The new encyclical comes as the culmination of various articles during recent weeks about AI\u2019s implications for religion. Here\u2019s a sampling of materials to consider alongside Leo\u2019s magnum opus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ross Douthat, author of the 2025 classic \u201cBelieve: Why Everyone Should Be Religious,\u201d wrote in his May 10 New York Times<\/em> column<\/a> that A.I., with its virtual \u201cmachine God,\u201d poses the most fundamental questions about our human identity, consciousness, will, and reason. He sees three possible responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many, A.I. is \u201ca win for atheism and a blow against religious ideas of soul and spirit,\u201d with our minds seen as \u201cjust computers.\u201d Others think religion is enhanced when the mystery of our personal consciousness becomes more profound and humanity more exceptional. A third attitude is simply becoming more uncertain about everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A March 26 report<\/a> from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University suggests AI and robotics may be a factor in the 21st-century decline in religious affiliation. These scholars observe that \u201chistorically, people have deferred to supernatural agents and religious professionals to solve instrumental problems beyond the scope of human ability\u201d that now \u201cmay seem more solvable\u201d through technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then this unsettling phenomenon. As Religion Unplugged<\/em> reported on May 21, a Barna Group poll<\/a> found that 30% of adults, and 34% of practicing Christians, agree \u201cstrongly\u201d or \u201csomewhat\u201d that \u201cspiritual advice from artificial intelligence is just as trustworthy as advice from a pastor,\u201d a confidence that reaches 44% with the \u201cMillennial\u201d generation. Naturally, clergy members are far more skeptical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> C.S. Lewis predicted AI in That Hideous Strength. N.I.C.E., that\u2019s AI. Fans know what I\u2019m talking about.
AI\u2019s problem is not going to be its inability to do anything, but that it ruins everything. It creates a cultural problem. It sterilizes everything and makes nothing\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/AIelvWRgdf<\/a><\/p>— Jeremy Wayne Tate (@JeremyTate41) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>