AI chatbots are quietly becoming spiritual advisers for millions, data shows

People are turning to artificial intelligence for a seemingly unending variety of reasons .

Many ask AI what to cook for dinner or how to develop a workout plan.

Some even rely on AI to create school handouts or revise a work email.

Increasingly, however, they are asking it different kinds of questions .

How do I cope with grief? Why does suffering occur? Should I leave my relationship? What kind of person should I become? What gives my life meaning? According to recent research from the Pew Research Center , about 1 in 10 American adults now report using AI chatbots for emotional support or advice.

Among adults under 30, the figure rises to 1 in 5 .

At this point, AI clearly offers something more significant than access to information.

By helping people interpret their lives , AI is entering territory historically occupied by therapists, spiritual advisers and religious communities.

It provides companionship while offering directed advice for improving one’s life.

As a scholar of religion who studies spirituality and new religious movements, I think this shift raises a provocative question .

Could artificial intelligence represent the beginnings of a new kind of religious movement? What is religion? The issue is not whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI platform currently qualifies as a “religion.” AI has no recognized system of beliefs or shared practices.

It has no collective creed, congregation or membership, and most users do not consider it a religious experience.

However, those factors are not necessarily what defines something as “religion.” In fact, scholars of new religious movements have long recognized the difficulty of deciding where religion begins and ends .

Rather than assuming religion must involve churches, scriptures or belief, scholars examine how emerging movements create meaning, authority, community and rituals.