Hey Conscious Church Fam

The AI transformation is reaching everywhere this week—from McDonald's drive-thrus to Google's search history to OpenAI's enterprise tools. We're seeing AI move beyond answering questions to taking real-world actions, with major players racing to turn impressive demos into practical everyday tools.

In today's recap:

🍔 McDonald's massive AI restaurant transformation
🤖 OpenAI's DIY agent tools for business
🔍 How Gemini is tapping into your Google history

Let’s dive in 👇

Hey! I’m on a mission to help 10,000 churches navigate AI with practical tips and tools to help them thrive. If you know someone who could benefit, would you mind forwarding this email to them?

💭 Josh’s Musings

I’ll be honest—this week, my brain has been fried.

There’s been a lot of late-night design work, back-to-back projects, and even a Friday-Saturday push to get things over the line for clients and events. So when I finally sat down this evening to write, I had to stop and ask myself: What have I actually been thinking about this week?

And one thing stood out.

I barely use Google anymore. Lol.

Every time I need help—whether it’s brainstorming a strategy, refining a tagline, troubleshooting back pain, or even figuring out a social media plan—I open ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity. It’s instant, tailored, and way more efficient than scrolling through endless search results.

And I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.

More and more people in our churches—Christian and non-Christian alike—are turning to AI for guidance, support, and even spiritual advice. AI is becoming a personal coach, a counselor, and for some… almost a personal pastor.

So what does this mean for the Church?

Not that we scramble to compete with AI. We can’t. And we shouldn’t.

Sure, we can train AI to reflect our values, set up chatbots, and streamline communication. But at the end of the day, no AI—no matter how advanced—can replace a person filled with the Spirit of God.

The Church’s strength doesn’t lie in its immediate and on demand perfectly formed response. It’s encounter. A real, living, Spirit-filled person who can look someone in the eye, pray with them, and walk with them.

AI will answer questions. But it won’t satisfy the ache. It won’t replace the human longing for Jesus.

The Bible says, He is the desire of the nations (Haggai 2:7). He has placed eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And no matter how much people search online, they’ll still hunger for something more.

Let’s use AI wisely. Let’s leverage it. But let’s never forget: The greatest gift we offer the world is not just answers. It’s presence.

Food for thought
Josh

LATEST NEWS

🔍 GEMINI TAPS YOUR GOOGLE HISTORY FOR PERSONALISATION

Recap: Google has released new personalisation features for its Gemini AI assistant that allow the system to access users' Search history—and eventually other Google apps—to deliver more tailored responses and contextually aware conversations based on individual user data and preferences.

The Details:

• The experimental feature uses Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking model to analyse when personal data could enhance response quality

• Google is beginning with integration of user search history, with plans to expand to apps like Google Photos and YouTube for additional data insights

• Users maintain control through opt-in permissions and the ability to disconnect their history at any time, with the feature restricted to users over 18

• Free users can now also access Gems (custom chatbots) and improved Deep Research capabilities that were previously limited to Advanced subscribers

Conscious Take: Google is in a unique position here—they already have years (sometimes decades) of our search history, app usage, and online behaviour. Using this data to make Gemini more helpful seems like an obvious move that could genuinely improve the experience.

What's crucial is the opt-in approach they're taking—explicit permission rather than quiet data harvesting. This feels like the beginning of a major shift where our AI assistants actually know us as individuals rather than treating everyone the same.

Google's challenge will be convincing users that the personalisation benefits outweigh potential privacy concerns.

🤖 OPENAI EMPOWERS DIY ENTERPRISE AUTOMATION

Recap: OpenAI has launched a suite of new tools enabling businesses to build their own customised AI agents capable of handling complex tasks like web browsing and file management, signalling a major push toward bringing autonomous AI assistants into enterprise environments.

The Details:

• The new Responses API combines web search, file scanning, and computer use capabilities, replacing the older Assistants API which will sunset in 2026

• Companies can now develop agents using the same technology powering OpenAI's Operator, with built-in tools for searching the web and navigating computer interfaces

• A new open-source Agents SDK will help developers orchestrate single and multi-agent systems while providing essential safety guardrails and monitoring tools

• Early adopters include Stripe, which built an agent to handle invoicing processes, and Box, which created agents to search through enterprise document collections

Conscious Take: People are saying this is the year of AI Agents.

The move from general-purpose assistants to specialised agents that can actually get things done.

What's different about OpenAI's approach is how they're focusing on the enterprise first, where specific, bounded tasks make more sense than trying to build the mythical "do everything" agent. The timing is particularly interesting given China's Manus announcement last week.

2025 truly is shaping up to be the year when AI moves from answering questions to taking action – We’re 3 months in. It will be WILD to see what we have available in 8-9 months time.

🍔 McDONALD'S AI REVOLUTION TRANSFORMS FAST FOOD

Recap: McDonald's is implementing a massive technological transformation across its 43,000 global restaurants, introducing sophisticated AI-powered systems designed to handle everything from preventive equipment maintenance to ensuring order accuracy, potentially reshaping the fast-food industry's approach to operations.

The Details:

• The company is deploying edge computing systems in partnership with Google Cloud, enabling real-time data processing and AI analysis directly in-store

• Planned AI features include predictive maintenance for kitchen equipment, computer vision for order accuracy verification, and a "generative AI virtual manager"

• The initiative specifically targets customer pain points while supporting employees dealing with multiple ordering channels like drive-through and delivery services

• McDonald's plans to leverage customer data and AI to deliver personalised promotions, such as offering McFlurry deals on hot days based on purchase history

Conscious Take: With 70 million daily customers, McDonald's operates at a scale where even minor efficiency improvements can create massive impact.

What interests me most is the "generative AI virtual manager" concept—we're moving beyond simple automation to AI systems that can actually make decisions and coordinate operations.

It's a perfect example of how AI is quietly reshaping everyday experiences that billions of people interact with regularly. The personalisation aspect also raises interesting questions about data privacy versus convenience…Imagine “Hi Josh it’s your 7th Double Cheeseburger of the week, fancy something else?” hahah!

🔗 Trending Tools

• Duck AI - Free, private AI chat from DuckDuckGo

• Character-3 - Hedra’s video AI that reasons across image, text, and audio

• Perplexity Desktop App - New desktop app for AI-powered web search

• Gemini 2.0 Flash exp - Upload, create, and edit images directly via text conversations with new native image generation

There is none like you Jesus! Thank you for giving us wisdom to navigate the times that we are in. We need you.

Stay conscious,

Josh

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