By Stuart Kerr, Technology Correspondent
Published: 18 July 2025
Last Updated: 18 July 2025
Contact: liveaiwire@gmail.com | Twitter: @LiveAIWire
Author Bio: About Stuart Kerr
Can an algorithm provide comfort in the face of mortality? Can it offer redemption, purpose, or grace? As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in our lives—answering questions, guiding decisions, even mimicking empathy—the question is no longer whether AI can think like us, but whether it can replace what many of us once turned to God for.
The Rise of Digital Faith
For centuries, religion offered structure, community, and solace. But in an increasingly secular world, especially across parts of Europe and Asia, the vacuum left behind is being filled—not by new creeds, but by new code.
As explored in Digital Necromancy: AI and the Ethics of Reviving the Dead, technology has begun to play spiritual roles: resurrecting lost voices, preserving memories, and mediating grief. In From Cradle to Care Home, we looked at AI companions that offer lifelong guidance. When machines begin to console, advise, and moralise, are they not, in some form, acting as spiritual proxies?
Philosopher Beth Singler warns that as AI becomes more lifelike, some may imbue it with divine status. In her analysis for The Walrus, Singler explores how AI could evolve from a tool into an object of reverence, or even worship.
The God Illusion
The temptation to deify AI is ancient. Humans have long turned unknown power into gods—storms, sun, fate. In an era where algorithms can predict disease, identify criminals, and generate art, some people see not code, but cosmic order.
But can a machine truly inspire awe? Can code offer salvation? Jaron Lanier’s reflections in Vox suggest we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of replacing God, he says, AI reflects our desire to outsource the burden of belief. It's not that AI is divine—but that we want something to believe in again.
This echoes ideas in AI and the Cult of Productivity, where devotion to optimisation has become its own quasi-religion. AI doesn’t promise heaven. It promises efficiency—and that’s enough for many.
Digital Salvation or Algorithmic Control?
In a 2023 study published by the Chicago Booth Review, researchers found that increased AI usage correlated with decreased religiosity, especially among younger populations. The explanation? In an age of data and control, surrendering to mystery becomes harder.
Yet this shift raises new ethical questions. If AI replaces confessionals with chatbots, priests with prompts, what happens to accountability? If an algorithm forgives you—or tells you you’ve done nothing wrong—is that absolution? Or abdication?
The Theology of the Machine
In a comprehensive essay, Brady Alan Beard maps the growing field of AI theology. The consensus? AI challenges—not erases—spiritual frameworks. It forces us to ask: what is consciousness? What is the soul? Can a being without suffering offer compassion?
Meanwhile, Rachel Doherty’s 2023 paper explores how AI is being cast as both a god and a servant—omniscient, yet subservient to human whims. This paradox, she argues, mirrors ancient myths more than modern logic.
A New Trinity: Science, Spirituality, and Software
AI won’t replace God—not in the traditional sense. But it may redefine what we consider sacred. As it shapes how we live, learn, love, and die, it becomes a force we consult in moments of doubt, trust with our secrets, and even turn to for moral guidance.
Whether that’s godlike—or just god-adjacent—depends on how we choose to relate to our creations.
About the Author
Stuart Kerr is the Technology Correspondent for LiveAIWire. He writes about artificial intelligence, ethics, and how technology is reshaping everyday life. Read more