Dance on a Shifting Carpet

Four Lessons from AI and Bible Translation

*The following is adapted from a speech Stephen Cave, former Chief Strategist at the Innovation Lab, gave at the Missional AI 2026 Global Summit. Watch the original here.

Through our work at the ETEN Innovation Lab, we have seen the goodness of God and the amazing generosity and trust of faithful resource partners. God is at work blessing efforts, partnership, and the courage of so many. And in our technological world, AI is a part of this—having a positive impact by speeding up the pace of translation, while also improving quality.  

With that foundation, I want to share some practical reflections that we’ve learned as we’ve journeyed together in the movement the last five years. 

Dance on a Shifting Carpet

This phrase is taken from the longer sentence: Rather than feel like the rug is being pulled from under your feet, you need to learn how to dance on a shifting carpet. 

I suspect most of us in the ministry world value our established ways of operating. Certainly, when it comes to Bible translation, we want to make sure that we do it carefully and well. In whatever area of ministry that we’re involved in, we undoubtedly have inherited principles over time that we still guard carefully, and that still guide our efforts. That’s good!

But…there are also dangers. One danger is that what started out as principles is now hidden behind practices, to the point where the practices become the principles. And sometimes those practices become so deeply embedded that they stop any movement or development. So, when they’re challenged, we start to feel like the rug is being pulled from under our feet, and that’s not a comfortable or pretty situation. Further, we need to remember that even the best principles were developed in a particular historical context. If we insist on perpetuating certain practices in a changing context, we’re going to find ourselves with all kinds of problems.

I think that one of the key factors contributing to the advance of translations has been a willingness to adapt principles to a changing world; look at how technology has developed even in the last 12 months. If we had made definitive statements about what we were going to do or not do 12 months ago, let alone 3 or 4 years ago, we’d look impulsive today. But I have observed a willingness to couch our principles in language that allows for changes in context without betraying the heart behind them. That’s what it means to dance on a shifting carpet.

Let me give one practical example. Ken Schmidt is a highly respected translation consultant. He made this observation about AI and consultants: we ask, how do we use new tech to make consultants more effective/efficient? But he argues that’s the wrong question: we ought to ask why we needed consultants in the first place, what’s the best way to meet that need now, and what role could AI play in that? Same principle, different practice. 

In fact, even the FOBAI translation guidelines open the door to that kind of question. 

In their translation guidelines, they include this: “To assess the translation in light of feedback received from a qualified consultant review or equivalent process in order to enhance the quality and appropriateness of the final product.” While it mentions consultants, being the context in which the guidelines were drawn, the language allows for the shifting carpet. 

Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? 

In the 70’s, there was the emergence of gospel rock music and a significant debate over how rock’n’roll could ever be an appropriate vehicle for the gospel. One of the heroes was Larry Norman with his famous song: Why should the devil have all the good music?

“There's a good world that God has created here, He's given us everything

The devil has tried to steal it

I don't know why the devil should have anything, anything

Not your soul, not your life, not your marriage, not your future, not your music”

I don’t think it’s stretching it to add AI to the list.

You won’t be surprised to know that we’ve had some good people raise concerns about the use of AI in Bible translation; often the fear is that it would seek to replace the work of the Holy Spirit. While we haven’t been recklessly pursuing every latest thing, we’ve been convinced that harnessing AI is the right thing to do.

Now AI is helping us not just get translation done faster, but also better and cheaper. The ethics of using AI is important and, thankfully, there’s already some good work out there that can help guide us through potential minefields. But let’s be honest about this. Virtually every new technological development or advancement has the potential for good or evil. The first book supposedly printed by the movable printing press was the Gutenberg Bible, but all kinds of evil have been printed throughout history.

Every now and again, humanity experiences a generational tech change—like electricity. AI could be beyond generational. The speed it is working at brings us into a brand-new day of possibilities. It’s going to be central to life around the world. We can’t ignore it, as if it’ll go away. So, our calling must be to harness it well, proactively redeem it, and be at the forefront of doing it well. Joseph said to his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” …that should be our hope.

Win the War, Not the Battle

I wonder about our motives in the world of Christian ministry, and if we’re more often trying to win a battle, not the war. It does us no harm to do a ruthless health check on ourselves and our ministries: Is it about me winning my own battle? Are we sure our motives are pure? All the time? And for us who work in innovation, are we driven by the desire to create the one big thing in the Christian tech space? 

Perhaps the greatest joy of our work has been the participation of so many people from so many different partners, with a common goal and a war to win. A few weeks ago, Harvard Business Review had an intriguing article that confirmed just how important this is. In fact, they succinctly summed up a problem that is sadly evident even in Christian ministry as so many look to win their own battle and pay no attention to the bigger picture: “Success in innovation increasingly depends on collaboration. Too many breakthrough ideas fail to scale because cross-boundary partnerships stall—plagued by conflicting priorities, misaligned incentives, and a lack of trust.”

How about we change one word in there: “Success in MISSION…”

While the Bible translation community has several areas for improvement, I do know that any success we have had in advancing translation technology is, in large part, due to so many individuals and some organizations who have been prepared to share freely and work well with others.

Stop Waiting for Julia Roberts to Walk Through Your Door! 

Hopefully, you’re familiar with the movie Notting Hill. The bumbling young English man, owner of a run-down bookstore, played by Hugh Grant, somehow meets the globally famous actress played by Julia Roberts. And the famous part in the movie is where she turns up at the bookstore and says: “I’m also just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her.”

What’s that got to do with AI? Well, it goes back to a comment once made by a senior UK youth ministry leader. He was bemoaning the commitment issues that he said affected young men—they won’t commit in relationships, because they’re living in hope that Julia Roberts will walk through their door. I have a suspicion that we can be tempted to do the same when it comes to technology; we’re so aware of the rapid pace of development, or so focused on finding the silver bullet, that we never actually use what we already have in ways that could have so much impact.

A few years ago, as we were starting to see signs of the potential impact that AI might have on Bible translation, I sensed a reticence to use what we were discovering because we were already imagining what else might be possible if we waited. So I gave the Innovation Lab team this challenge: if what we have now was all that we were ever going to have, how would we maximize its potential to get the job done? Now obviously we weren’t saying that we wouldn’t adopt improvements, but we were trying to make sure that our focus wasn’t on what the next big thing might be. We weren’t going to wait for Julia Roberts to appear. We had translation goals and we needed to use what we had to see progress towards those goals. And that has been our model ever since, using what we have while being open to adapt as advancements came along. 

I guess it goes back to our first point: learning how to dance on a shifting carpet. We’ve made mistakes, we’ve had tensions and problems to navigate. But I also believe that we have seen God’s grace at work and have seen progress that is in many ways miraculous. I hope that these simple reflections will in some way encourage you in your efforts and stimulate your thinking about how they might apply in your context.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYIf-iDRSkI