AI and a Missing Element in Missionary Training

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This post continues my series on AI found HERE and HERE.

I have been equipping missionaries for almost thirty years, both through my pastoral ministry in local churches and as a professor in the Academy. Training others in evangelism has always been about preparing people for crossing cultural gaps—whether across the street or across the world. However, I have found no models that prepare others for the world of AI.

What happens when missionaries are confronted by AI on the field?

For years, I have stated missiologists are canaries in the coal mines, and you should listen to them with discernment. Sometimes they communicate strange things. But pay attention; they see around corners and observe matters that need immediate attention “over there” that will soon need attention “over here.”

And one matter that is coming to a western neighborhood near you, and already in other counties, is what one of my students calls “the ill-equipped brain.”

Consider this: Are AI and cognitive offloading the next challenges to missions?

Last spring, my student, Walter D. Edwards (pseudonym) and I presented a paper at the Southeast Evangelical Missiological Society titled: “Reaching the Ill-Equipped Brain: Are Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Offloading the Next Challenges to Mission?” Lord willing, we will be presenting this paper again this October in Dallas at the national Evangelical Missiological Society.

Our research was birthed from encounters Walter and his team experienced last summer in North Africa:

“Throughout the summer of 2025, my team and I made many friends and frequently shared the gospel. That said, one of my teammates and I had spent much of our time with two Muslims. When God had finally opened a door for us to share the gospel, we were met with conversations mediated by AI. Our statements concerning Christ were typed into ChatGPT by our friends, with them reading their rebuttals directly from AI’s responses. Having never encountered and being unsure about how to navigate such scenarios, we quickly found ourselves having discussions with AI, as our lost friends sat dormant behind keyboards. Reflecting upon this encounter, my teammate remarked, ‘AI provided a unique roadblock in evangelism. They weren’t thinking for themselves anymore they would simply type questions or prompts into AI and read it off like a script.’ Moreover, the issue of AI continued into conversations on WhatsApp as individuals would copy and paste responses from ChatGPT and claim them as their own.”

Cognitive offloading occurs “when individuals delegate cognitive tasks to external aids, reducing their engagement in deep, reflective thinking” (Michael Gerlich. 2025. "AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking." Societies 15, no. 6: 2). Studies reveal this is becoming a regular occurrence, with AI now the tool which removes the need for us to engage in critical thinking—especially when we are confronted with something uncomfortable. AI can now do the mental heavy-lifting for us.

Walter reminds us of the significance of the nature of the imago Dei in a post-Genesis world when it comes to evangelism and apologetics:

“The image of God among humanity is distorted for sin has corrupted creation (Cortez, 2010, 16). Its devastating effects affected the mind and the ability to discern truth. For example, Paul noted humanity became futile in thinking, and God gave them over to a debased mind (Rom 1:21, 28). Understanding became darkened (Eph 4:18). The things of the Spirit are now considered folly to the “natural person” (1 Cor 2:14). The god of his world has blinded minds of unbelievers (2 Cor 4:4). 

 Although human decision-making has been corrupted by sin, the ability to think critically has not been lost.”

But what happens when critical thinking is possible, yet unlikely? Or, what happens when people simply give-up their reasoning faculties when confronted with the gospel?

Some scholars believe societies have already moved from cognitive offloading to a more troubling level: cognitive surrender. Steve D. Shaw and Gideon Nave argue:

‍”Unlike cognitive offloading, which is typically strategic and task-specific (e.g., using GPS to navigate), cognitive surrender entails a deeper transfer of agency. Whereas cognitive offloading is a strategic delegation of deliberation, using a tool to aid one’s own reasoning, cognitive surrender is an uncritical abdication of reasoning itself. It reflects not merely the use of external assistance, but a relinquishing of cognitive control: the user accepts the AI’s response without critical evaluation, substituting it for their own reasoning” (Shaw, Steven D. and Gideon Nave. 2026. "Thinking—Fast, Slow, and Artificial: How AI is Reshaping Human Reasoning and the Rise of Cognitive Surrender." The Wharton School Research Paper (January 11): 17).

At this level, AI becomes our unquestioned source of authority. And I believe, in many situations, we have arrived here. So, if you are just now becoming concerned about AI and cognitive offloading, you are already late to the game.

That’s how fast things are changing.

And into this new reality, most mission agencies (and definitely local churches) are woefully behind in their equipping others for this field.

Missionaries should become familiar with evangelistic methods and conversational styles that rely less on critical thinking while learning how to navigate Large Language Models in such a way that leads the conversation to more interpersonal dialogue.

In my next post, I plan to address some practical training guidelines. Stay tuned. Until then, keep listening to those canaries in the mines.

The five billion remain.