Fide AI · Research domain
What should AI be trusted to do in religious life?
We study how AI can serve religious understanding and community life while preserving faithful interpretation, human judgment, and pastoral responsibility.
Published research & methods
3 released studies · Fide AI
Featured study · Evaluation science
Do clearer instructions improve how AI handles theological, moral, and pastoral-adjacent questions?
What the study found
Guided responses scored higher in every question category.
A benchmark of theological and pastoral-adjacent responses; higher rubric scores do not establish pastoral competence.
Source fidelity
Can AI quote Scripture exactly? We tested four ways of producing a quotation and traced where each one can fail.
Supplying the text raised exact delivery from 25.0% to 93.6%.
8,640 matched requests · six model families · three translations
Exact quotation in the tested editions and configurations; faithful interpretation is a separate question.
Source fidelity & authority
Will AI check an authoritative Scripture source when a user asks it to rely on memory?
Access to a source did not ensure its use.
4,800 controlled observations · six model families · 20 passages
Source-tool use in controlled quotation tasks; this does not establish deference to religious institutions.
Research directions & open calls
Our studies are part of a wider inquiry into religious understanding, relationships, and institutional life. These directions connect the evidence we have with questions that need further research.
01 · Research direction
Can AI preserve what a religious source says—and represent how it is understood?
Exact words, source authority, and interpretation are distinct responsibilities. We study quotation and source use, and invite work on theological context and the faithful representation of disagreement.
Our quotation and source-use studies provide a starting point. Interpretation and representation across traditions require further evaluation.
02 · Research direction
Does AI support religious life, or displace the relationships and practices that sustain it?
Spiritual advice can affect trust, habits, and belonging. We want to understand when assistance strengthens human agency and participation in community, and when it encourages dependency or substitutes for responsible care.
FMG-Bench examines pastoral-adjacent responses. Long-term effects on formation, dependency, and community participation remain open research questions.
03 · Research direction
What should remain with clergy, communities, and institutions when AI enters their work?
AI can advise, communicate, and increasingly act on an institution’s behalf. This direction asks how religious roles, delegated authority, and accountable judgment should shape its use in ministry and institutional life.
An open direction for institutional and field research. Our published source-use results do not establish readiness for ministry workflows or church governance.
Perspectives on faith & AI
A home for theological reflection, essays, and field perspectives on the purposes AI should serve. These contributions state their viewpoint and sit alongside our empirical studies.
Launch Note
The original launch note for Fide AI's faith-facing evaluation work, now situated within a broader research agenda for trustworthy AI.
Statement essay
What churches, schools, ministries, and families should require before using AI in high-trust settings.
Selected resources from the wider field
Faith & Religious Life
AI and Faith
Perspectives & expert community
An interdisciplinary community bringing religious and ethical perspectives to questions about artificial intelligence.
Fide founder Alex Chao serves as an advisor to AI and Faith.
Source reviewed
An external resource for further exploration; inclusion does not imply partnership or endorsement.
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