An Update on AI and Assisted Translation Technology in Bible Translation

As the ETEN alliance continues to explore how technology can accelerate Bible translation, AI has emerged as a proven driver of progress. It is transforming the translation landscape by offering dynamic, practical support that speeds up workflows, improves quality and broadens global access to Scripture. While AI’s capabilities are expanding rapidly, it remains a tool that supports human translators rather than replacing them. The process, from start to finish, still relies on the insight, expertise and cultural discernment of the people doing the work.

The integration of Assisted Translation Technology (ATT) is helping move the alliance closer to the All Access Goals, making it possible for Scripture to reach every language group faster and more effectively. AI is not redefining what a quality translation is; it is simply equipping us to get there more quickly. The health and integrity of a translation still flows from the people involved—the ones translating, the communities involved in the translation, and those who will engage with the completed translation. AI serves that process by reducing manual tasks and enabling teams to focus on the deeper linguistic and contextual layers that make a translation resonate.

Leaders from across ETEN and beyond recently gave an update on the current state of AI tools for Bible translation. In early adoption projects, AI has accelerated initial drafting and resulted in the development of higher-quality first drafts. Assisted translation technology also supports teams in their understanding of a language’s structure and orthography, particularly those with limited or no existing digital representation. These breakthroughs are critical for low- to medium-resource languages, where translation projects have historically faced the greatest obstacles.

At the core of this progress is Serval, an open-source, highly transferable AI model that can be trained on a translation team’s completed work, learning their unique style, terminology and linguistic preferences to produce strong first drafts of new books and passages in a fraction of the time it once took. Because Serval is platform-independent, it can operate within multiple environments. This transferability ensures scalability and long-term sustainability as more organizations adopt Serval-powered workflows.

One of the most widely used platforms where Serval is already making an impact is Scripture Forge, currently serving more than 400 projects. Scripture Forge provides a collaborative space for translators to review, refine and finalize AI-generated drafts, moving them quickly into consultant review. By combining Serval’s ability to generate accurate, context-aware first drafts with Scripture Forge’s team-oriented editing environment, translation teams are saving significant time while maintaining full creative and theological oversight. As Serval continues to evolve and extend into additional platforms, this drafting advantage can scale across many more projects and organizations, accelerating progress toward the All Access Goals. 

In parallel with these efforts, ETEN technology partners are also exploring and piloting ways AI can support Oral Bible Translation (OBT) and Sign Language projects. What was once a distant dream—the ability to train AI models directly from audio and video inputs without a written script—is now moving toward practical reality. A new initiative led by Faith Comes By Hearing and SIL is experimenting with a multi-step workflow designed specifically for oral-first contexts. It begins with spoken Scripture recorded in tools like Render or Audio Project Manager, which is then transcribed using Arrow’s speech-to-text engine. That transcription is used to generate a written, AI-assisted draft through Serval via Scripture Forge, which is then re-converted into speech using AI-generated text-to-speech models. The final result is an AI-assisted oral draft that feels familiar and usable to the OBT team.

At the same time, technology experts among ETEN partners are also exploring how computer vision tools could enhance Sign Language translation projects. These early pilots aim to enhance and accelerate the translation process and quality assurance of signed Scripture through visual recognition and motion analysis—tools that could bring greater scalability to progress across sign languages.     

Integrating AI tools into existing workflows requires clear communication and coordination. Teams must understand not only what the tools do, but also how they serve the broader vision of Scripture access. Ongoing success depends on building trust, inviting questions and encouraging shared ownership across every stage of a project. This includes translators, quality consultants, technologists and project managers alike.

What’s unfolding is not just a faster way to translate, it’s a more collaborative, adaptive and hopeful model for reaching all people with God’s Word. Through AI, translation teams are working more efficiently, with greater consistency and clarity, while retaining full creative and theological control. 

Whether you’re building tools, leading projects or walking alongside local churches, your participation helps move this work forward. If you see opportunities, have ideas, or want to help shape what’s next, we invite you to connect at lab@eten.bible. Together, we are drawing closer to the All Access Goals as we work toward a future where everyone can access God’s Word in the language they understand best.

For more information, you can view interviews from technology leaders here: