Guidance on Generative AI (GTS & VTS)

Guidance for ministers and scholars on the use of generative AI, developed at a two-day conference on authorship and generative AI convened by General Theological Seminary and Virginia Theological Seminary, and offered in the trust that other communities — schools, dioceses, and congregations — will find it helpful.

The statement affirms that technology should serve the common good and human dignity, and names the cautions the seminaries hold: privacy, accuracy (“Gen AI requires prudence because it still makes mistakes”), ecological cost, the dominance of certain voices and absence of marginalized ones, and unacknowledged data harvesting. It closes with practical guidance for appropriate usage in ministry and scholarship.

A statement is a starting point, not a substitute for your own community’s discernment — pair it with the Communal Values Exercise and the Sample AI Policy (PCUSA).