If there is one place reserved for authentic human connection in a community, it's the church, but more and more, churches are using artificial intelligence to connect with their congregations.

At Buckhead's Church of the Apostles, Dr. Michael Youssef is the man behind the ministry, guiding a congregation of 3,000.

Like many contemporary ministries, Youssef streams to tens of thousands more around the world.

"We're going to use every form of technology to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth," Youssef said.

Helping to fulfill that mission is what's inside one of the rooms in his church, the machine behind the ministry. Inside, computers speak to over 50,000 worshipers using AI through an app called My Faith Assistant.

"Because I think God created all of it, it's his creation, and we need to utilize it," he said.

Youssef and a team of experts, including Stephen Watson, are utilizing the AI-driven platform for what they call "pastoral care." It's a ministry in real time, like having a personal biblical counselor to deliver scriptural translation and also Youssef's own words.

"It is used as a biblical study aid and does not usurp or replace time that should be spent wrestling with the word and in prayer with God," Watson said.

While it may seem like a contradiction, more and more churches, dedicated to a spiritual connection to God and the pulpit, are using machine learning and AI to guide their flocks.

In one study that tracked over 6,000 church leaders since 2021, there was an 80% increase in the adoption of AI last year.

How does it work? CBS News Atlanta asked the app a question: Is the story of Jonah and the whale in the book of Jonah real or a metaphor?

"So, now we go into the answer," Watson says, pointing to the screen. "Scripture teaches us that the story of Jonah is a real historical event, and not merely a metaphor."

Like the more secular ChatGPT, My Faith Assistant offered a concise explanation, but here's where it is different. It drops the user into a video from the church that deals with the issue that they're asking about.  

There are concerns over the still-new technology's connection to faith. Dr. Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones, an assistant professor at Emory's Candler School of Theology, worries that other churches could push too far into AI.

"Is this helping us? Is this moving us closer to our mission and vision of who we are as people of God?" Adkins-Jones asked. "If the only place we can turn to care is to our computers or to our screens, perhaps that's a stronger reflection of a place where the church hasn't been who the church is called to be."

As AI continues to grow in religious spaces, there's still one role, at least for now, that comes with absolute job security.

"The call in our life is to say, 'Here's the truth, and here's the falsehood,'" Youssef said. "The choice is yours."