The Future Of Evangelism: AI and Bible Translation

Thousands of languages in the world do not have Bible translations. In an age of technological breakthroughs, organizations like Avodah Connect, The Seed Company, and KIN International are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase the speed and accuracy of Bible translations into more rare languages. These organizations have set aggressive goals to complete the task of making the Bible accessible to everyone in their own language.

The Role of AI In Bible Translation and Future Evangelism

In Bible translation, AI works by leveraging AI models, trained on portions of Scripture translated by humans, to provide a first draft. These drafts are then checked and manually developed by human translation teams.

Avodah pioneered this method by working with native speakers to translate about 1,200 verses and other resources. Then, they train an AI model on these verses and resources to produce a first draft. This draft is then checked by native translators, refined, and cross-checked in the community. Avodah currently has 31 translation teams, which is to increase to 50 by the end of the year. Eleven out of thirty-one are halfway done with their translations. A traditional translation spans between 20 to 25 years, but with AI, Avodah says it can fasten the process between four to five years and significantly reduce costs.

According to The Gospel Coalition, an average translation takes 23 years in traditional models and costs over a million dollars, but Avodah’s model takes about four years to produce a completed Bible for about $500,000.

The director of language AI at Avodah, Gregory Toepperwein, emphasized that the AI tools are to accelerate the Bible translation processes; however, humans are still a vital part of the process. AI is not an independent tool.

Humans working under the leadership of the Holy Spirit are involved in every stage of the translation process. According to Shawn Ring, the CEO of Avodah, Bible translation is “not about the technology; it’s about the human.”

SIL International is developing AI tools for quality assessment in Bible translation. Translation teams use these tools to identify and address problems early on in the translation process. They are also used to check the translations thoroughly by identifying challenges.

SIL International and other organizations have also developed AI tools that increase the speed of creating drafts and improve translations.

Conclusively, the effect of AI on Bible translation and future evangelism is that more people will have access to the gospel in their own language, resulting in these individuals reading, hearing, believing, and becoming saved.

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