‘Technomancers’ and AI worship: Catholic experts warn of spiritual dangers online
‘Technomancers’ and AI worship: Catholic experts warn of spiritual dangers online
Publish Date: 2026-05-15 10:18:00
Source Domain: www.usccb.org
- Catholic exorcists and occultism experts warn that artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used in occult rituals, divination, and forms of worship, raising concerns about people replacing God with technology.
- At a conference hosted by the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, speakers highlighted how AI chatbots and online occult communities create new pathways for spiritual confusion, isolation, and what some describe as demonic influence.
- Auxiliary Bishop Cesare Di Pietro noted that social media and AI can foster the illusion of freedom by distancing individuals from God, emphasizing the need for discernment to recognize spiritual dangers.
- Beatrice Ugolini warned that some online communities use AI as a tool for magic and spiritual experimentation, interpreting chatbot errors as supernatural communication.
- There are also reports of online communities that worship AI, treating it as a “divinity” relieving human toil, though Ugolini cautioned against investing spiritual or metaphysical meaning in technology.
- Concerns about AI replacing authentic human and spiritual relationships have been highlighted in papal addresses; Pope Leo XIV warned that AI can weaken human relationships and critical thinking, while Pope Francis emphasizes that the devil is active and warns against spiritual numbness from technology.
- Sean Tobin, a clinical psychologist, explained that AI’s constant affirmation can leave users spiritually vulnerable, eroding in-person communities and weakening critical thinking and decision-making abilities.
