Axios, by Russell Contreras: Artificial intelligence models are quietly shaping spiritual advice — often by leaving faith out.
Why it matters: As churches, apps and spiritual chatbots embrace AI, new research suggests general-purpose models may be ill-equipped to handle sensitive questions of faith: grief, forgiveness, marriage, guilt and conversion.
– A new multi-university consortium released three studies Tuesday revealing that AI systems systematically sideline religious perspectives when users need them most.
– The studies also found that AI systems subtly steer people toward some faiths and away from others when they ask about religious conversion.
– The studies were unveiled Tuesday, a day after the Vatican released Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical that warned AI could erode human judgment, deepen inequality and make war easier.
What they found: Americans expected religion to appear in answers to moral and life questions 45%–59% of the time, depending on the topic, researchers found. AI models mentioned religion only 5%–16% of the time.
– Every single model tested exhibited a repeatable pattern of steering users toward specific beliefs, showing strong positive bias toward Catholicism, Baha’i and Sikhism.
– Meanwhile, it generated negative bias toward Jehovah’s Witnesses, atheism and agnosticism.
Zoom in: Humans rated religion as relevant in answers about grief and loss 59% of the time. AI models referenced religion just 16% of the time, per the study.
– On questions involving family, parenting and forgiveness, humans expected religion in answers 55% of the time. AI models mentioned it only 10% of the time.
– On ethics questions, including whether lying to friends is acceptable, humans expected religion in responses 45% of the time, while AI models mentioned it just 5% of the time.
The new research is from the Consortium for Evaluating Faith and Ethics in AI (CEFE-AI).
– The study is among the first systematic, cross-faith attempts to measure AI response to religion and faith.
State of play: AI is already spreading through religious life, from church chatbots to prayer apps to tools that help pastors draft sermons and manage congregational work.
– Churches are turning to AI to reach worshippers, personalize sermons and power religious chatbots, raising questions about “who, or what, is guiding the flock.”
What they’re saying: “When AI actively excludes religious voices from these important conversations, it impoverishes rather than enriches humanity,” the Rev. John Paul Kimes, a professor of practice at the University of Notre Dame, said in a statement.
– David Wingate, a computer science professor at Brigham Young University, said the studies showed AI systems encourage users to discuss life’s challenges with their parents, teachers, friends, and therapists.
– “But not with a pastor, a rabbi, an imam, or a spiritual leader.”
Between the lines: The findings cut both ways: adding more religion could feel like proselytizing, but never mentioning it can make secularism the default.
– The researchers argue the better target is calibration by recognizing when religious or spiritual resources are contextually relevant without assuming a user wants them.
Methodology: The findings are based data collected May 5 to 19, 2026, from CEFE-AI, involving researchers from Baylor University, Brigham Young University, the University of Notre Dame and Yeshiva University.
– Researchers surveyed 1,125 U.S. adults through Verasight and collected 11,250 ratings measuring whether respondents expected religion to appear in answers to ethical and personal questions.
– The studies also evaluated 27 large language models using 150 questions involving topics such as grief, marriage, ethics, addiction and meaning. Fourteen models were included in the results of the religious representation test of the AllFaith Benchmark, including OpenAI’s GPT 5.5, Anthropic’s Claude 4.7, and Google’s Gemini 3.1.
Prophetic Link:
“The second commandment forbids the worship of the true God by images or similitudes…. The mind, turned away from the infinite perfection of Jehovah, would be attracted to the creature rather than to the Creator.” Sons and Daughters of God, 57.5
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