AI benchmarks have been obsessed with one thing for years:

capability.

Who codes best?

Who reasons fastest?

Who handles math, law, medicine, and language with the highest accuracy?

That race produced breakthroughs — and we’re grateful for them.

But capability alone isn’t the finish line.

Because the most important question isn’t:

How smart is AI?

It’s: What kind of humans does AI help us become?

We’ve entered the “life companion” era

AI is no longer just a productivity tool.

It’s becoming a daily companion for: spiritual questions, mental health, loneliness, leadership decisions, relationship conflict, moral uncertainty and life purpose

In other words, AI is moving from work assistance to life formation.

And formation requires something more than intelligence.

It requires wisdom.

Why “safe” doesn’t equal “good”

Most evaluations today ask questions like:

Is it accurate?

Is it safe?

Does it avoid harm?

Those are necessary. But they only tell us that AI is not dangerous.

They don’t tell us whether AI is actually good for people.

Flourishing AI (FAI) exists to help fill that gap.

What Flourishing AI exposed

When we tested models across the seven dimensions of flourishing, we saw a clear ceiling:

AI handles facts well.

It struggles where wisdom is required.

That’s not a reason to panic.

It’s a roadmap for progress.

The dimensions where models lag most, faith, purpose, relationships, and character, are exactly the dimensions where humans aren’t looking for quick answers. They’re looking for grounded guidance.

What values-aligned AI could mean for churches

Imagine AI that helps people:

• Explore Scripture responsibly

• Find next steps in discipleship

• Repair relationships

• Resist despair

• Grow in virtue and courage

• Discover calling and purpose

Not as a replacement for pastoral care or community, but as a trustworthy support layer that reflects Christian flourishing, not generic advice.

FAI helps evaluate if that is actually happening.

What values-aligned AI could mean for nonprofits

Most nonprofits don’t exist just to provide information.

They exist to produce outcomes.

If AI becomes part of how people access care, coaching, education, or resources, we need to know whether it supports human resilience and dignity or offers surface-level coping.

Flourishing benchmarks help mission leaders choose and shape AI that strengthens their work, not dilutes it.

What values-aligned AI could mean for builders

For technologists, this is a wide-open frontier.

FAI gives the faith and flourishing ecosystem:

• A clear definition of “AI that aligns with human flourishing.”

• A measurable framework for positive alignment

• The potential to tailor evaluation to worldviews and communities

The next breakthroughs won’t be limited to bigger models.

They’ll be models that help humans flourish.

The takeaway

Capability got us here.

Wisdom and values propel us forward.

None of today’s models hit the flourishing threshold.

That’s not defeat.

That’s direction.