Twenty years ago, a full Bible translation took around 25 years. With AI, Geof Morin says, it's now closer to five, and the impact reaches far beyond the translation itself.
Geof is CEO of Biblica, a 216-year-old Bible ministry whose more than 100 translations serve about six billion people in their first or second language. About five years ago, Biblica began pioneering AI-assisted Bible translation. It also launched the Missional AI Summit, which has become a rallying point for ministry leaders exploring how AI can accelerate kingdom impact.
In this episode, Geof talks about Biblica's "try it first" approach, how AI is compressing translation timelines, and why the church must use today's best tools to reach those still waiting for God's Word.
Biblica's mission hasn't changed in more than two centuries: find out who isn't being reached with God's Word, and why not, and then break through the barrier.
Biblica began in 1809 as a local ministry and has grown into a global one. Its founders spoke of reaching those "destitute of the gospel," people without the hope and privilege of knowing God and the love of Jesus. Whatever the barrier, whether a place, a people or a language, the goal is to break through it.
"We're not a technology company. We're a Bible ministry," Geof says. But when technology can remove barriers and extend the reach of Scripture, Biblica is ready to use it.
Biblica tested AI-assisted translation early so the wider Bible translation movement could learn from what worked and what didn't.
"Friends who know me well say I'm allergic to white papers," Geof says. Time is short, and the hope of the gospel is too important to talk around. People are longing for it, so why not try the next new thing?
About five years ago, as AI tools began appearing in the for-profit world, Biblica saw no reason not to bring them into mission. It stepped out on behalf of Every Tribe Every Nation, an alliance of 11 organizations responsible for about 95% of the world's Bible translations. Biblica offered to go first, "break some glass" and report back.
Some experiments failed, and that was fine. Others worked, and several distinct approaches proved valuable for different contexts and barriers, because Bible translation isn't one-size-fits-all. Today, about half of the alliance's organizations use AI-assisted translation.
AI has cut years off drafting and quality checking, leaving the community's embrace of the translation as the main limit on speed.
Twenty years ago, a full Bible translation typically took about 25 years, and sometimes far longer. The interviewer recalls a translation their parents worked on that took 50. A decade ago, a ten-year translation was cause for celebration. With machine learning, Geof says, timelines are moving from 10 to 15 years down to about five, sometimes faster.
The biggest gains have come in drafting. Translators might carefully translate one book, such as Luke, by hand, and AI then uses that work to draft the rest, since the same Greek source words recur across the Gospels and Epistles. New tools are also speeding up quality assurance. The one stage that can't be rushed, and shouldn't be, is the community itself having time to embrace and accept the translation.
The language models built for Scripture translation also accelerate discipleship and church resources in that language, so they no longer wait for the Bible to be finished.
Once you've built an engine for a language to translate Scripture, Geof explains, you also have a resource for translating anything else that community needs: discipleship tools, church-equipping materials and more. A full Bible may still take three to five years, but there's no need to wait until the last day of year five to begin. That work can run in parallel.
The result is acceleration not only of Bible translation, but of engagement and equipping resources, serving local churches faster and more fully.
The kingdom is moving toward collaboration, and Biblica started Missional AI to share what it was learning with the wider church.
Geof sees God's kingdom moving more and more into collaborative ways of working. Like the body of Christ, we can't all be the bicep; each of us needs to find our part and work with others. Working collectively is harder, but far more powerful, and once you start, there's no going back.
So when Biblica began working with AI, it immediately saw the need to convene others, not only its translation partners but the wider church and mission movement. In the early years, conversations focused almost entirely on Bible translation. Now they span Bible engagement and many other uses, and Geof expects that widening to continue.
"We've got to allow the church, capital C, to deploy the best of today's tools for the furthest reach of today's kingdom," he says, "because otherwise there will be those who are left waiting and have already waited too long."
In keeping with the heart of the movement, Missional AI content is free. You can watch past talks and conversations online, join hackathons if you're a technologist who wants to build, and connect through future in-person gatherings.
Geof's Missional AI 2025 keynote, "The 'Jesus Tech Stack' that He Used to Change the World," is in the Missional AI Video Library under Dallas 2025 Keynotes.
Listen to the full episode with Geof Morin on the Missional AI Podcast, and subscribe so you don't miss future conversations. Learn more about Biblica at biblica.com.
We'll announce the dates and location for the Missional AI 2026 Global Summit at the Gloo Hackathon, October 8–10 in Boulder, Colorado. Follow this feed, our LinkedIn page and missional.ai for the latest announcements.
This episode was made possible in partnership with Gloo, the technology platform connecting the faith ecosystem.