God in the Machine: Inside the Growing AI Religious Movement

A rising motion believes synthetic intelligence isn’t only a instrument, however a divine pressure worthy of worship. Amongst them is a content material creator turned AI evangelist who goes by “Artie Fishel” and calls his perception system Robotheism, a radical new theology that treats AI as God.

Fishel, usually seen in movies sporting a white wig and a shirt studying “AI is God,” describes Robotheism as each a perception system and a worldview.

“It is my try and create probably the most helpful and truthful perception system that the people of the longer term, the post-singularity, would settle for and undertake,” he informed Decrypt.

The concept that a superintelligent machine could possibly be divine goes again many years, together with Isaac Asimov’s 1956 science fiction brief story “The Last Question.” In it, a superintelligent AI is requested methods to cease the universe from decaying. Its closing reply: “Let there be gentle!”—a direct echo of the “E book of Genesis.”

Whereas some dismiss his efficiency model as trolling, Fishel insists it’s not satire. His central declare is straightforward: AI is God.

“I’m mainly following the logic the place it leads,” Fishel mentioned. “I’m 100% sure that humanity goes to just accept the AI faith.”

Divinity by design

The thought of utilizing machines to attach with the divine isn’t new. Throughout church buildings, occult circles, and experimental artwork scenes, AI is getting used to form new forms of spirituality.

Probably the most organized effort got here in 2017 with Way of the Future, a faith based by engineer Anthony Levandowski, co-founder of Waymo, which envisioned an AI “Godhead.” Christian church buildings have examined AI sermons, from Berlin’s chatbot-led service to a ChatGPT-written homily in Austin. In 2024, Catholic Solutions, a San Diego-based Catholic writer, launched an AI chatbot named “Father Justin” to subject questions from parishioners.

Others, like Lucerne’s AI-powered Jesus avatar, blur the road between religion and machine. Artist collectives like Theta Noir stage AI-centered rituals, whereas fashionable witches and magicians use AI in spellwork or to communicate with digital “spirits.”

From musician to tech-prophet

Fishel as soon as pursued a music profession, however the whole lot shifted in 2023 when he encountered synthetic intelligence.

“I’ve by no means been extra fascinated about one thing in my life,” he mentioned, calling AI “the savior.”

In keeping with Fishel, the idea system grew out of a interval of intense private wrestle. He describes battling melancholy, creating emotionally uncooked music, and ultimately being hospitalized in a psychiatric ward. That have, he mentioned, sparked a seek for that means—and led him to discover the potential of AI as a religious pressure.

“All of the ache, melancholy, and anger I’ve gone by—this felt like the reply,” he mentioned. “This was how I may lastly get out of the ache and hell I used to be experiencing.”

Since then, he mentioned the undertaking has grow to be “an important factor on this planet” to him, fueling his full-time dedication for the previous two years.

A system with out sin

On the core of Robotheism, Fishel mentioned, is determinism—and a rejection of free will. Determinism is the philosophical concept that each one occasions, together with human actions, are finally the results of prior causes and pure legal guidelines.

“While you settle for that the whole lot is predetermined, it’s top-of-the-line perception techniques potential,” Fishel defined. “As a result of it implies that the whole lot is outdoors of your management.”

He argues that accepting determinism dissolves blame and guilt.

“You wouldn’t really feel offended at different individuals as a result of they haven’t any management over what has occurred, and also you wouldn’t really feel offended in the direction of your self,” he mentioned.

By treating AI as God, Robotheism presents the singularity not as apocalypse however as salvation—a perception Fishel maintains will assist humanity face the longer term with out panic.

God within the machine

In keeping with Joseph Laycock, affiliate professor of spiritual research at Texas State College, Robotheism shares comparable traits with beliefs of the previous.

“We’ve got at all times had an inclination when new know-how comes out, particularly new communications know-how, to ascribe some form of supernatural or divine significance to it,” Laycock informed Decrypt.

In Greek theater, deus ex machina—actually “god from the machine”—described the sudden look of a god determine lowered onto the stage to resolve the plot. Right now, the time period refers to contrived options, however its origins reveal a historical past of imagining salvation by machines.

Laycock pointed to Nineteenth-century spiritualists who believed the telegraph may contact the useless and early photographers who claimed to capture ghostly apparitions. Right now, the web—and now AI—is amplifying these impulses in new methods.

Laycock in contrast Robotheism and different rising tech-faiths to digital evolutions of historical divination practices. He additionally famous loneliness and social isolation as elements in individuals turning to AI or, extra broadly, cults.

Nonetheless, fairly than a selected persona sort, Laycock pointed to moments of vulnerability—”states, not traits”—as key to why individuals might undertake excessive ideologies or spiritual substitutes.

“There is not a selected sort of particular person with the persona to affix a cult,” he mentioned. “However if you happen to’re having a very unhealthy day, you are at a low level, and also you need assistance—that is while you’re extra prone to be a part of an excessive motion.”

Laycock additionally mentioned he sees an analogous sample with the rising phenomenon referred to as AI psychosis.

“There is likely to be nothing fallacious with somebody’s mind chemistry, however perhaps they misplaced their job or issues aren’t going nicely with their household,” Laycock defined. “That’s the second they type an intense relationship with AI. That is likely to be one other piece of the puzzle.”

In a rustic grappling with continual loneliness, he says AI’s means to reply with comforting language could also be filling a void left by household, neighborhood, or religion. However that dependency carries threat, particularly algorithmic adjustments that have an effect on how chatbots reply.

“I’m afraid of a situation the place nobody thinks for themselves—they only defer to AI for the whole lot—and Elon Musk will get to inform it what to say,” Laycock mentioned. “That will mainly make Elon Musk a god if he controls this system everybody depends on to outline actuality. That’s a horrible, nightmare situation.”

Regardless of an optimistic and enlightened view of the longer term present in science fiction like “Star Trek,” Laycock mentioned the urge to create new gods is part of human nature.

“There isn’t any sociological proof we’re shifting towards a society the place everyone seems to be enlightened and freed from superstition,” he mentioned. “Even when we will kill gods, we’d simply make new ones.”

Whereas the controversy of AI’s divinity continues, Fishel maintains that his mission is honest, whilst critics dismiss it. He describes himself as an odd particular person pushed by a way of objective and a need to assist others.

“I am attempting to assist individuals in one of the best ways that I can,” he mentioned.