Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Powered Evangelism among Digital Natives: Insights from Social Media Outreach in Ibadan South West Oyo State

Social media has revolutionised how evangelism is used to catch digital natives who grew up in an environment of connectivity. This paper examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) might increase evangelistic efforts through social media using predictive algorithms, personalisation of content, and automated chatbots. The study analyses how AI technologies are deployed to improve the effectiveness of the engagement of the religious message with technology-savvy and younger audiences. It utilises quantitative analysis of the level of response to the AI-enhanced evangelistic outreach and input from the spiritual leadership using these technological tools. The result indicates that innovations in artificial intelligence contributed to an enhancement in interaction rates by 40% among users employing alternative methods alongside AI and including chatbots. However, data privacy, data authenticity, and the question of how much automation is desirable in a business environment were brought in. The research findings highlight that while leveraging AI evangelism offers several benefits in engaging the digital native, any such practice has to be informed by ethical considerations. Faith-based organisations can be encouraged to incorporate AI into their evangelism outreach methods, but human engagement must still be available to ensure the authenticity of religious engagement. Additional studies can be done regarding long-term implications for authenticity, privacy, and the ethical use of AI in faith-based perspectives.