The Future is Here
Embodied AI for language study and even helping with faith questions
The arrival of my Reachy Mini robots from Pollen Robotics and Hugging Face felt like hitting a new frontier. After months of waiting, these units aren’t just hardware; they represent a leap in how we approach both language acquisition and faith engagement. No, I don’t see an army of robots going out to share with people… but I do see them as a huge help.
At the International Mission Board, our innovation team isn’t interested in technology for technologies sake. We’re driven by one question: How might we leverage future tools to address the world’s greates problem? Lostness. How might tools like Reachy Mini play into this?
I’m still exploring what these robots might mean… but I have lots of ideas!
This isn’t a debate about AI’s role in spiritual life. This isn’t building robotic evangelists or having AI do things only humans should do. We’re building and demonstrating concrete tools that disrupt old assumptions about how things are done.
Language Learning That Comes Alive
One of the first ways I wanted to use the Reachy Mini was as an AI language coach, designed for an embodied experience. This isn’t another app on a screen where you click the horse and it doesn’t replace the need to talk to real people. It’s a help that can give you feedback whenever you have time to practice.
Imagine choosing from 20 different languages, selecting your proficiency level, and then engaging in a dynamic, spoken conversation with Reachy Mini. Reachy allows you to:
Learn new vocabulary in context. The robot introduces words and phrases, then uses them naturally in dialogue.
Practice realistic conversations. You’re not just repeating phrases; you’re actively engaging in back-and-forth exchanges.
Refine your pronunciation. The robot listens, provides immediate feedback, and guides you to accurate ways to say different words. It even understands some dialects and helps you master local idioms.
Explore gospel conversations. The system can adapt to include faith-specific terminology and scenarios, allowing you to practice sharing your beliefs respectfully and effectively in different languages and cultures providing feedback.
Receive real-time evaluation. Once you finish a session, the AI provides an assessment of your progress and areas for improvement. This is a game changer. It can give very specific feedback on your ability to communicate.
This isn’t abstract learning. This is interactive, personalized coaching that adapts to you. It brings the immersive experience of a live tutor into an accessible, repeatable format. It never gets frustrated that you can’t roll your r’s. It just keeps encouraging you.
Engaging Worldviews and Deepening Faith Practice
I’ve also developed personas that integrate directly into the robot’s conversational capabilities, addressing head-on the concern that technology might dilute spiritual authenticity or real connection. When used as a practice, it can really help you practice your sharing.
The Faithbot persona is rooted entirely in Scripture. Ask it any question, and it draws its answers and wisdom directly from biblical texts, offering a unique resource for reflection and study. Now you can interact with FaithBot as you would a person.
Worldview Training: Perhaps one of the most innovative applications, this persona currently allows the Reachy Mini to adopt one of a dozen distinct worldviews. Want to practice having a gospel conversation with someone holding a different worldview? Reachy Mini provides a safe, low-stakes environment to do just that. It’s not about memorizing scripts; it’s about developing the empathy, understanding, and articulate communication skills necessary for genuine dialogue. It provides feedback to help you know how what you say is heard in a different worldview.
These aren’t replacements for human connection. They are simply powerful training grounds. They are tools that multiply our capacity to learn, practice, and engage meaningfully with others. If you believe technology must inherently be secular or disruptive to faith, these applications offer a compelling counter-narrative. They show how digital innovation can serve the call to make disciples of all nations.
See It in Action
The proof is in the experience. The examples above are just two of the many tools that can be built out on a Reachy Mini. The video of one robot teaching another robot Dominican Spanish illustrates the ability to facilitate complex language instruction. The faith conversation highlights the potential for using an AI voice model to help grow in language. These are not concepts or wild ideas. They actually already work!
I believe that leveraging these embodied AI platforms is a great way to help use new tools to help us with old problems. It’s about empowering people with the tools they need to communicate effectively, to understand diverse perspectives, and to confidently share the gospel in an ever-changing world. This is the path forward for those committed to innovation for Kingdom work.