In the pantheon of topics that might seem immune from the steady encroachment of AI, religion is at the top of the list. After all, religion is the search for divine truth in the human condition, and AI seemingly runs antithetical to all that. But is AI truly at-odds with the spiritual world?
In many ways, the intersection of AI and religion mirrors a similar juncture between spirituality and the early internet. In the ‘90s, many Christians saw the world wide web as a corrupting influence, though AI presents a very different conundrum than a sudden, massive infusion of data. Instead of shepherding believers and non-believers, alike, towards a wellspring of knowledge, AI offers the potential to polish, enhance, and in some cases, replace our species’ cognitive conceit – our ability to reason.
Thus, the Pope’s recent admonishment against “the temptation to prepare homilies with Artificial Intelligence”. AI “will never be able to share faith,” he said, and we must take great pains to exercise the mind like any other muscle.
Society is still wrestling with the proper application of AI, but most of us agree that it can’t foster a sense of community (yet). It can’t exude a warm feeling of empathy or compassion.
The National Association of Evangelicals beseeched the church to “champion what AI cannot: authentic community, deep discipleship and genuine spiritual formation.” “The best strategy for an AI-powered future is not just adopting technology but doubling down on what makes the church irreplaceable: authentic relationships, transformative teaching and Spirit-led ministry,” they said.
Indeed, while I’m not overly religious, if I were in need of spiritual comfort, I’d seek out the human touch.
Though even if we do accept AI as a useful tool to translate religious texts and perform administrative functions, there’s the issue of values.
We often think of technology as “ethically-neutral,” but language learning models (LLMs) are trained on a variety of sources – including secular ones – and so its worldview, as it were, can’t help but be biased in certain ways. Of course, that matters little if we’re using Chatbots for informational purposes, but anything beyond that involves some degree of subjective analysis.
And that’s enabled the rise of tools like Gloo, an AI platform that allegedly offers “verified” answers from “reliable sources” that are “grounded in faith-based principles”. After all, if pastors preach from a religious perspective, why shouldn’t AI also reflect those same values?
We like to think that AI transcends prior innovations (and in many ways, it has) but like any new technology, the proper application of AI can enhance the human condition – even in the search for the divine.
