Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming more prominant in our culture as companies race to encorporate it into their products. But there are varying opinions and concerns as to it's use. Is AI the answer to increasing our productivity, effectiveness and creativity, or the precursor to Schwarzenegger death robots?

Maybe more germain to our discussion, is there a use for AI in the church? How should we view this potential resource and what are some of the considerations in adopting this new and rapidly growing technology? 

In this episode, we look at possible ways leaders might leverage the power of AI for their life groups and how we can help our people navigate this controversial tool. 

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These are some resources that might be of use to you in leading your life group. Some are free resources, some premium (subscription), and some a combination of the two. 

Content Creation (Teaching Materials, Bible Study Guides)

• ChatGPT: Excellent for creating Bible study outlines, answering questions, and crafting discussion prompts. https://chat.openai.com
• Google Docs with Smart Compose: Includes AI-driven writing assistance for drafting and editing materials collaboratively. https://docs.google.com
• Notion AI: Offers free content generation, note-taking, and organization features, making it easy to create and store study guides or discussion questions. https://www.notion.so
• Canva: Useful for designing attractive presentation slides and visual aids for teaching. https://www.canva.com
• Gamma: Create a beautiful slide presentation in seconds by entering your notes and making a few selections. https://gamma.app 
• Midjourney: Text to image AI application. Enter text prompts "create an elephant riding a bicycle in the desert in the cubist style" and receive several images to choose or improve on. 

Scheduling and Time Management

• Clockwise: Assists in managing schedules, setting meeting times, and balancing small group leader duties with personal schedules. https://www.getclockwise.com
• Calendly: Free scheduling tool that makes it easy to find common meeting times with group members. https://www.calendly.com
• Google Calendar with AI Suggestions: Offers smart scheduling suggestions and reminders to help with consistency in planning. https://calendar.google.com
• Motion: An AI-powered calendar that automatically schedules tasks and meetings to maximize productivity. https://www.usemotion.com

Spiritual Growth Resources (Bible Study and Devotionals)

• BibleProject Classroom: AI-driven, interactive Bible study resources that help break down complex biblical themes. https://bibleproject.com
• YouVersion Bible App: Offers personalized devotional recommendations and reading plans for various spiritual goals. https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app
• Faithlife: Includes resources like commentaries, study aids, and devotionals tailored to specific Bible passages. https://faithlife.com
• Blue Letter Bible: Provides free Bible study tools, commentaries, and dictionaries to aid in scriptural understanding. https://www.blueletterbible.org
• BibleHub: Offers free access to Bible commentaries, concordances, and study guides, helping leaders prepare lessons. https://biblehub.com

Community Building (Group Communication, Relationship Management)

• Church Center app: PCBC's app that contains groups like yours. A great way to quickly and easily communicate to your group through chat and email as well as scheduling events and sharing documents. https://pcbchurch.churchcenter.com
• Facebook Messenger: Offers free group messaging and event reminders, which can help keep group members connected and informed. https://www.messenger.com

Personal Development (Training and Skill Development)

•  edX: Contains free courses on leadership, communication, and management, which are useful for personal growth. https://www.edx.org
• YouTube: Offers free access to various tutorials and talks on leadership, community building, and faith-based teaching. https://www.youtube.com

Data and Feedback Analysis (Improving Group Effectiveness)

• Google Forms with Google Sheets: A free way to create and analyze surveys, allowing leaders to gather feedback from group members. https://forms.google.com
• Jotform: A free survey tool that allows you to collect feedback and track responses for group improvement. https://www.jotform.com
• Otter: An audio recording and AI transcription app that also creates discussion summaries, suggested action steps, and offers AI after meeting interaction. https://otter.ai 
• Fathom: AI note taker similar to Otter, but for video. Record and transcribe Zoom (and other platform) video meetings. Get impressive meeting summaries, action steps and other AI interaction.  https://fathom.video