What AI might do to religion

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I told my friends that large worship auditoriums would one day become event centers or co-working spaces. I feared that as remote life became normal, physical congregations would fade away.

I was wrong. What we saw instead was a deeper craving for togetherness.

Yes, in places like the UK, many temples have long been abandoned. And maybe our still-heavily-religious developing world will follow. But I believe the world will circle back eventually.

As we keep embracing ways to be ‘digitally connected’, which really means stay apart, AI will likely accelerate that trend, until we hit a wall. Because the more connected we are online, the lonelier we seem to become. Depression and suicide rates have always risen with technology.

When we get to that wall, I suspect one place we’ll return to is religion. Gatherings that bring us into physical contact, in the name of something bigger than ourselves, may feel vital again.

Religion may be one of the next big things, but it will have to evolve. That could involve a heavier dilution of rigid doctrines. In an AI-dominated world, ancient texts may feel too archaic to move people. From today’s lens, that evolution may seem like deviation from ‘the truth’. But it’s inevitable.

That’s why this 'new prediction' is about religion, not faith.