Parishes are using AI to make event flyers, but an image with mangled hands or a misleading depiction of a real person can undermine the trust those notices are meant to build. The Diocese of Little Rock has set out concrete rules for AI-generated public content, including disclosure and limits on altering images of real people.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
An OSV News report published on 5 November describes parishes and other organisations using AI to produce promotional flyers. Parish volunteer Mim Scholle told OSV she found an image with a cluster of hands where a woman’s folded hands should have been. Connor McLaughlin of Truthly, which offers AI from a Catholic perspective, says AI can be useful when applied carefully, but poor results can make a parish appear not to care about its work.
Deacon Matthew Glover, chancellor and general counsel for the Diocese of Little Rock, described diocesan guidelines for AI use. They encourage judicious use, including because of environmental and copyright concerns. Staff may not create or alter an image of a real person without permission, and photos of minors or vulnerable adults must never be changed. Public content made with AI must disclose that use.
Why it matters
These are specific rules for one diocese, not a universal standard. But they address practical problems that reach beyond church notices: fabricated or altered images can mislead viewers, and an undisclosed AI-generated flyer may leave people unsure what they are looking at. Disclosure, permission and limits on editing give organisations a starting point that is more useful than a general instruction to “use AI responsibly”.
The report also offers a reminder that speed is not the only measure of a good design. McLaughlin says AI can help overworked parish staff, while Scholle and Texas-based creator Alden McRae argue that human attention and design choices matter. McRae demonstrates redesigning a church social flyer using Canva. The dispute is not simply whether AI can make a poster. It is whether the result is accurate, appropriate and worth putting the organisation’s name to.
Our read
Little Rock’s rules are a useful, concrete example: disclose AI in public content, get permission before depicting or altering a real person, and do not change images of minors or vulnerable adults. Organisations making their own rules could start with those basics, then add a human check for accuracy and context. A flyer is small; the trust attached to it is not.
What to watch
- Whether other dioceses or organisations adopt specific AI disclosure and image-use rules.
- Whether disclosure becomes standard practice for AI-generated promotional images.
- Whether organisations publish clear review rules for checking accuracy before an AI-made image goes public. Activity teaser AI can make a parish flyer quickly. It can also produce an image with a rather alarming number of hands, or leave viewers unclear about what is real. The Diocese of Little Rock’s guidelines set out practical boundaries: disclose AI use in public content, get permission before creating or altering an image of a real person, and never change photos of minors or vulnerable adults. Those rules are one diocese’s approach, but they offer a useful starting point for organisations working out where AI belongs in public-facing design.
Discussion spark: Should organisations be required to disclose AI-generated promotional images, or is disclosure only necessary when the image could mislead people?
Sources and evidence
- Source update (5 November 2026, 22:36 UTC)
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