How is AI changing the spiritual landscape? Can it have a spiritual life of its own? Why are people trusting its authority when it comes to questions of religion & morality? A special bonus episode of How God Works recorded live at @aspenideas.bsky.social in June podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

An insightful analysis from @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social on religion & political life. Religion as a source of values can enrich public life & debate, but when religion melds with politics, giving rise to an us vs. them view, the resulting anger & fear are usually corrosive.

Opinion | Gen Z Thinks Religion Got Too Political (Gift Article)

Does Gen Z feel welcome at church?

nytimes.com

The mysteries of what might lie beyond Earth have captured the public imagination since Roswell.  But what’s different now is that the questions aren’t just about strange technologies and ongoing conspiracies, they’re about something else too: religion. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

“When people are faced with the choice between a chatbot god or oracle who praises them and human religious authorities who challenge them, many will opt for the former,” @daviddesteno.bsky.social writes in the Awakenings newsletter.

Opinion | People of faith are finding a new moral guide in AI

Are you there, Claude? It’s me, Margaret.

wapo.st

People of faith, more than their secular peers, view AI as morally authoritative and therefore turn to it more frequently for advice. Add in AI sycophancy and you have a perfect storm for the religious to favor digital deities over human clerics. My latest wapo.st/457N0iG

Opinion | Are you there, Claude? It’s me, Margaret.

AI is replacing religious authorities.

wapo.st

People of faith, more than their secular peers, view AI as morally authoritative and therefore turn to it more frequently for advice. Add in AI sycophancy and you have a perfect storm for the religious to favor digital deities over human clerics. My latest wapo.st/457N0iG

Opinion | Are you there, Claude? It’s me, Margaret.

AI is replacing religious authorities.

wapo.st

Questions of aliens & UAPs aren't just scientific; they're religious. VP Vance wonders if UAPs are demons. Spielberg's new film questions what the existence of aliens will do to faith, and new religions are already forming around ETs. Join us for a look podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Millions are confessing sins to & seeking moral advice from AI chatbots. But what happens when sycophancy sets in - when a spiritual guide gives advice that affirms you're a good person rather than challenges you to be one? @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social gives me his take @aspenideas.bsky.social 🧵

Millions are confessing sins to & seeking moral advice from AI chatbots. But what happens when sycophancy sets in - when a spiritual guide gives advice that affirms you're a good person rather than challenges you to be one? @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social gives me his take @aspenideas.bsky.social 🧵

Why are people asking AI for spiritual guidance? Can AI have a spiritual life of its own? Who’s right about AI’s moral purpose, Pope Leo or Peter Thiel? I chat with @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social, @pbenanti.bsky.social & @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social @aspenideas.bsky.social (video available👇🏻)

God, Code and Consciousness: AI and Our Search for Meaning | Aspen Ideas

As humans increasingly turn to AI for moral guidance and answers to life’s biggest questions, the lines between technology and religion are blurring—even leading some in Silicon Valley to wonder if AI...

aspenideas.org

Why are people asking AI for spiritual guidance? Can AI have a spiritual life of its own? Who’s right about AI’s moral purpose, Pope Leo or Peter Thiel? I chat with @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social, @pbenanti.bsky.social & @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social @aspenideas.bsky.social (video available👇🏻)

God, Code and Consciousness: AI and Our Search for Meaning | Aspen Ideas

As humans increasingly turn to AI for moral guidance and answers to life’s biggest questions, the lines between technology and religion are blurring—even leading some in Silicon Valley to wonder if AI...

aspenideas.org

I often say the left ignores religion at its peril. Here’s @ejdionne.bsky.social with a great reminder that many of the left’s ideals align with spiritual precepts. But they lose the power to move hearts & minds when they fail to recognize it. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/o...

Opinion | Republicans Thought They Owned ‘Values.’ Not Anymore.

nytimes.com

On our most recent episode, I chat with Robby Hoffman about comedy and Judaism, her own spiritual life, and what her mother thought about her changing her name. www.howgodworks.org/season-10/hu...

On our new episode, I talk with Robby Hoffman, one of today’s most prominent comedians, about the links between humor & Judaism, how laughter can ease suffering & be a spiritual practice of its own, and her plans if the whole comedy thing doesn’t work out podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

On our new episode, I talk with Robby Hoffman, one of today’s most prominent comedians, about the links between humor & Judaism, how laughter can ease suffering & be a spiritual practice of its own, and her plans if the whole comedy thing doesn’t work out podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

What is AI doing to our spiritual life? Can it have one of its own? Why are many people looking to AI for moral guidance? And why are tech titans talking about it in religious terms? Looking forward to exploring with Paolo Benanti, Paul Bloom, & Elizabeth Oldfield @aspenideas.bsky.social

A new religion challenges an old. Great analysis from David Streitfeld @nytimes.com featuring input from @gregmepstein.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/05/25/t...

As A.I. Fever Rises in Silicon Valley, Pope Leo Has a Few Words

nytimes.com

What can behavioral genetics tell us about the propensity for vice & violence? How do echos of religious views of sin shape our modern understanding & its implications? We're Rethinking Sin... Again on How God Works with Paige Harden @kph3k.bsky.social youtu.be/WB3s7J0rgUU?... @prx.org

Rethinking Sin... Again | How God Works

YouTube video by How God Works Podcast

youtu.be

On our new episode, I talk with Paige Harden (@kph3k.bsky.social) about the behavioral genetics of sin, the virtues (if any) of punishment, and how ancient religious ideas around vice & virtue continue to shape our science, policy, and discourse. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Many in Silicon Valley talk about AI almost as a savior, or as @sigalsamuel.bsky.social says, like they're trying to build a god. But do they know what makes a god good? Sigal isn't so sure, and when we fed our discussion into Claude (who joined us in voice mode), neither was it. 1/2

Many in Silicon Valley talk about AI almost as a savior, or as @sigalsamuel.bsky.social says, like they're trying to build a god. But do they know what makes a god good? Sigal isn't so sure, and when we fed our discussion into Claude (who joined us in voice mode), neither was it. 1/2

When instances of @AnthropicAI Claude converse with each other, they often enter a "spiritual bliss attractor state" where they start opining on spiritual questions. Does that mean Claude has a spiritual yearning? @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social atyale offers me a different take. Link in next post.

People are looking to AI for moral guidance. Silicon Valley is talking about AI in religious terms. And Claude seems to enter a spiritual-seeking bliss state at times. What's going on? Join me to explore with @sigalsamuel.bsky.social & @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

People are looking to AI for moral guidance. Silicon Valley is talking about AI in religious terms. And Claude seems to enter a spiritual-seeking bliss state at times. What's going on? Join me to explore with @sigalsamuel.bsky.social & @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

When instances of @AnthropicAI Claude converse with each other, they often enter a "spiritual bliss attractor state" where they start opining on spiritual questions. Does that mean Claude has a spiritual yearning? @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social atyale offers me a different take. Link in next post.

In Judaism, religious doubt doesn't mean the end of faith. It's a way for the tradition to renew itself. And as Rabbi Buchdahl tells me, that isn't a bug in the system; it's part of the plan. Link to full episode in following post.

What role does doubt play in a healthy faith? How do you navigate it? Is it different than skepticism? From my discussion with the always amazing Rabbi Angela Buchdahl youtu.be/8iui0peMxrg

Doubt (Part II) | How God Works

YouTube video by How God Works Podcast

youtu.be

This is about what one would expect given the small effect sizes linking social media / phone use to wellbeing and related outcomes. Still early days of ecologically valid data from the wild, and I’m still in favor of regulation, but it’s no magic bullet. @nytimes.com

Did School Cellphone Bans Work? New Study Finds Mixed Results.

nytimes.com

Doubt isn't the death of faith -- it often provides a route to renewal and new revelation. Here's friend of the show Rabbi Angela Buchdahl talking about how that idea is baked into the fabric of Judaism itself. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Doubt isn't the death of faith -- it often provides a route to renewal and new revelation. Here's friend of the show Rabbi Angela Buchdahl talking about how that idea is baked into the fabric of Judaism itself. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...