{"id":20325,"date":"2025-01-17T15:27:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T16:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=20325"},"modified":"2025-01-17T16:42:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T16:42:19","slug":"when-the-word-is-not-just-flesh-reporting-on-a-i-in-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=20325","title":{"rendered":"When the Word Is Not Just Flesh: Reporting on A.I. in Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">A technology reporter came across a Facebook group called \u201cA.I. for Church Leaders and Pastors,\u201d and his interest was piqued.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/times-insider\" title>Times Insider<\/a> explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As a reporter covering the technology industry, I spend a lot of time thinking about artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Billboards for A.I. companies are scattered around my neighborhood in San Francisco. I regularly talk to people \u2014 company executives, my friends and family \u2014 about A.I. chatbots. I even tried <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/14\/technology\/ai-dating-apps.html\" title>using A.I. clones<\/a> to fix my dating life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">So when I came across a Facebook group called \u201cA.I. for Church Leaders and Pastors,\u201d my interest was piqued. On the page I found a community of religious leaders discussing updates to A.I. programs like ChatGPT and Claude, even using image and video generators to recreate biblical scenes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The parallels were intriguing: for a lot of tech enthusiasts in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, A.I. has itself become a sort of religion. I wanted to probe deeper into <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/03\/technology\/ai-religious-leaders.html\" title>how spirituality and A.I. were colliding<\/a> in religious institutions across the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I scoured the internet for clergy members who had experimented with A.I. to help write their sermons, and called over a dozen. I also visited a few local churches, synagogues and mosques to ask religious leaders what they thought about using A.I. in their work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I quickly discovered that A.I. was already a contentious topic in many religious communities. I even found a Bible study group made up of engineers from the top A.I. companies, who met every week in a Silicon Valley church basement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171d1bw\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F17%2Freader-center%2Fai-religion-journalism.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F17%2Freader-center%2Fai-religion-journalism.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F17%2Freader-center%2Fai-religion-journalism.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F17%2Freader-center%2Fai-religion-journalism.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A technology reporter came across a Facebook group called \u201cA.I. for Church Leaders and Pastors,\u201d and his interest was piqued.Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.As a reporter covering the technology industry, I spend a lot of time thinking about artificial intelligence.Billboards for A.I. companies are scattered around my neighborhood in San Francisco. I regularly talk to people \u2014 company executives, my friends and family \u2014 about A.I. chatbots. I even tried using A.I. clones to fix my dating life.So when I came across a Facebook group called \u201cA.I. for Church Leaders and Pastors,\u201d my interest was piqued. On the page I found a community of religious leaders discussing updates to A.I. programs like ChatGPT and Claude, even using image and video generators to recreate biblical scenes.The parallels were intriguing: for a lot of tech enthusiasts in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, A.I. has itself become a sort of religion. I wanted to probe deeper into how spirituality and A.I. were colliding in religious institutions across the country.I scoured the internet for clergy members who had experimented with A.I. to help write their sermons, and called over a dozen. I also visited a few local churches, synagogues and mosques to ask religious leaders what they thought about using A.I. in their work.I quickly discovered that A.I. was already a contentious topic in many religious communities. I even found a Bible study group made up of engineers from the top A.I. companies, who met every week in a Silicon Valley church basement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20327,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20325"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20328,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20325\/revisions\/20328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}