Chaplains' Reflections on the Design and Usage of AI for Conversational Care
Joel Wester, Samuel Rhys Cox, Henning Pohl, Niels van Berkel
TL;DR
The paper investigates how chaplains—experts in non-clinical conversational care—perceive AI chatbots for everyday well-being. Using a hands-on design-reflection method with the GPT Builder, 18 Nordic chaplains created four GPTs targeted at fictional student profiles and reflected on their care practices. The analysis reveals four core themes—Listening, Connecting, Carrying, and Wanting—framed within an attunement lens, illustrating the gap between current text-based chatbots and the relational depth of pastoral care. The findings offer design guidance for attunement-informed chatbots that support well-being in non-clinical contexts and underscore the value of stakeholder involvement in human-centered AI design.
Abstract
Despite growing recognition that responsible AI requires domain knowledge, current work on conversational AI primarily draws on clinical expertise that prioritises diagnosis and intervention. However, much of everyday emotional support needs occur in non-clinical contexts, and therefore requires different conversational approaches. We examine how chaplains, who guide individuals through personal crises, grief, and reflection, perceive and engage with conversational AI. We recruited eighteen chaplains to build AI chatbots. While some chaplains viewed chatbots with cautious optimism, the majority expressed limitations of chatbots' ability to support everyday well-being. Our analysis reveals how chaplains perceive their pastoral care duties and areas where AI chatbots fall short, along the themes of Listening, Connecting, Carrying, and Wanting. These themes resonate with the idea of attunement, recently highlighted as a relational lens for understanding the delicate experiences care technologies provide. This perspective informs chatbot design aimed at supporting well-being in non-clinical contexts.