In the spring of 2025, I began to investigate using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to aid my work here. One of the most time-consuming parts of my study was compiling a table that showed me a passage in three different translations. I found that AI could do this quickly and accurately. As I began to incorporate this into my study, I also added some features such as a brief commentary on each verse (not very helpful but I sometimes refer to it), a list of cross-references and allusions to other scriptures (what’s there is usually accurate but never complete), and identification of hapax legomena words – those that appear only once in the Greek text of the Bible. These hapax words often provide an interesting rabbit trail. Again, I find that AI’s listing of these is rarely complete or accurate.
I also run searches to list the top scholars for a particular passage. The vast majority of times, I recognize all the names and would generally agree. AI can also provide a high-level summary of the main points of these scholars. In general, these points will be somewhat familiar to me, and what is not familiar provides a jumping-off point for deeper research.
Another helpful search I find is asking AI to create sermon outlines on a passage, both from a Protestant and a Catholic viewpoint. I use these to create an outline of the passage and to help me summarize it.
I primarily use the Claude.AI engine for my research.
All of the AI research I use is a helpful starting point, but only because I have already done years of study and commentary reading. It’s fairly quick and easy for me to vet AI results and use them appropriately. Almost everything provided by AI is a starting point, and I don’t generally copy directly from AI results. In the rare event that I do, I will label it as such.
The other way I utilize AI is through a tool called Grammarly. This tool integrates with my word processing to identify spelling and grammar errors. It particularly likes to tell me to use more commas where I join compound sentences – I seem to have a mental block against that! Grammarly helps keep me on my toes and provides a (hopefully) better reading experience for my audience.
Using AI helps save me time, not so that I can churn out content faster, but so I can have a surface framework done quickly and then spend more time digging more deeply into what I am researching. Ultimately, all I write is generated by me.