When AI Starts Shaping Souls

A new national study points to a significant shift: millions of Americans—especially younger adults—are turning to AI for spiritual input, with some Christians even using it for prayer and Bible study. As digital tools begin to share space once held by pastors and mentors, the deeper question emerges: who is actually shaping our inner lives?

That influence extends beyond guidance into relationship itself. More people are looking to AI companions for emotional support, even as psychologists caution that these interactions may erode real-world connection and deepen isolation. ⁱ For Christian spiritual formation, this raises a critical concern: how are our habits of love and community being reshaped?

Taken together, the trajectory is sobering. As AI moves from tool to companion—and even substitute for human presence—we may be altering our very capacity to relate, to flourish, and to love. The question for formation becomes unavoidable: if our relationships are increasingly mediated by machines, what kind of people are we becoming?

i.   My wife is fond of observing that while the ‘epidemic of loneliness’ is widely discussed in our day, the human condition has always involved a profound sense of aloneness. We are born alone and we die alone. We are in trouble if we turn to AI to ‘take away our aloneness’ — but we’re in trouble if we demand that of people as well.