Some Seed Scroll features use AI to help you search, ask questions and draft studies. This page explains plainly which features those are, where their answers come from, what we send and how answers are checked. You can use Seed Scroll fully without any of them.
Last updated October 16, 2026
Reading Scripture uses no AI. Neither do your downloaded translations, regular search, Strong's, the lexicons, the interlinear, Hebrew and Greek word studies, cross-references, highlights, bookmarks, notes or reading plans.
The Bible text, regular search and your notes also work offline. "For You" suggestions are not AI either. They follow simple rules based on what you read and follow, and they tell you why ("Because you read Romans").
Most AI features are part of Premium, and none of them run until you ask a question, tap a button or submit something. Premium members can turn AI features off in Reader Settings. Anything an AI wrote, such as a generated study or plan, carries an "AI-assisted" label wherever it appears.
| Feature | Runs when | Answers checked |
|---|---|---|
| AI Bible search | You submit a search. Regular search runs as you type. | Yes, by a second AI pass |
| Generate or expand a study | You tap Generate, from a topic, your notes, a file, a web page or a YouTube video | Yes, by a second AI pass |
| AI reading plans | You tap Generate | Yes, by a factual review |
| Chapter Guide | You ask a question at the end of a chapter | Written rules only |
| Atlas Guide | You ask a question on the Bible map | Written rules only |
| Highlighted verses from a photo | You import a photo of your printed Bible | You confirm each verse before it is saved |
| Text from photos and handwriting | You scan a page or ask to read your margin notes | You see the text before using it |
| Historical background notes | You open a verse's history tab | English shows only notes we have reviewed; Spanish notes are labeled until reviewed |
| Premium recording transcripts | After a recording is backed up to your account | Not needed: it is a transcript of your own audio |
No AI feature searches the web or browses the internet. Before the AI writes anything, Seed Scroll looks up the relevant verses and reference entries itself, using ordinary search: matching words, references, topics and cross-references. Those passages go to the model as its only sources, together with what you asked or submitted, and it is told to answer from them alone and not add facts from memory. We give it the material rather than teach it new beliefs.
The material comes from:
Licensed translations, such as the Cepher editions, are never sent to an AI provider.
The one time our server goes online for you is when you paste a link to build a study, such as a web page or a YouTube video. The server then reads that one page or video. AI features do need an internet connection, because each request goes to a server.
We use standard models from established providers. We have not trained or customized them; they follow our written instructions and the source material we include with each request.
Live transcription of your recordings runs entirely on your phone, using an open model called Whisper.
Only what a feature needs is sent to the AI provider: your question, the photo, the notes you paste, the link, or, for a Premium transcript, the recording's audio. Search, guide and study requests also carry the Bible passages and public-domain reference entries Seed Scroll looked up for them. Google, Anthropic and AssemblyAI process what we send under business terms that do not let them train their models on it.
Seed Scroll keeps generated studies in your account until you delete them or your account. Our logs record counts and timings, never what you wrote. You can choose to keep recordings on your phone only, and then neither the audio nor the transcript leaves your device.
The full details are in our Privacy Policy.
For AI search and generated studies, a second AI pass checks each sentence against the passages it was given. Any sentence it isn't highly confident about is removed, and a note tells you something was left out. If the check can't run, nothing is shown.
The Chapter and Atlas guides don't get that second check. They are held to written rules: no doctrine, no interpretation and no devotional application. The Chapter Guide turns down questions that ask for interpretation.
None of this is a guarantee, and AI can still be wrong. Verse references open directly in the reader so you can check them, and the historical notes list their sources. These tools are there to help you study. They do not settle what Scripture means.
Questions? Write to contact@seedscroll.app.
