[Video] How AI Might Impact Mission Information Workers

Talk from Mission Information Workers Conference 2024

What roles has God given us and what roles can we delegate to AI? Jon Hirst encourages us to invite the Holy Spirit to guide this process.

Jon Hirst is the Chief Innovation Officer for SIL International. In this video, he discusses the impact of AI on the role of mission information workers.

Hirst emphasizes the importance of discernment, as tools are not agnostic and may have their own agendas.

He explores the seductive nature of AI replacements and the potential dangers of AI becoming a replacement for God. He discusses the Gartner hype cycle to help us see the different mindsets and responses people have towards AI.

Hirst helps us think about the potential impact of AI on different jobs and provides examples of tools that missions researchers might begin to use.

Among the tools, Hirst mentions . . .

• Kraftful — survey creation, sentiment analysis

• Viable — qualitative data analysis

• SyntheticUsers — AI research participants

• Osum — Market Research

• Gen AI Resources from Georgetown University

• The Rundown AI newsletter

• AI Toolbox for Innovators from Board of Innovation

Hirst proposes a dial concept for deciding when and how to use AI in research.

Watch his talk here.