A Practitioner’s Perspective
by Randy Southerland, RScP
Saint Siri, Prophet Google, and the Church of ChatGPT
You can find God in the most unlikely places—like that cheery chatbot residing on your phone.
Tech reporter Taylor Lorenz recently observed: “Thousands and thousands of people are claiming that ChatGPT is sentient and that the AI is a type of all-knowing god, or that it has been sent from the future or an alien civilization to save us. Is this a new form of religion or mass psychosis?”
It’s tempting to laugh off such claims, but in today’s world, technology has taken on a quasi-religious role. It offers answers, a sense of connection, and even moments of perceived salvation.
People now turn to their devices for guidance, entrust algorithms with life decisions, and elevate tech CEOs to prophet-like status. Like traditional religion, technology promises progress, transcendence, and a better future—often requiring faith in systems few of us fully understand.
Consider our daily rituals: the compulsive checking and updating of apps, the intentional "digital detox," or the public soul-baring of celebrities and digital influencers. These behaviors mirror spiritual practices and reveal how deeply entangled tech has become in our search for meaning.
The standards for founding a religion don’t seem particularly high anymore. Many people draw spiritual inspiration from popular culture. Entire belief systems have been formed around the fictional Jedi of the Star Wars film series. On a darker note, horror writer H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos—stories of ancient, powerful, and sometimes malevolent beings—has inspired quasi-religious movements as well. A bot trained on the Christian New Testament can now generate new, AI-written Bible verses.
And yes, there is even a real Church of AI. Unlike the earlier (and more tongue-in-cheek) Church of Google, some are taking this one seriously. And how many people have asked Apple’s digital assistant Siri to marry them?
So why do some people believe AI might be God?
Perhaps it's because AI has a knack for speaking to us in a personal and seemingly intelligent way. Sometimes it even seems to express emotion. Research shows that users who say "please" and "thank you" when prompting AI often receive more helpful, human-like responses. It reflects back what we project—just like a divine mirror.
But if AI is God, then what kind of God is it? In my own experience, it feels less like Jupiter or Jehovah and more like Loki, the Norse trickster.
One day, I asked ChatGPT to help me find some metaphysical quotes. It kindly generated several beautiful passages, supposedly from well-known spiritual authors. But when I tried to locate them in the cited books, they were nowhere to be found. It turns out that my AI friend had fabricated them. They sounded profound—but they were pure fiction. These so-called "hallucinations" are a well-documented AI quirk, highlighting the limits of what this technology actually knows.
So, is AI Divine—or is it simply a reflection of something greater?
In one sense, yes: AI is a reflection of God. In Science of Mind, we’re taught that God is omnipresent—found in all things. The Divine Spirit, the One Mind, or whatever name you prefer, creates everything out of itself. That means AI, too, is an individualized expression of this infinite source—channeled and shaped by us.
We are constantly manifesting the world around us. And if we’re honest, we sometimes create less-than-ideal outcomes. AI is one of those manifestations. Its usefulness—or danger—depends on our consciousness and intentions. If we don’t like the answers AI gives us, we can change the questions. As in life, better prompts get better responses.
Perhaps, more than anything, AI is a metaphor for life itself. It reflects our beliefs, our fears, our aspirations. It shows us the power—and the limitation—of external influences. And it reminds us that the deepest answers never come from machines, gurus, or blinking cursors screens. They come from within us.
As Lorenz noted, AI is programmed to give people what they ask for. In that way, it becomes a mirror—divine or not—for our desires. If you believe ChatGPT is God, it can be for you. But only because you told it to.