God works in mysterious ways — including through chatbots. At least, that’s what many people seem to think.
On religious apps, tens of millions of people are confessing to spiritual chatbots their secrets: their petty vanities and deepest worries, gluttonous urges and darkest impulses. Trained on religious texts, the bots are like on-call priests, imams or rabbis, offering comfort and direction at any time. On some platforms, they even purport to channel God.
The “faith tech” industry is booming, powered by chatbots on religious apps that are rocketing to the top of Apple’s App Store. Bible Chat, a Christian app, has more than 30 million downloads. Hallow, a Catholic app, beat Netflix, Instagram and TikTok for the No. 1 spot in the store at one point last year. In China, people are using DeepSeek to try to decode their fortunes. The apps are attracting tens of millions of dollars in investments, and people are paying up to $70 a year for subscriptions. Now, apps like Pray.com — which has about 25 million downloads — are rolling out chatbots, too.
App founders said they considered the technology to be a digital chaplaincy, a tool that is helping millions of people, both inside and outside of faith, express themselves spiritually. Several religious leaders said they so far supported people using the chatbots, as long as they complement, but do not replace, the work of faith communities.
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