A Finnish church recently let a language model write and deliver its midweek sermon. Worshippers listened. Some called it impressive. Others, cold. The words were right, the delivery smooth, but the weight behind them felt thin. Machines can gather centuries of scripture, weave compelling stories, and tailor messages to every fear and hope. But they cannot ache for the grieving or tremble with the guilty. They cannot weep with the brokenhearted or share the quiet terror of doubt.

Every sermon carries invisible weight. The preacher brings their own wounds, their own late-night prayers, their own fragile faith into the pulpit. Their words are not just doctrine. They are offering themselves. Even their failures carry grace. An AI sermon never flinches, never struggles, never costs the speaker anything.

The congregation may still find comfort. The message may still heal. But when every word costs nothing, how long before the sacred feels mechanical? When the preacher’s voice becomes an efficient simulation, does the community lose something essential, or simply adjust to a new kind of presence that no longer asks anyone to risk their soul?

The conundrum

If AI sermons soothe pain and strengthen faith, does comfort alone define sacredness? When the pulpit requires no vulnerability, no personal stake, no shared humanity, do we gain a purer message or lose the very thing that made the act holy?

This podcast is created by AI. We used ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google NotebookLM's audio overview to create the conversation you are hearing. We do not make any claims to the validity of the information provided and see this as an experiment around deep discussions fully generated by AI.

A Glimpse Into a New Year with Ken McElroy and Kim Kiyosaki