How AI Is Shaping the Future of Bible Translation
- Doug Hennum Chief Information Officer for Wycliffe USA
- Updated Jul 31, 2024
The use of AI–Artificial Intelligence–can elicit emotions in people that range from enthusiasm and acceptance to skepticism and fear. Regardless of how anyone feels, AI is now ubiquitous in our daily lives. Our GPS warns if our drive will be congested. Our virtual assistants like Alexa or Siri help us manage our days. Search engines make suggestions to help us find what we’re looking for. All of them employ AI, and these useful tools help each of us in daily tasks.
AI has also been used in Bible translation for over a decade. Yet many Christians remain uncertain about the technology. In a 2024 study of American adults on topics related to the Bible, faith, and the church, 74% of respondents said they were either uncertain about or believed that the bad that could come from the use of AI outweighs any good it might have.
Even for those who accept AI as a part of life, when it comes to translating the Bible, Christians often ask: Is it safe? Is it trustworthy? Is it accurate? When we understand what AI is, how it works, and how it can be leveraged for Kingdom work, I believe it is.
How AI Works for Bible Translation
Understanding how AI works can help ease uncertainties and create a higher level of comfort for its use, both generally and specifically in Bible translation work. AI operates differently than the average computer. AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are given enormous amounts of data to process in ways that a human would, such as pattern recognition, reasoning, and problem-solving — only at speeds a human cannot replicate.
Any suggestion an AI platform gives can only come from its pre-programmed information database. In the case of language translation, high-resourced languages — those with lots of available content and resources about how the language works, like English or French, for example — make AI translation work easier. But even for low-resource languages that lack available written documentation, AI can still be incredibly helpful.
Currently, in Indonesia, a mobile app is being used to aid in future translation work. To develop the app’s database of information, multilingual speakers are shown phrases in high-resourced languages and asked to translate them into low-resourced languages that don’t yet have a Bible translation. Later, when a translation team is in place and ready to work on a Bible translation for a low-resourced language, these thousands of phrases will be useful in training AI models to help create text translations efficiently.
How AI Is Used in Bible Translation
The process of Bible translation is often arduous and time-consuming. Today, AI is streamlining many of these translation processes. Instead of starting with a daunting blank page, AI can create what’s called an initial rough draft for the translators. As translation work proceeds, AI operates like a co-pilot, learning from what has already been translated in previous chapters or books and making suggestions moving forward. As the process goes on, translators are often surprised by how much the AI-generated wording ends up sounding just like them.
Since 2013, Wycliffe has been using AI to accelerate translation efforts. Translation teams using AI-assisted drafting have reported greatly accelerated translation rates, with some teams able to translate up to 50% faster. More mature versions of AI are now being used for increasingly complex tasks in translation work, such as analyzing texts for themes and context, differentiating between dialects, and developing interactive Bible resources. Currently, Project Slingshot, an initiative through illumiNations, is utilizing AI to propel the pace of work in 80 concurrent Bible translations.
Even with AI, Humans Are Still Essential
Without exception, humans are vital to the process of Bible translation. Anything translated with AI goes through a process of thorough evaluation and approval by native speakers, translation experts, and/or Bible scholars.
AI is not independent; it’s only a tool. However, when we recognize our human limitations and embrace such tools, we can do far more at a greater level of efficiency than we ever dreamed.
If it takes a person over five years to complete a translation of the New Testament, think about how daunting it is to start working to translate the Old Testament from scratch. When nearly 20% of the global population still does not have a full Bible in their first language, we must be good stewards of AI and harness its abilities to address these critical needs.
As AI continues to mature, the speed of finishing Bible translations will increase, and the systems used for translation will become streamlined. This will ultimately lead to more people having access to Scripture in the language that best speaks to their hearts. Previously unreached people will finally be able to read the good news of Jesus Christ for themselves.
There’s still so much work to do — and AI can help.
Doug Hennum is the Chief Information Officer for Wycliffe USA
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/doidam10
