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Church Leaders Tackled AI Fraud and Risks

The Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network highlighted AI dangers to seniors during its annual conference.

Updated on Sept. 23, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence

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The Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network is prioritizing AI literacy to help protect older adults from increasing financial fraud and scams. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The Rev. Dr. Andy Morgan keynoted the Rooted in Hope conference to address rising fraud risks for older adults. His talk followed the 227th General Assembly's approval of a policy paper detailing AI ethics and environmental impacts.

Why it matters

Older adults are increasingly targeted by AI-driven scams due to their financial resources and vulnerability to urgent requests. Developing AI literacy is essential to closing the significant knowledge gap between older and younger generations.

Only 20% of older adults can identify AI-related fraud red flags, compared to 80% of younger adults. Narrow AI functions by using probability and math to predict the next word in a sequence.

The players

Andy Morgan

He serves as the Director of Faith Formation at First Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network

This organization advocates for the needs and spiritual growth of elderly members within the church.

The details

Morgan developed the AI Fluency section for the Church AI Toolkit and promotes the PATCH strategy, which encourages people to pause, use safe words, trace sources, verify information, and call back known numbers. The Church is also calling for AI developers to address environmental resource consumption, specifically the power and water usage required by data centers.

Timeline

  1. In 2024, Americans over 60 lost nearly $5 billion to fraud.

  2. The 227th General Assembly approved an AI policy paper in the summer of 2026.

  3. The Rooted in Hope conference was held in September 2026.

The Tech Race

This effort aligns with the policy framework established by The Algorithm and the Almighty to address ethical concerns. It reflects a growing industry movement to integrate technical literacy with moral safeguards as AI systems become more prevalent.

Seniors are encouraged to adopt the PATCH strategy to mitigate the risk of falling victim to increasingly sophisticated scams. Implementing these simple verification steps can help protect personal savings and prevent unauthorized access to financial accounts.

The takeaway

The gap in AI literacy between generations remains a critical vulnerability that requires proactive education. Families can improve safety by establishing family safe words and committing to verifying all urgent financial requests.

Further reading

For more information on the impact of technology, explore the Artificial Intelligence section.

More information

Access the AI learning and discernment tool for additional resources on navigating technology safely.

Source note: This article includes information reported by PC(USA).

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Do you trust your ability to identify AI-generated scams and misinformation?