AI, the Church, and the Next GenerationAI, the Church, and the Next Generation

JP Poulter has worked where technology, creativity and faith meet for almost twenty years. He shaped global digital strategy at the LEGO Group and founded Vixen Labs, one of Europe's early voice technology agencies, and most of his career has been spent helping organizations adjust to change. He now runs the AI consultancy Three Point and is the part-time Head of AI and Innovation at Elvis.

In this episode, JP explains what AI is, why the church tends to follow culture instead of leading it, and what campus missionaries should rethink now. He also talks about his own faith, the campus ministry that shaped him and why Joshua 1:9 keeps coming back to him lately.

What AI is, and what it isn'tWhat AI is, and what it isn't

JP has a gift for making complex things accessible. He describes large language models not as algorithms you program, but as something closer to a brain grown in a computer. These systems don't know what a witch is or who Ariana Grande is. They just know the likelihood that certain words and patterns appear together. It sounds simple. The implications aren't.

He points out that AI is more than a chatbot. It also decides what you watch next on Netflix, who shows up in a dating app and which video TikTok puts in front of you. ChatGPT is the part people see; the algorithms are everywhere else.

"Unlike social media, AI touches way more than just the marketing department. It's written through everything."

What the Church Can't OutsourceWhat the Church Can't Outsource

One of the sharpest moments in this conversation comes when JP is asked whether AI could eventually replace pastors and spiritual guides. His answer is clear: not a chance. Not because AI lacks information, but because it can't do the one thing that makes spiritual leadership irreplaceable.

"AI can't divine what's going on in the spirit and listen to the Trinity."

He's careful not to say God can't use AI. He believes he can. But there's a difference between God speaking to someone through a chat session and a pastor listening to the Holy Spirit and bringing that to their people. One is a tool. The other is a calling.

The Church Needs to Stop Following and Start LeadingThe Church Needs to Stop Following and Start Leading

JP's hardest challenge for church leaders is about how often they show up. The average influencer posts around a thousand pieces of content a month to stay visible. Most churches post once a week, if that. For anyone trying to reach college students, that gap is a mission problem as well as a marketing one.

"If they see you once a month, good luck."

He extends that same challenge to AI. As more people turn to these models to answer their questions, find community, and process their lives, the church needs to be the source of content those models are trained on. If there's nothing there, there's nothing to find.

The Formation Question Nobody Is AskingThe Formation Question Nobody Is Asking

JP is particularly concerned about what happens when the most formative years of a person's life get shaped by AI companions and recommendation algorithms rather than community and relationship. These systems aren't just giving students information. They're forming habits, shaping identities, and triggering attachment.

He points to research showing that Gen Z is adopting AI tools faster than any other group, for mental health support, companionship and personal decisions as well as work. That is not bad in itself. If it crowds out the community and in-person discipleship that campus ministry exists to provide, though, it becomes a problem of formation.

"We need people to stretch out and be in community with one another. That fight against isolation is the thing we really need to name."

Don't Hand Power Tools to the UnskilledDon't Hand Power Tools to the Unskilled

On the question of students using AI to shortcut their own growth, JP makes a point worth sitting with. AI can help you produce something that looks good. But if you've never learned what good looks like, you won't know the difference. The muscle memory of actually doing the hard work, of writing, thinking, wrestling, deciding, is what makes you capable of discernment later. Skipping it doesn't just affect your output. It affects your judgment.

He draws a line from that directly to the Israelites. Forty years in the wilderness wasn't a detour. It was the training.

Unexpected HopeUnexpected Hope

Even so, JP is encouraged. He has never seen the church more interested in engaging a shift in technology. There are more conferences and conversations, and people are more willing to ask hard questions. He believes the church has something unique to offer right now.

When people encounter a technology that promises to replicate consciousness, companionship, and even spiritual guidance, and still feel hollow afterward, the church has an answer for that.

"That tomb is already empty. He is alive and well and moving among us. He's just not gonna be found in there."

Resources MentionedResources Mentioned

James JP Poulter | Double-Edged Newsletter | Three Point

Elvis | CV Global | Biblical AI

Missional AI Conference (April 7, San Jose) | Missional AI Podcast

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

AI at Work by JP Poulter (forthcoming, August 2026)

Center for Humane Technology | Google DeepMind Podcast | Relevant Magazine and Podcast

Practices to TryPractices to Try

Audit how often your church or ministry posts content and ask honestly if students would ever encounter you in their feeds

Encourage students to use AI as a thinking partner, not a replacement for spiritual community and personal formation

Create space in your ministry for students to wrestle with big questions about technology, identity, and what it means to be human

Help students learn a skill before they hand it off to AI. Make sure they know what good looks like first.

Start paying attention to the comments section, Discord servers, and closed social spaces where students are actually talking

Keep GoingKeep Going

The tools are changing fast. The mission hasn't changed at all. Be strong and courageous. Show up. Shine the light. Remember who's on the throne.