Amid a growing tide of debate about the use of generative AI in the Church, a New Jersey bishop rescinded last week what was believed to be the first endorsement by a prelate for a book composed almost entirely by AI.
And the New Jersey clinical therapist who told The Pillar that he “collaborated” with AI to produce the book said that his text should not be regarded as “AI slop” because he developed the text in a “highly interactive” process.
But as the book gained attention from Catholics after a publisher’s press release initially touted an endorsement from Bishop David O’Connell for “Chatting with the Bible,” the publisher told The Pillar Friday that its press release was “erroneous,” and caused by a miscommunication.
Questions surrounding the book come as the Church continues to debate the place of AI in ecclesial life, and as Pope Leo calls for ongoing reflection on the spiritual and ethical implications of a society making increasing use of the technology.
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The book, “Chatting with the Bible” is published by Andy Fairchild Publishing, a publishing service which markets itself primarily to Christian authors.
The text consists of dramatic retellings of 70 Biblical stories, with brief, single paragraph reflections at the conclusion of each one. A representative of the publisher told The Pillar that the dramatic retellings, which constitute nearly the entire text of the book, were generated through prompts to ChatGPT by New Jersey clinical therapist Joe Springer, who was formerly a university psychology professor, teaching courses on the literature of the Bible and other subjects.
A reflection paragraph — usually consisting of two or three sentences — follows each of the dramatic Biblical retellings, with each written directly by Springer.
Regarding his process for generating the book, Springer explained in marketing materials, “Generally speaking, I instructed ChatGPT to write poignant, thoughtful stories consisting of about 400 words. I asked it to make connections, for example, between Old Testament and New Testament stories and gave it Scriptural references to use.”
“I was like an orchestra conductor who at all times was able to guide and move the performers to play in a certain way,” he said. “At all times, I instructed ChatGPT what tone to use and what connections to make.”
Springer told The Pillar that the text came together through his experimentation with ChatGPT, and his desire to help people have new insights into the Bible, which he believes could be found through ChatGPT’s narrations, created by his direction.
“I recognize that using AI to write stories is controversial,” Springer wrote in his book’s introduction. ‘I understand both sides of this issue. I would state that for this project, the collaboration between ChatGPT and me has produced a final product that enhances what I would have been able to do by myself, although I still see myself clearly reflected in the final outcome. I suggest that you give the book a chance and decide for yourself if you think that what is produced here is worthwhile.”
Speaking with The Pillar, Spring explained that he did not write the stories himself because he writes in a “pedantic, academic style,” which would not grab the attention of readers.
Further, he said, “what Chat did was something that would’ve been a stretch for me to do. It took me a year to write the book — to put it together anyway. It would’ve taken me five or 10 years at my pace to do that. So I decided to collaborate with Chat and play off of strengths.
“Chat could do some things that maybe it would be a stretch for me to do. And I could certainly do things that Chat couldn’t do in terms of framing and telling it the connections to make and then adding my own reflections based on my experience. So that’s why I thought it was very collaborative.”
Springer said that while he has become an avid user of ChatGPT — using it for both the creation of the book and to develop treatment plans in his mental health work — “it can’t be the last word, and that is the danger, that we can outsource our thinking and even judgment to Chat or AI. Because it’s easy to do that.”
As he spoke with The Pillar, Springer referred to himself and ChatGPT as “we” on a few occasions, correcting himself each time.
He said that he has appreciated Pope Leo’s warnings against imposing the veneer of personhood on large language models, and said he has noticed in himself the “pull towards that tendency,” on several occasions.
Still, Springer told The Pillar that while he sees some danger in anthropomorphizing AI, he also believes that God can work in the “collaboration” between AI and human beings. Springer said he thought of himself as an “instrument” in that collaborative process.
“And I really see it as, for me, a tool for evangelization to put this [book] out there in a way that is using Chat as something that can enhance what I do,” he added. “I really have gotten feedback from quite a few people who say this book really has touched them.”
While Springer is a Catholic, the text is not exclusively marketed to a Catholic audience, and its foreword was authored by a Methodist minister of Springer’s acquaintance.
But the book gained attention among Catholics in the Diocese of Trenton, after a recently distributed press release said the book had been given a “Catholic Church endorsement” from Bishop O’Connell. Some Catholics in the diocese raised questions about the apparent endorsement, noting especially that O’Connell seemed to be the first Catholic bishop to endorse a text created principally by AI.
“I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dr. Joseph Springer’s thoughtful reflections on the scriptures contained in his book ‘Chatting With the Bible,’” O’Connell’s apparent endorsement said.
“His thoughts were clearly inspired by many years of reading and listening to God’s Word while engaging the clients who availed themselves of his expertise and service as a psychologist. Easily accessible to people at various stages of their own spiritual journeys, Dr. Springer’s meditations touch both the mind and heart of those seeking to deepen their awareness of God’s presence and work in their own lives, especially through reading his Word. He has created a ‘companion to faith’ for the lived experience of those who turn to him for guidance and encouragement.”
While the press release framed O’Connell’s support as a “Catholic Church endorsement,” a representative for the Diocese of Trenton told The Pillar Thursday that was not accurate.
The spokesperson explained that the bishop had not given the text an imprimatur or nihil obstat — official approval of a text for publication and use in a Catholic context — and that the bishop did not regard the book as “an important work of theological or catechetical consequence,” but as “a potential source of reflection for those on a spiritual journey.”
The spokesperson explained that O’Connell was aware of some use of AI in the generation of the text — though it is not clear to what extent — and that Springer, the author, had “assured Bishop O’Connell that he pursued his work on the book in a manner consistent with the guidance offered by Pope Leo in his recent encyclical.”
After questions on the issue, Springer’s publisher walked back its press release, saying it had been the result of a “miscommunication.”
“This is to offer a clarification to that statement that it is not our intention to imply that Bishop O’Connell or the Catholic Church specifically endorsed the book, and the statement was due to a miscommunication. We sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding this may have caused,” said an Aug 28 statement from Andy Fairchild Publishing.
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For his part, Pope Leo has emphasized that texts generated with the use of AI should disclose that fact, as Springer did. But in Magnifica humanitas, the pope cautioned that artificial intelligence tools “lack the affective, relational and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom.”
Earlier this year, Leo also lamented that “artificial intelligence systems have increasingly taken control of the production of texts, music and videos. This puts much of the human creative industry at risk of being dismantled and replaced with the label ‘Powered by AI,’ turning people into passive consumers of unthought thoughts and anonymous products without ownership or love. Meanwhile, the masterpieces of human genius in the fields of music, art and literature are being reduced to mere training grounds for machines.”
Springer said he agreed with that statement, and that his book had been created in line with its directives.
“In terms of how I approach this [book], I put a lot of effort into keeping human agency and my agency at the top of this, and everything comes through me. Because I saw the risk that I could just say to Chat, ‘Write a story on such and such,’ and then just accept it and put it in the book without reading it carefully.”
Springer said that makes his work different from what he called “AI slop.”
“My understanding of slop is this: There was a commercial years ago about some sort of rotisserie grill where the guy would put the chicken in and he’d say, ‘Set it and forget it.’ AI slop, as I understand it, is just telling AI to write something and then just taking it at face value. I think that’s slop.”
“I think where it was different with me is I went over each story meticulously, I don’t know how many times. And I’m not a theologian, but trying to be as respectful of the Christian tradition as I could, trying to get a sense of where the boundaries are. And then at other points, editing specific areas where I thought, ‘Maybe this is a little over the line,’ or, ‘This could be said better.’ So it was very highly interactive. And my sense of slop is just that ‘set it and forget it’ idea.”
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In light of Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, and the pope’s interest in assessing ethical uses of AI in both the Church and in wider society, O’Connell’s initial support raised questions in the Trenton diocese as the “Chatting with the Bible” press release circulated among local Catholics.
A Trenton diocesan spokesperson told The Pillar that “to avoid any confusion, [the bishop] has requested that his comments [on the text] be withdrawn from publication.”
As an author who takes joy in the fact all my writings are AI generated text-free, I do appreciate how the writer gave co-authorship credit to ChatGPT on the cover. If more people would do that, then readers would have an informed choice on what they read.
If one cannot write in an engaging style or have enough time to write, then you don't need to become an author. His whole explanation boils down to, "I couldn't write the book I wanted so I had Chat GPT do it."
We certainly don't need *more* content out here. At least, he's honest about it!