Well, it’s here: an automatic encyclopedia article generator.
Try it out:
storm.genie.stanford.edu
Here is an example of an article I generated. The first paragraph is too long, but it looks good otherwise:
startthis.org:9932/driv…
I discussed how we should react to such a thing here:
My feedback on the generated article:
The genuine strengths are few, I’m afraid. The problems are numerous:
1. The article is called “Eucharistic symbolism and memorialism,” but it is generated as a general introduction to the history of Eucharistic thought and practice. It does not even mention Zwingli, the great Protestant theologian and defender of memorialism, whose conflict with Luther was famous. Barely define or give much information about the specific doctrinal positions mentioned in the title (symbolism and memorialism).
2. Not only that, it is actually biased toward a Catholic view.
3. Even more offensively, it is written as if the Christian church had one monolithic view, with slightly different emphases. This is very misleading. Someone ignorant of the topic might and learning about it for the first time would simply be misled.
4. The first paragraph is much too long.
5. The language is full of vague phraseology that means nothing in particular; there is a preference for long sentences, passive voice, and latinate word choice. The result is akin to what we used to call “C student” work. Eye-glazing. LLMs are infamous for this style, but they are capable of better with the right prompts.
The outline is sort of coherent, but it would be better to separate historical theology from an exposition of the general philosophical and theological issues. For that matter, it would have been better to separate theological development from liturgical development. And of course lumping all denominations and practices together in one outline, and then, within the historical part, giving so few names and dates, was a puzzling choice.
It’s an OK start, but I would expect better, especially by now, with up-to-date tools.
