AI Misquotes Scripture Up to 60 Percent of the Time, YouVersion CEO Warns

Bobby Gruenewald, founder and CEO of YouVersion, the world's most widely used Bible app, has issued a stark warning about the unreliability of artificial intelligence when it comes to handling biblical scripture. Speaking to Christian media, Gruenewald stated that even the best-performing AI models misquote scripture at least 15 percent of the time, with some models reaching error rates as high as 60 percent.

'The best model with the best performance, with the most popular versions of the Bible that are most indexed, misquotes Scripture at least 15% of the time,' Gruenewald said. 'Some of them as much as 60% of the time.'

Gruenewald stressed that even minor discrepancies in biblical texts carry significant weight: 'For Bible translation, every word and punctuation is meaningful to Scripture translation.' He warned that open-ended AI systems can produce responses that organizations may not wish to endorse, especially when users might not recognize the errors.

YouVersion currently uses AI internally for workflow and development support but has refrained from implementing public-facing AI tools that generate answers to theological questions. Gruenewald affirmed that YouVersion would only fully integrate AI if they are 'very confident that it can be done safely and be done with a level of accuracy and integrity.'

Despite the current challenges, Gruenewald indicated that YouVersion aims to contribute to improving AI technology and has engaged with developers to enhance how AI handles scripture. He encouraged individuals to engage directly with scripture and seek guidance from church leaders, asserting that technology should support, rather than replace, discipleship.