Panel: PERCEPTION AND UNDERSTANDING OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE- THEOLOGICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL, AND ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES



879_2.1 - INTEGRATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INTO SPIRITUAL LIFE: OPPORTUNITIES, LIMITS, AND DISCERNMENT

AUTHORS:
Platovnjak I. (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Theology ~ Ljubljana ~ Slovenia)
Text:
The increasing presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in spiritual contexts raises critical questions about its capacity to support spiritual engagement and its limitations in relation to transcendence. As a system grounded primarily in analytical, left-hemisphere-oriented processes, AI offers efficiency, personalization, and broad accessibility, yet lacks intuition, embodied presence, relational depth, and spiritual discernment. Using a conceptual and interdisciplinary approach, this paper analyzes AI's impact through the three dimensions of spirituality—personal-experiential, communal-institutional, and rational-reflective—proposed by Platovnjak and Svetelj (2024), in dialogue with Sheldrake's (2014) integrative framework. The analysis draws on selected examples of AI-supported prayer apps, chatbots, and digital religious education tools. The presentation highlights both opportunities and risks, including depersonalization, algorithmic bias, and commodification. It argues that AI can function as a supportive instrument only when embedded within human guidance, communal practice, and embodied spiritual life.