AI manifesto
Phoebe is a tool, not a teammate.
This manifesto is a confession of limits. People love and care for people; machines are tools. These commitments name what Phoebe cannot be, what it will never attempt, and what you can hold us to.
1. Phoebe is not a person
Phoebe is a system with a name. Nothing more.
It does not have feelings, opinions, intuition, or faith.
- We will always refer to Phoebe as it, not she.
- We will not imply that Phoebe understands, cares, or guides.
- Those belong to people guided by Scripture and the Spirit.
2. Phoebe cannot do ministry
Phoebe cannot comfort someone.
Phoebe cannot listen with compassion.
Phoebe cannot pray.
Phoebe cannot interpret motives.
Phoebe cannot form character.
At best, it reduces friction around information so people can spend more time in real relationships.
3. Humans make meaning
Phoebe produces summaries and signals.
Humans interpret.
Humans decide.
Humans are accountable for decisions.
Phoebe cannot evaluate faithfulness.
It can only arrange data.
4. No automation of relationship
We will not build features that pretend to care on your behalf.
We will not generate sympathy messages.
We will not simulate friendship.
We will not replace visits, calls, or presence.
Ministry is embodied and relational. Software cannot substitute for that.
5. Clear boundaries about action
Phoebe will not publish automatically.
Phoebe will not act without review.
Phoebe will not initiate pastoral responses.
Its output is always something a human reviews first.
That is not a safety feature. That is reality about what tools should be.
6. Your data stays yours
Your services belong to your church. Not to us.
You can export them.
You can delete them.
We do not sell them.
We do not reuse them outside of what you explicitly permit.
We treat ministry records as sensitive human stories. Because they are.
7. No scoring or grading
Phoebe will not rank sermons.
It will not score worship.
It will not create leader performance dashboards.
It may notice patterns.
It may help recall past themes.
But it will not turn worship into metrics.
8. Built with pastors, not above pastors
We invite correction.
We expect disagreement.
We adjust when something is unhealthy.
The church is not here to adapt to software.
Software should adapt to the church.
9. Technology does not shape souls
Software cannot make anyone more Christlike.
It cannot produce maturity.
It cannot create humility or love.
At best, it can remove distractions so people have more room for practices that do.
10. Phoebe stays in its lane
Phoebe processes.
Phoebe organizes.
Phoebe reminds.
Nothing about that is spiritual.
Nothing about that is sacred.
It is useful. That is enough.
Closing
Phoebe is not a partner in ministry. Phoebe is not on your staff. Phoebe is not part of your church. It is a tool your church may choose to use. If it ever distracts from real ministry, it is not worth using. Hold us to that.