A big thank you to having been introduced to our principal, the Mukanu principal, and obviously the organizer of this conference. And thank you to all the other organizers as well. We slept well. This is a very cold country. I really will be going back to Zimbabwe. I'm not going to stay around. I know a lot of Zimbabweans stay Let me begin by advertising a book which is in our Christian bookshop, 12 Ways Your Cell Phone is Changing You. I thought this book is quite relevant to the talk that we are going to have this morning. 12 Ways Your Cell Phone Someone said it's artificial, isn't it? And I said there is nothing artificial about artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is only artificial because it tries to mimic human behavior. Actually, we are trying to make it be so accurate to human behavior. But there's nothing artificial about artificial intelligence. to actually do research in cancer research. AI right now is being used in ground-breaking ways of coming with cancer treatments. So there is nothing artificial about artificial intelligence. What is it all about? Well, predicting the future by reflecting on Now, we're supposed to prophesy the future. Now, in order to go forward, you need to go backward. So we need to reflect and say, how is the Church of Africa doing in terms of its authenticity and integrity in the moment? Lo and behold, there comes a book by this gentleman, Archie, I'm sorry, it's a tiny print at the moment, so we cannot all see. see it, but this gentleman here, our Archim is a priest in Austria. What basically he did, he did a great service to us as the African continent. He went back 25 years and looked at all the PhD dissertations that had been submitted by Africans specifically. Africans who are now running theological institutions were now presidents and were now bishops in the African continent. And what he did then, he discovered that all, most of those institutions he was looking at, about a hundred of them, all these bishops, all these presidents, all these men and women that were running theological education, all of them plagiarized. the corruption of the original institution by plagiarism in dissertation. Therefore, if I plagiarized and now I am hating Kanyu, what it means is that if I went to Harvard School, that means that the professor with oversight over me did not do a proper job. That means that the name of Harvard is to be put under disrepute because of me. Do not undermine what a lack of integrity will do to the witness of Jesus Christ. The corruption of theological institution by dissertation. education that we have right now. And my proposition is going to be in this way. Let's look at our visions right now. So I'm going to begin by looking at the vision of a very wonderful institution called Mukanya. You can see that they paid me well. Mukanya gives glory. This is the mission. So I'm just going to be capturing the aims, the visions, and the mission statement of these institutions. Mukanya gives glory to God by equipping pastors and other Christians in Africa. The same institute is a state its vision is following. Mukanya College is decentralized training network with the multiple sites delivered in Africa that provides biblical education for church and society. and other Christians by offering education at various levels and within several disciplines, including theological studies and teacher training. The multi-ethnic body of students at Mukanyo receive biblical in-service training for ministry in Africa. In the African context, Mukanyo serves churches by equipping their pastors and other Christians Now, let me go yonder and go to a college called Dombo Shaba Theological College. I can see you, sorry. I can see the smile. The purpose of Dombo Shaba Theological College is to offer contextually relevant programs that bring theological soundness and increase the effectiveness of the church. Central Africa Baptist University, I can see you brothers, I can see you, is committed to facilitating obedience to great commission until Christ has been made known by reproducing gospel, preaching churches in every village, town, city, and across Africa. What is common about these institutions? I know that you're mission, your institution. I'm sorry time does not permit me to do so. What is common about these institutions? These institutions seek to produce church leaders that are faithful to the mission of God. These men and women who must faithfully follow the mission of God. So there are three things that actually define Bible education. These are, the Bible is the only text. The Bible is the only text. Secondly, the transformative nature of our theology. And finally, the church is a critiquing community of our learning. Now, let's begin by looking at this philosopher. This philosopher, he said, we are not riding the train, but the train is riding us. Right? He all of a sudden realized one day that as technology develops, technology begins to run those that created it. Just let a phone ring right now and see what happens. the Creator becomes run by the being that He created. So this is what we are going to be looking at together. The aim and vision of Bible education, the content of Bible education, the process of Bible education, the policies of Bible education, the institution of Bible education, the personnel of Bible education, and I'm going I want you to fight with the time keeper if he lets me stop before I've given you recommendations. Right? That's how you set yourself up. Now, the aim and vision of Bible education. What will change? To produce change leaders whose sole mission is to glorify God. That's why we exist. Three ingredients of Bible education. The Bible is the only text. Hebrews 4. I hope the Bible is still the only text of the Bible institutions. The church is the only critical community. First Timothy, chapter three, verses one to seven. Someone will say, why would you put that text there? Because that's about the qualifications of an elder. An elder must be this, an elder must be that. The question is, which are these looking in eyes? Who are these people that are evaluating? What a leader should be is the church that evaluates the leaders that we produce. Transformation and spiritual formation is the only goal of theological education. Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. Let's look at this text here. Transformation and the biblical foundation. Romans 8 verse 29 and 30. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Transformation is then the heart of every spiritual formation. Hoti hos progon kai pro aboresi soma phos tes egnos to quios autu. The image of His only Son, etnos, from where we get the word image, or idol, etnos, the image of His only Son. We have been called to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are these things important? These things are important because AI We will transform these things. If we are not careful, AI is going to transform all of these things. AI is going to challenge the Bible as the only text of Bible education. AI is going to challenge the church as the only critical community for our Bible education. AI is going to challenge the transformative nature of our education. Because in AI, you have access to data without a demand for transformation. So that's why we need to remind ourselves are important. So this is what our education is all about. The content of Bible education. How is AI going to change the content of Bible education? If I may then tip ourselves the apologetics between the Western world and our world, the Western church and our church. The African apologetics, we are still trying to prove the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the African apologetic. I can see the powers of the ancestral spirits. I can see the challenges of the continent, the disease and everything. Is Jesus Christ and Christianity sufficient enough to address those needs? Versus the Western apologetic. The Western apologetic says, does God exist? They are now into the existence of God debate. Therefore, whenever you use AI, AI automatically ushers you into that discussion. As an African, you find yourself talking about openness of God theory. Basically, the openness of God theory says that God is not self-determining. God waits to negotiate with human beings. That was the first thing that approached me when I went to go to a seminar in America. First year student, and I went to argue about the openness of God. Come on, I'm an advocate. Bible software. We have BibleWorks, we have Accordance, we have Locus. These are very expensive software, right? Most of our institutions, year in and year out, we must pay in our membership into these Bible software, right? In fact, BibleWorks decided just to cut off the program without giving you any money. This was a 350 US dollar program that I bought. Coming to Africa, I only had the software forever in perpetuity to use. But they just cut it off. Good news. If you say AI, give me the whole text of John 1-1 in Greek, AI just goes and gives it back to you. Not only is AI able to give you John 1-1, the whole text to you, but AI will conjugate and replace for you. Do you know those Greek students? Those sleepless nights? Remember those sleepless nights? Yeah, you know the 1 o'clock to 5 o'clock pacing and conjugating verbs and nouns? But right now, in a split second, AI can give you all the information that I need. Manuscripts in Greek and Hebrew. The Western institutions, your Harvard, your Gordon Coulter, your Trinity, they used to bribe themselves. Come, if you want to the center of living, because we have the original manuscripts. And we bought them by 10 million millions of dollars. AI can give me that right now, even in Syria. Bible translation. Let me talk about a Zimbabwean context. There is Ndebele translation. In 2003, we had a particular version, but in 2022, we have now produced another version, because the Ndebele of Zimbabwe keeps on evolving, language change. Therefore, if we are going to have translation being done traditionally, we are not going to keep up, but praise God for AI. Local but global discussions. Our students and our lecturers right now, you can sit down and have discussions with people in Austria. You can have discussions with brothers and sisters in Nigeria on a specific topic. So you can be local, but your conversation now becomes global. The challenge is, do you know how to critically engage with the material that you are receiving? The question of contextual relevance. AI claims to be contextual relevant. It does, it does, it does. It will claim that it is contextual relevant. However, AI is not African context sensitive. AI is not Africa context sensitive. When will AI become contextual sensitive? It is only when we, as Africans, enter data into its algorithms. And how is your participation into AI so far? Do I belong to the devs? Let's move on to the process of Bible education. Lecture educator benefits in AI. Let me give you some benefits. I know that this is not, I know there is a, how we can use AI. I'm sorry, I'm now gravitating to your field here. I'm the first one to speak, so I have the mic. Sorry. The lecture on Educator Benefits of AI. As a lecturer right now, you can ask AI to help you prepare for your lesson plans. You can ask AI to just summarize the whole book of Regan Hebrews. It will do that for you. You can ask AI to help you draft quizzes. and exams, you can actually ask AI to mark for you. Yeah, I'm painfully, painfully positive. Student benefits to AI. Wow. Yeah. Do you feel the bed? Yeah, it's cold, so that's why I'm bedding. I'm here and I'm supposed to warm myself, you know, as we are beginning Student benefits we have. A student can, if you just tell the student, this is what we are studying. With the rightful terms and terminologies, a student can instantly know more than their lecturer. If a student can enter the right terms and terminologies, quiz AI in the rightful way, they can know more than you as a lecturer. Can do. Right now, If I had time, if Brian had given me time, and I would ask you what to teach, I'm not a church history person, I'm a biblical guy. I live in biblical studies. If I ask you as a historian, to say, you know, to ask me all these particular questions, and I entered in those details, right now, I can know more. As you know. AI can write these things for students. AI can write assignments for students. AI can write reports for students. AI can write notes for students. AI can transform student voices into text. I know you're looking angry. You need to be exorcised of that demon of thinking that lecturers know more. You need to be exorcised. Come on. Breathe in. Breathe in. Breathe in. Breathe in. Because most of us, we went to school so that we can be cool-jacketed. Professors who know more than our lecturers. Where if I stand here, I'll just pools of knowledge and my students know nothing. And just watch them just with googly eyes just leaning from me. I'm sorry. Content engagement versus focused, no, content engagement, please read, not contents. Content engagement versus not processes, right? I've taken, I do history lessons. Professors, history professors, can I see your hands? Can I see your hands? Let me teach this. That's why you're not here. Oh, there's one of you. There's one of you. God bless your soul. The taking of notes in the history classes. But now, we can forget about taking notes. You can just tell us as students to write notes and AI can provide those notes for us. And you get the notes for us. And instead of us spending time writing notes, we can begin to engage. in the content than wasting time taking notes. In fact, we can even summarize all those beautiful historical volumes and begin to focus on engagement. If critical engagement with the content so that then I arrive at my own position is not learning, then what is learning? Promotion of critical thinking and reflection. The words critical thinking are going to be the words of the next generation. Critical thinking. That's what it's going to be. Because that has been made available to us. But the question is, are we poised for critical thinking? Our African students are the students that we've taught in a rote way. The professor reads, and we just master what the professor has said, we don't, I think, critically engage with the data ourselves. That needs to be something for the STI. Please, if I'm left with 20 minutes, tell me, because at the moment, I'm just waffling stuff, which is not as important to me as I would like it to be. Now, as an African scholar, as an African scholar, as an African scholar, I've learned a lesson, historical lesson in academia, which is having people discuss about you and never asking you I don't care the way you lecture or whatever. We all, you know, you visit America and they talk about, this is Brian, you know, he's doing a wonderful job in Africa. And then they start talking about how they love you, how they want to sponsor you. And they're not asking you how they should sponsor you. That is our African story. Now, I did not want to do the same with AI. So what did I do? I asked the AI. And I said, AR, I've learned lessons in a hard way. So AR, tell me, what are some of the benefits that you're going to give to the African context in the coming? And AR gave me seven ways in which it's going to transform our learning. Here are the ways. AR said, through chat, I'm using a platform called ChatGPT, because there are many platforms. I know that some of us that are gurus IT, so please, you will correct us when we get there, but now, just let me go with this one. ChatGBT. So, ChatGBT, number one, it says to me, it says, one, I'll give you access to education. Number two, I'll give you personalized learning. Number three, language translation. Number four, enhanced scholarship, community building, cultural relevance, resource So now let's talk about the process of theological education, right? Let's talk about the process of theological education. So we've already spoken about that. So promotion of critical thinking, the question of curriculum completion period, let's talk about that one quickly. Now, it takes one to two years to complete a certificate or a diploma. It takes three years to get a degree. are now old and you're still doing your PhDs for 10 years, 15 years, or whatever you've done. Now, if we are no longer grappling for resources, if we are no longer grappling for the data that we need, and the data has been made available to us, do we still need to take the same time to complete qualifications? I'm not going to answer that. That is a question of air. That is a question of air. No, Jesus Christ, he slept with this example for three years. Really. So that's why students must suffer for three years. I remember, I remember... I'm not a bright person, but I remember I did a thesis paper on an MA dissertation work, and I remember a professor saying to me, this is a PhD work. And only for me to be turned down by one professor to say, but a PhD must take four years. But the work was good enough, but the period wasn't good enough. You see how happy I am with it? Now, this is where I would like to dwell. And I have more than... Praise God. Praise God. I have 20 minutes, right? Thank you, sir. 20 minutes. This is where I would like to dwell. If your institution has not already begun We all need to revisit our academic policies, our regulations, and include in them the new baby on the block, AI. What are the permissibles of using AI? And the non-negotiables of using AI? How are you empowering your students to use AI? Because if you ignore AI and think that it's something that's going to go away, let me just prophesy to you, AI is not going away. It's not one of those things where people say, ah, you know, it's just these young people, they like shiny, shiny things, it's going to go. AI is not going away. And why am I saying AI is not going away? The amount of money that the children of the world are investing in AI, tells me that AI is not going away. So, policy updates. Our policy was formed by our missionary in 1957. That is what we are still doing. And so, possibly the students that you passed this semester used the AI And when we finally, when a guy like that guy then finds them later on and they are president in the middle, your institution is going to be corrupted. Your institution is going to be corrupted. So there's a need for us to consider AI seriously. This is a statement, you can see that I'm trending on a train here, it has moved. This is a statement that I've crafted, it's not coming from somewhere else. And it says this, if the statement, authenticity and integrity are tools of God's missiological agenda to reconcile the world to himself, I'll read it again. If the statement, authenticity and integrity are tools of God's missiological agenda to reconcile the world to itself, is allowed to govern attitudes towards plagiarism, then the past and present status quo cannot be allowed to prevail. Remember Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 20 to 23, where God says that my name is being maligned in the world because of you. If we allow church adolescence to go on, we as the African church, we have a 2030 agenda, 2050 agenda. We have this positivity about the African church in 2030 is going to be the biggest church, the African in 2050 is going to be the biggest church, and it's going to influence the world. Please don't talk to Zimbabweans about 28, because there's someone who wants to be the president then. He's always talking about 28, 28. So when we talk about 28, we're also thinking, okay, but there is a positivity about the future of the African church. Here comes the question. What sort of contribution is the African church going to make to the global church? when we are committed on steroids. What then that means is that every African produced, declared by our dissertation is going to be suspect before being read. I want the African nation to make a contribution. God has done something to Africa. We cannot ignore this. So plagiarism is a huge problem. And, therefore, here comes the issue. How do we deal with plagiarism? How do we deal with plagiarism? We deal with plagiarism by giving it its proper definition. You know, in academia, when you say plagiarized, plagiarized, it sounds nice, you know, it's like plagiarized. Ah, just plagiarized, I mean, plagiarized. No, call it by its proper name. What is plagiarism's proper name? It is sin. It's not stealing. It is sin. In fact, in fact, let me show you how plagiarism breaks six of the commandments of God. Just watch this. Commandment number one. You shall have no other gods before me. The plagiarizer intentionally ignores the command of God in order to attain a grade for a qualification of sorts. In other words, nothing will stand between the plagiarizer and the qualification, which has, in a sense, become a god in itself. Commandment number two, you shall not make idols. An idol is defined as anything that takes the place of God. Plagiarism is done at a high risk of the plagiarizer who has determined that the qualification to be attained is worth their every integrity and honor. In short, an idol. Commandment number three, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain or by goodness. When an educator or student in Bible education plagiarizes, they place the reputation of God, His people, and institutions on the line. God's mission to redeem the world through exemplary say in our devotion, you showed us that at the center of fellowship is the transformation of those that are in fellowship. Because we are in fellowship with one another, but we are in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ himself. In fellowship with one another and being transformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. God's mission to redeem the world through exemplary living and reputation is undermined. Therefore, this is taking God's name in vain. Commandment eight, you shall not steal. When an educator or student of the Bible claims that someone else's wickedness, such an act is stealing proper. Since academic work attracts financial reward and other related benefits, when an individual claims that someone else's work is their own, they have not robbed the original owner only financially, but of other unmeasurable benefits like accolades and reputation. We are here at Muganyo. Some of you are living two by two, some of you are living three by three, but those that are presenting some work are living by themselves in nice and comfortable homes. Accolades. These are benefits. Commandment number nine, you shall not bear false witness. This is my work. Do I need to even read that one? Commandment number ten, you shall not carve it. A plagiarizer. Am I supposed to stop? Okay. Sorry, me and technology, we are friends. So when it rings, I think that it wants me to do something. You shall not covet. A plagiarizer goes beyond coveting. That is wishing that what belongs to someone else should be theirs. The plagiarizer gate is literally taking someone's work and they say, now it's mine. Six of the commandments just broken by plagiarizing. And what does that do? That goes against the grain of the aims and the mission of theological education. You are seeking to transform someone, but they are now a thief. So they should not live, they should not qualify. That totally goes against the transformative nature of our theological education. So if the African church is going to make a worldwide contribution to the world, we must learn how to deal with the issue of plagiarism in the age of AI, where AI is now providing us with all the data that we need. So if you as an institution have not drafted a policy that shows the students their limits and their permissions on using AI, you have not begun. You can't regulate that which you don't understand. I know we have time to talk. I know we have time to talk. Now, how will AI change institutions of theological education? We are going to hit these ones very quickly. In terms of infrastructure, resources, the manuscripts are made available, discussions and so on. Administrational benefits. Through AI, you can put on the names of your students and ask AI to do wonders with that. You mark the register, how many students are paid, and so on. AI can help you do that. I know that general technology can help you do that, but AI can exponentially help you do that. Library benefits. Remember our sufferings for the Lord. I have suffered for the Lord. Why? How have you suffered for the Lord? I brought five suitcases full of books from America. And when I got to the border, they wanted me to pay. And I said, no, the lotters don't want me to pay. And they let me through. The facilities management, however, here comes the challenge. Job losses are a reality. And here's my advice to you, my brothers and sisters, a quick one, quick advice. My advice to you is start using AI or you will lose your jobs. That was the adage that I heard in America. That's how the Americans are speaking. Let's start using AI or we are going to lose our jobs. Because when you begin to use AI, you are inputting into AI and learning how to critically engage with AI. Then when you critically engage with AI, AI gives you time. And when you have time, then you have time to do research. And when you have time to do research, then you can write articles. Then you become someone that we need for opportunity. start using AI or you will lose your jobs. The final one, educators of Bible education, the benefits to the students and the benefits to the lecturers. Educators of Bible education, the relationship is being transposed. The relationship of Bible education is that the lecturers are the mentors. They take the place, in a particular way, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Disciples learned from the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we teach what we call the explicit curriculum and the implicit curriculum. The caught curriculum and the uncaught curriculum. What is the caught curriculum? The caught curriculum is me looking at the life of Dr. Roy Msasua. teaching that, what he does, how he prays, how he relates to his wife, how he talks to others, his demonstration of humility. That is why we buy-book education institutions, because we have what we call the null curriculum. And that may be changed by AI, because there's no person in AI. Discipleship is relational versus data access. Right? I think I put it there. Luke chapter 6 verse 38 to 40. This is Jesus. He told them a parable. Can a blind man eat a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like him. When AI becomes a teacher, who do you emulate? in the air. Here are my quick recommendations. Don't be angry with me. Please just talk with her. Thank you. Thank you. I like people to be happy. When you get angry with me, I just misunderstand what's going on. All right. So here are my recommendations. Here are the recommendations. Four recommendations. High-leveling evaluation. Let our questions and our course material be those of higher learning evaluations. What is higher learning evaluation? Higher learning evaluation is the evaluation that demands a student to demonstrate. Demonstrate your skills. Demonstrate your evaluation skills. Give me examples rather than just give me data. Right? Let's stop asking for data because we are not the sources of data anymore. Professor, your head is not full of data anymore. Data is out there. It is in the clouds. So if you want to know if a student has learned something, let them demonstrate the skill. Let them be like Jesus. After Jesus had been with the disciples, he sent them out to demonstrate the skills that he had taught them. Right? They went, he sent them out, and they came back, gave the report, and he said, alright, good, I think you've done a good job, but remember, it's about you being saved, not about demons and stuff like that, right? Remember? Minister skills versus data transfer. Critical thinking and reflection. Africa, we need critical thinking. Maybe we should have a, just a, Or maybe we should just have a seminar on critical thinking. What is critical thinking? Institutional principles updates a yesterday call. Please hear me out. Please hear me out. Please revisit your institutional policies. And finally, how will AI change education in Africa? This discussion here, you may disagree with me. It's fine. We'll have a cup of coffee later. I'm saying, I'm arguing that AI will definitely change education in Africa, and in these ways. Benefits for lecturers, educators, and the challenges therein. Benefits for students, and the challenges therein. Institutional benefits, and the challenges therein. So I am glad that amongst the How do we look at the challenges that AI brings, and we hone the benefits that AI can also give us. May the Lord, the gracious Lord, bless us as we move forward.