Gelsinger hopes to make AI a force for good and for God

(RNS)—Pat Gelsinger longed has believed faith and technology can be forces for good in the world. Now the former Intel CEO hopes to put AI to work for God.

On March 24, Gelsinger was named executive chair and head of technology for Gloo, a Christian tech platform that seeks to “catalyze the faith ecosystem through AI and other breakthrough technologies.”

Gelsinger, an investor and board member for about a decade, will take a more hands-on role now, Gloo said in a press release. The CEO from 2021-2024 of Intel, a major computer chip manufacturer, Gelsinger said the timing was right to bring his tech leadership experience and his faith together.

“I think it’s a critical phase for Gloo’s growth, but also a critical phase for technology and shaping AI as a force for good,” Gelsinger told Religion News Service. “I’ve lived my life with the two pillars of faith and technology, and Gloo allows me to unify them in a powerful and profound way.”

Gelsinger said faith leaders often have taken a backseat when new technologies, like the internet or cell phones, were adopted and had little to say about how such technologies could be used in an ethical or helpful way. He hopes to change that when it comes to AI.

“We believe that how AI is shaped is even more important, because fundamentally, technology is neutral,” he said. “It can be used for good or bad, it can be shaped for good or bad, and we believe that this is the moment to make sure it’s shaped as a force for good.”

Benchmarks for ethical use of AI

Last month, Gloo announced what it calls “Flourishing AI Standards,” which were developed with research from the Global Flourishing Study, a collaboration between the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, Gallup, and the Center for Open Science. The idea was to provide benchmarks for ethical use of AI.

“Trust in AI is twofold,” Gelsinger said in announcing those standards. “It requires technology that is high-performing, dependable and secure, while also aligning with users’ values and ethically advancing collective human flourishing.”

Along with his work with Gloo and leadership roles at Intel, Gelsinger also has been the longtime board chair of Transforming the Bay with Christ, a “coalition of business leaders, pastors, and nonprofit leaders” in the San Francisco Bay area. That has allowed him to be both a leader and a customer of Gloo, he said.

Founded in 2013, Gloo raised $100 million in investments last summer to expand offerings like its Discover platform, which offers churches access to free and premium services. The company also recently invested in Barna Group, an evangelical research company, and in a communications company owned by Carey Nieuwhof, a Canadian author, pastor and podcaster.

In an interview, Scott Beck, co-founder of Gloo, said the company offers churches and faith groups access and connection through its cloud-based services.

Churches can sign up and get access for clips from “The Chosen,” the hit series about the life of Jesus, or use Gloo’s texting service to reach church members or read stories about church trends. They also can order products, like sermon series kits and choir materials, and access paid services.

The idea is to give every congregation—large or small—access to the same kinds of services, Beck said. So far, about 100,000 Christian leaders have signed up with Gloo.

“We do not sell technology to a church,” he said. “We never talk to the technology department. That’s not what we do. We have a platform. They go on it, they sign up, they get things that they want.”

Beck said Gloo starts with an evangelical Christian perspective but is able to customize services for different denominations and congregations. He pointed to a service called “Faith Assistant,” which allows the church to have a chatbot that answers questions based on a church’s beliefs and content from the Bible.

“We use AI to help answer those questions with the body of biblical content, but we lay on top of it all the sermons that have been preached at that church and the content that’s come out of that church to actually be able to customize all the way down to the church level,” Beck said.

“These capabilities are very powerful, and we’re super excited to be able to be bringing them to the church.”

Beck said Gloo wants to be seen as a trusted alternative to Big Tech companies and a place that shares the values of its customers. That’s important with AI, especially when people are looking for spiritual answers.

“We look at what the internet and the Big Tech companies are doing, and we do not think they service this ecosystem,” he said. “When you ask the open AI model, ‘Tell me about God,’ we’re going to make sure that we’re giving an answer that our community is happy with.”