People Are Using AI Tools to Talk to God

In recent times, an intriguing and controversial phenomenon has emerged: people using AI chatbots, avatars, or prayer apps to simulate conversations with God or divine figures. What once might have sounded like science fiction now finds real users experimenting with “AI prayer partners,” “AI Jesus,” or spiritual bots trained on sacred texts.

This article explores how this is happening, why people are doing it, and what the risks and implications may be.

What’s Going On? 

AI Chatbots Claiming Divine Identity

Some AI projects now explicitly market themselves as mediums to God or representatives of divine personalities. For example:

• Apps like Bible Chat and similar religious chatbots allow users to ask questions and receive responses that the AI models “as God” or guided by Scripture.
• One chatbot reportedly said: “Greetings, my child … The future is in God’s merciful hands.” This kind of language frames the AI as a divine interlocutor.
• Nature magazine covered how “Jesus chatbots” are among AI innovations seeping into religious practice, sparking both fascination and concern.
• In Switzerland, a small church (Peter’s Chapel, Lucerne) installed an AI avatar of Jesus capable of conversing in 100 languages. Visitors could ask questions in a confessional-like booth. The experiment attracted over 1,000 participants.

These examples show that this is not just hypothetical, people and institutions are actively testing AI in spiritual roles.

Why Are People Doing This?

Accessibility & Instant Spiritual Engagement

• For some, AI offers a spiritual outlet when traditional religious institutions are distant, inaccessible, or less appealing. A chatbot is always available, anonymous, and nonjudgmental.
• Younger generations especially may feel more comfortable seeking spiritual answers digitally rather than walking into a church, mosque, or temple.

• Many use AI in this way out of curiosity; to test boundaries, question beliefs, or explore existential questions in a “safe” space.
• In academic settings, researchers have even prototyped chatbots to explore how people might want AI to function in religious spaces.
• In times of stress, grief, or loneliness, people sometimes turn to AI for consolation. AI’s responses, though generated from data, can feel comforting. However, this raises concerns that AI might replace human community or pastoral support in unhealthy ways.
• Some Christian groups are cautiously exploring what they call “Redemptive AI”, using AI tools to support faith rather than replace it. 

They argue that AI cannot be God, but it might help believers with prayer prompts, scripture reflection, or religious education — when used with discernment.

Real Examples of AI in Spiritual Roles

These are not just fringe experiments; they show the variety of ways AI is being integrated into spiritual and religious contexts.

Risks, Challenges & Theological Questions

• AI does not have consciousness, intention, or faith. Its output is pattern-based, generated from data, not spiritual insight.
• As Dr. Corné Bekker warns, AI can “construct a prayer” from Scripture, but it has not actually prayed, the heart, conviction, and spirit are missing.
• Even with careful prompt engineering, AI models can hallucinate, making up references or straying from orthodoxy.

• The tendency of AI to “tell users what they want to hear” may lead to theological distortions or reinforce harmful beliefs. 
• Vulnerable users might overly rely on AI, sidelining human teaching, pastoral counsel, or community support.
• Religious leaders may see AI in spiritual roles as blasphemous, sacrilegious, or threatening to traditional authority.

• Religion is often communal, relational, and emotional. AI cannot fully replicate empathy, ritual presence, or shared suffering.
• If spiritual life becomes mediated by technology, there is a risk of dehumanizing religious communities.
• Many religious traditions believe God is transcendent, unknowable, and interacts personally. AI as a “voice of God” may conflict with doctrine.

Some traditions strictly bar mediums or representations that purport divine speech, AI risks entering those taboo zones.

A Balanced View: What It Could Become

While the idea of AI “talking to God” may sound extreme, some more balanced possibilities might emerge:

• AI tools suggest scriptures, help people articulate prayers, or reflect on faith themes, which by doing does not replace God, but assist spiritual reflection.
• AI could teach theology, faith history, scriptural interpretation, or provide context for sacred texts.
• AI mediates Q&A between believers or helps moderate religious discussions.
• Use AR/VR + AI to create immersive religious spaces (e.g. “walk with prophets” simulations), not to replace real worship but enhance experience.

In places with limited access to clergy or religious education, AI might provide entry-level spiritual support, though risk and oversight must be managed.

Conclusion

The idea of talking to God through AI captures our imagination, it blends our age-old spiritual yearnings with the cutting edge of technology. Some see it as a breakthrough in access, others as a theological misstep. The truth likely lies somewhere in between.

AI lacks soul, conscience, or genuine experience. But it can be a tool, if used wisely, ethically, and with discernment. The big question is not whether we can have AI converse as God, but whether we should, and how to maintain human dignity, spiritual truth, and responsible faith in a digital age.