Users turn to chatbots for spiritual guidance

AI-driven chatbots play a growing role in spiritual life, according to A story about the New York Times This investigates the popularity of religious chatbots and apps.

The Times notes that an app called Bible Chat has been downloaded more than 30 million times, while another app, Hallow, reached the number one place in Apple’s App Store last year.

For the most part, these apps must point people to religious doctrine and notebook to answer their questions, although at least one website claims Allow users to chat with God. Rabbi Jonathan Roman suggested that chatbots could be a “way in faith” for “a whole generation of people who have never been to a church or synagogue.”

However, these chatbots are built on top of AI models that are designed to validate the opinions of users, to the point that they can strengthen the delusion or conspiration thinking. Heidi Campbell, a professor in Texas A&M who studies the intersection of digital culture and religion, warned that chatbots “tell us what we want to hear.”

“It does not use spiritual discernment, it uses data and patterns,” Campbell said.