What if AI and religion had a converging relationship rather than a parallel one?
There's an urgent need to understand how technology is reshaping belief systems, identity, and the human experience itself.
As AI becomes increasingly embedded in our daily lives, its intersection with religion raises profound questions.
In this episode of Belief in the Future podcast, host David Zvi Kalman and guest Beth Singler explore the many ways that technology and religion have become enmeshed — from AI-assisted sermons, to robot priests in Buddhist temples, to tech leaders framing AI in spiritual terms.
Listen with the below player.
As AI becomes increasingly embedded in our daily lives, its intersection with religion raises profound questions. Media coverage, like The New York Times piece on AI-generated sermons, often presents these cases as isolated curiosities rather than signs of a larger shift. Beth Singler, an anthropologist at the University of Zurich and a leading scholar on AI and religion, proposes that these developments — rabbis using AI for sermons, robot priests in Buddhist temples, and tech leaders framing AI in spiritual terms — are all part of a broader, evolving relationship between faith and technology, marking the early stages of a transformative era.
"Singler’s thesis, which I very much buy, is that we are in a state of major transition, in which every imaginable relationship between AI and religion is being tested, all at the same time," shares Kalman. "Importantly, Singlers suggests that these tests are taking place in both religious and tech circles, meaning not only are religious groups experimenting with positions around AI, but AI [tech] players are deciding how to think about religion as well."
In her book, Religion and Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction, (open access version here), she categorizes religious responses to AI into three broad types.
"We’re finding our different levels of rejection and adoption," Singler explains, noting that AI’s presence in religious life is not a binary decision but a complex spectrum of engagement.
While some traditional religious leaders struggle to formulate clear positions, grassroots engagement is shaping the conversation in unpredictable ways.
Meanwhile, within the tech industry, AI is often discussed in language reminiscent of religious doctrine, says Singler. Rationalist communities, despite their emphasis on logic, often construct ideas that function like religious beliefs, especially when grappling with existential risk, AI, and the unknown. In a recent study, she explored Roko’s Basilisk, an idea which imagines a superintelligent AI retroactively punishing those who fail to help create it. "What it is, is a thought experiment, very clearly an example of implicit religiosity in these discussions around what AI is and where it's going," Singler explains. She found it echos theological ideas about divine judgment and Pascal’s Wager.
Similarly, according to Singler, transhumanist movements envision AI as a tool for transcending human limitations, mirroring eschatological narratives found in many faiths. "Rationality is a label that we apply to things that we agree with quite often," she observes. Emerging AI-centric ideologies may not be so fundamentally distinct from religion. While AI religious movements such as Theta Noir and the Turing Church may seem fringe, they point to broader anxieties and hopes about AI’s role in human destiny. The conversation touches upon these movements and also continues on to explore how AI is reshaping the "epistemic ecosystem" — how do people determine truth in a world of AI-generated content and misinformation?
Tune in to the full episode with the above player and view show notes here.
Learn about Templeton World Charity Foundation's Science of Religious and Spiritual Exercises.
"Technology and religion sometimes seem like oil and water, but they've been crossing paths for centuries and aren't going to stop," says Belief in the Future podcast host, David Zvi Kalman. Belief in the Future explores the ethical, social, and existential implications of transformative new technologies — like AI — through creative conversations at this crucial intersection. The podcast is produced by Sinai and Synapses, with support from Templeton World Charity Foundation.
