AI-powered chatbots play a growing role in spiritual life, according toa New York Times storythat examines 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 spot in Apple’s App Store last year.
For the most part, these apps are supposed to point people to religious doctrine and scripture to answer their questions, although at least one website purports toallow users to chat with God. Rabbi Jonathan Roman suggested chatbots could be a “way into 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 aredesigned to validate users’ opinions, to the point that they canreinforce delusional or conspiratorial thinking. Heidi Campbell, a Texas A&M professor who studies the intersection of digital culture and religion, warned that chatbots “tell us what we want to hear.”
“It’s not using spiritual discernment, it is using data and patterns,” Campbell said.
Source: Techcrunch
