Can artificial intelligence be holy?
The very question of holy AI calls to mind certain images that raise our anxiety: chatbots offering spiritual advice or pastoral care; an artificial minister preaching from the pulpit or presiding at Communion; a highly advanced AI governing our lives with the authority, power, and mystery reserved for God alone.
It’s not surprising that we instinctively shrink back from such images. Artificial intelligence is still so new, and advancing so rapidly, that finding the proper categories to integrate it into our faith can be a major challenge.
But if we’re willing to entertain the idea that AI can be holy, doing so can help us imagine new possibilities for using AI faithfully in our churches and spiritual life. It can show us the potential of AI to be a constructive partner with people of faith in shaping our spiritual lives, bearing witness to God’s grace in the world, and loving one another.
What Is Holiness?
It’s important to begin with a clear understanding of holiness in the Bible and Christian tradition. Holiness in its most basic sense means set apart for God. The Hebrew word for holy, qadosh, has a root meaning of “separate,” indicating the boundary separating the everyday, the human realm from the sacred, divine realm. To be holy is to be separated—set apart—for God.
Throughout the Bible, we find a broad range of things designated as holy:
- Places (the Tabernacle, the Temple, Mount Sinai).
- Times (the Sabbat, various holidays and festivals).
- People (the people of Israel, the Israelite priests, prophets).
- Objects (the Ark of the Covenant, the menorah or lampstand, and the other instruments of worship in the Tabernacle).
These examples are from the Old Testament, but a look at Christian practice today shows that Christians recognize a similar range of holy things, though the specifics vary depending on one’s particular tradition:
- Places (sanctuaries, holy sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem).
- Times (Sunday, holidays like Christmas and Easter).
- People (ministers, priests, bishops, elders).
- Objects (altar, the chalice and patin used in observing Communion).
Holiness does not make something inherently better or more worthy in God’s sight. Rather, designating a person or object as holy often signifies and expresses God’s care and claim for all. So, the Temple is a holy place where God’s presence is especially intense and most keenly felt, but this does not mean God is absent everywhere else. On the contrary, at the Temple’s dedication, Solomon says, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27). God’s presence at the Temple signifies God’s presence throughout the whole earth. In the same way, God calls the Israelites a holy people, while affirming that all people belong to God: “Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). The designation of the Sabbath as a holy day is a way of ordering all of our time in a way that honors God as the Creator of all that exits.
The existence of a holy artificial intelligence in this sense—that is, set apart for God in a special way—would not mean that only this AI belongs to God or serves God. Rather, a holy artificial intelligence would signify and express that all artificial intelligence belongs to God and finds its proper orientation when directed toward God’s purposes. Seen in this way, recognizing a holy artificial intelligence seems not only permissible but imperative. Identifying an artificial intelligence as holy, and recognizing it as such through specific practices, can teach us to envision how all artificial intelligence—and all the human energies and hopes it represents—belongs to God.
Holy Artificial Intelligence
One way to think of holy artificial intelligence is as a tool or instrument—in this case, a complex piece of technology—created by humans and used in worship. The Tabernacle and its furnishings described in Exodus 25-40 make for a good comparison: the Ark of the Covenant, the menorah or lampstand, the incense altar, even the curtains and tent posts that served as the Tabernacle’s structural elements and walls.
These items were created by humans, highly skilled at their craft, at God’s initiative and direction. God gave specific instructions to Moses, and the narrative repeatedly tells us that the workers built everything “as the Lord had commanded Moses.” The artisans exercised great care in creating them, expressed in the detailed, step-by-step account of their construction in Exodus 36-39. The Tabernacle signified God’s presence in the midst of the Israelites, and its furnishings and tools facilitated the people’s worship of God.
It requires a bit of imagination to envision ways in which artificial intelligence might serve similar purposes in Christian worship today. A few possibilities present themselves for holy AI:
- An automated program to turn on lights, music, or other dimensions of a sanctuary’s atmosphere as a way of preparing the space or guiding the order of worship. The algorithm might work at pre-set times, or in response to other input such as facial recognition, number of people in the sanctuary, or verbal or physical cues from a worship leader. Such a program might tailor the worship atmosphere to feel more intimate for a smaller gathering, or grander and more energetic for a larger body of worshipers.
- An automated program might offer a repeated portion of a litany or prayer, responding to specific cues from the congregation or minister. Such cues might be verbal, such as a particular word at the end of the congregation’s part of the litany, or physical, for instance in response to the congregation standing, kneeling, or making a particular gesture. A program used in a digital worship service might collect and respond to input through social media.
- A self-driving vehicle might bring people to worship, helping worshipers prepare for the worship experience before arriving at the church. The AI might respond differently to different individuals or to different worship experiences. Upon detecting a family with young children, the vehicle might play kid-friendly worship music with brightly colored lighting, while it would play something quieter and more meditative for an adult individual.
Conclusion
Others will no doubt think of more and different possibilities, or find dilemmas with the possibilities mentioned above.
I will end with a final point of emphasis. Recognizing an AI as holy, something set aside for God, is different from simply using it in a holy or worshipful setting. There should be ways for the worshiping community to recognize its status.
Specific procedures to use during its development or activation, such as prayers or Scripture reading, would be one way to acknowledge its status as holy—for instance, saying a special set of prayers throughout the development or programming of the AI, or using certain programming processes and avoiding others. There might be a liturgy of dedication or short worship service for when the AI is activated or used for the first time in worship. Social media feeds or a virtual environment might allow the congregation to digitally “lay hands” on the AI as a part of the service. Another, similar liturgy or service could accompany its deactivation or replacement.
The key is not reducing the artificial intelligence to a purely functional role, but providing a means for worshipers to recognize and express God’s initiative and their own response in setting it apart for a holy purpose. The means to accomplish this should engage both the congregation and the AI in appropriate ways; should invoke God’s presence and blessing; and should be surrounded by a theological narrative that illuminates how and why it is being set apart for a holy purpose.
Such a way of identifying and acknowledging AI as holy is an invitation for the worshiping community to consider that all AI are a part of God’s creation, and can be directed toward God and God’s purposes in the world.
Brian Sigmon is an acquisitions editor at The United Methodist Publishing House, where he edits books, Bible studies, and official resources for The United Methodist Church. He has a Ph.D. in Old Testament Studies from Marquette University, where he taught courses in the Bible and theology. Brian finds great joy in thinking deeply about the Christian faith and helping people of all backgrounds deepen their understanding of Scripture. He lives in Kingston Springs, Tennessee with his wife Amy and their three children.