this. If you do, I’ll be all-in again, and will rally others to your cause.

If not, here’s my prediction: when the grass of GenAI withers, and the flowers of ChatGPT fall, as they certainly will, the word of our God will certainly endure forever. But your new fad-driven subscribers will be gone, and your product will be a shadow of its former self.

But if you turn away from the GenAI distraction and focus deeply on the precious word of God, your light will shine brightly.

Many are already weary of AI-generated words. When they want to memorize the only words that give life, they’ll come to you, because you’ve drawn the poison out and restored the integrity to your app.

I hope you’ll seriously consider my direct and heartfelt feedback. If you look back through the last few articles here, you’ll see a lot more about why we should avoid using GenAI for ministry, and especially for Bible study.

I welcome your feedback and the ongoing conversation.