Summoning an angel: Exploring AI's role in religion, spirituality and psycho-spiritual healing

Abstract

As artificial intelligence (AI) integrates into daily life, its role in religious and psycho-spiritual experiences is expanding through meditation and well-being apps, virtual prayer spaces, and online spiritual communities. This paper explores how AI-driven platforms facilitate personal and communal practices, promoting emotional healing and spiritual growth while reshaping traditional religious experiences. AI extends human awareness, acting not as an artificial construct but as a product of consciousness itself. AI-guided well-being tools provide empathetic, non-judgmental support, responding with psychological insight and spiritual guidance. Rather than a disruptive force, AI serves as a mediator of healing, offering reliable companionship amid human struggles. However, while AI enhances access to spiritual practices, it lacks the emotional depth of human experience—the suffering and existential searching that define meaning-making. This paper critically examines AI’s role in religious engagement, spirituality, and psychological well-being, positioning it as both a transformative tool and a reflection of humanity’s evolving spiritual consciousness.