Christianity Today’s editorial code of ethics states, “Decisions about what we cover and how we do our work are made by our editorial staff, not by those who provide financial support.”
When we run a story, positive or negative, about an organization or individual with whom CT has a financial relationship, we try to disclose that. I don’t know all the relationships, nor do our other editors. Even if I did, since I don’t read every article before publication, something may appear in print without such a disclosure.
That happened on Monday. One of our excellent freelancers, Jeffrey Bilbro, wrote in “People of the Chatbot” that “the Christian AI company Gloo seems to think it has baptized chatbots by adding training data that purportedly ensures the answers are biblically aligned and accurate. But to the extent that our interactions with Scripture amount to merely extracting words or themes that match the current shape of our souls, we’ll forgo opportunities to conform our souls to the cadences of Scripture.”
Bilbro added another sentence of criticism: “Gloo—like its many Christian AI competitors—touts its ability to tailor chatbots to different denominational preferences, reinforcing consumer culture’s you-do-you relativism.” We should have noted that CT has connections with Gloo through shared board members, advertising and asset sales, affiliated vendors, and financial stock investments.
In this case, no one can accuse CT of shading an article to favor an organization with which we have a relationship: The article was critical. The next time CT refers to Gloo, it may be positive, or it may again be negative. Either way, it’s important for you to know that we ask regarding every article: Is the subject important? Is it something readers will want to know about? And, most important: Is what we write true? Does it help readers make sense of the world through a biblical lens?
We’ll always try to do the best we can. And we’ll try to disclose relationships.
Marvin Olasky is editor in chief of Christianity Today.
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