According to Artificial Intelligence, the Cranach blog that you are now reading is the 8th best Christian blog! OK, let me explain. . . .
My fellow Patheos blogger Adrian Warnock, a British physician and Christian author, has been defending the genre of the “personal Christian blog,” one written by an individual person rather than a website of an organization. He says that “Christian blogs are far from dead,” which I guess some people have been saying, and that they are a valuable “source for personal insights, spiritual inspiration, practical advice, and biblical insights,” giving “encouragement through life’s challenges, personal growth ideas, and relatable stories from fellow believers.”
Whereupon he assembled a large list of working Christian blogs and devised criteria for ranking them. He then asked the AI tool ChatGPT to apply the criteria to the blogs, giving each one a score and ranking them accordingly. Here are the benchmarks, from Top Personal Christian Blogs: Ranked by AI Composite Score:
- “Personal Stories and Vulnerability (20%): How well does the blog share personal experiences and show vulnerability?
- Biblical Insights (20%): How deep and insightful are the biblical reflections and teachings?
- Consistency and Engagement (20%): How frequently is new content posted, and how engaged is the author with their audience?
- Community and Support (10%): Does the blog foster a sense of community and offer support to its readers?
- Relevance and Relatability (10%): How relevant and relatable is the content to current issues and everyday life?
- Inspirational Content (10%): How inspiring is the content for readers seeking encouragement?
- External Validation and Influence (10%): What kind of recognition or influence does the blog have within the broader Christian community?”
He then asked ChatGPT to list the Top 40 and to write a brief description of each one. Here are the top two:
1. Dave Armstrong – Biblical Evidence for Catholicism – Score: 89
“Dave is known for his blog “Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,” where he provides in-depth theological discussions and apologetics, making complex religious concepts accessible to a broad audience.”
2. Ann Voskamp – A Holy Experience – Score: 88
“Ann, a farmer’s wife, combines poetic prose with deep biblical insights on her blog “A Holy Experience.” She offers a sanctuary of encouragement and spiritual reflection from a contemplative and evangelical approach, resonating deeply with readers seeking inspiration and grace in everyday life.”
And here is how ChatGPT ranked Cranach and what it said about us:
8. Gene Veith – Cranach: The Blog of Veith – Score: 78
“Gene offers insights into culture, education, and theology from a Lutheran perspective. His academic background and clear writing style make his blog both informative and engaging.”
I got a C+! I’ll take that. I probably got marked down on “showing vulnerability.” But what kind words from ChatGPT, which has evidently forgotten or forgiven the bad things I have said about it (e.g., here and here). Now we see not only Artificial Intelligence but Artificial Taste!
UPDATE: Now Cranach is listed as #9, but with a higher grade of 80. The AI must still be live.
Another thing: How does ChatGPT have access to my blog? Is it a subscriber? If so, does it take the ad-free option?
Seriously, though I feel ridiculously gratified by appearing on this list, I do recognize its limits. Adrian has set the algorithms according to what he likes in a blog. Other readers would weigh these criteria differently and would have criteria of their own. Still, this is an interesting list. Adrian’s blog came in at #5. There are quite a few Catholics and progressives. Patheos writers are well-represented. See the complete list here.
I’m intrigued that the AI technology can now take on evaluative tasks, as long as the standards are clearly spelled out. I’m curious, though, how it does that. How does it recognize “deep and insightful” Biblical reflections? How does it measure how “inspiring” a blog is to its readers?
At any rate, I salute Adrian for his creative and quite useful application of AI technology, which has put me on to some good-sounding blogs that I wasn’t aware of.
Towards that end, Adrian has devised another clever and useful piece of technology: a widget that gives a brief up-to-the-minute summary of the latest posts from the top blogs, including some beyond the top 40!
He gives the code that you can paste into your RSS reader so that the summaries appear on your own website or blog. Or you can bookmark his post Are Christian Blogs Dead? Why I Still Identify as a Blogger (scroll down to the end) to see the continually updated summaries.
I’m sure I’ll be consulting that site just to see what topics are being discussed on the blogosphere and what issues churches from a wide range of traditions are facing. And I’m glad that Cranach is in the mix.
UPDATE: Adrian has done something similar with organization blogs, those with multiple authors representing a particular ministry. The rankings are here. The widget with the continual updates of the blogs’ content is here.
ILLUSTRATION: I’ve been using versions of Cranach’s seal, a bit of heraldry featuring a crowned dragon with a ring that Lucas Cranach used to sign his paintings, to go with our special posts, “Monday Miscellany” and Friday’s weekend “Discussions.” Last week I used another one for “Blog News,” explaining about what I learned about our Disqus commenting software. This week we have another bit of “Blog News,” so I might make that an occasional feature, illustrated with this color version of Cranach’s seal, which we used to use as our logo when this blog was young.
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