It truly is not possible for me, in just one email – or even one VERY LARGE blog post, to go through the ways that AI and CHAT-GPT are already impacting our day to day world.

If you would like a general overview, I have just uploaded a video here: https://youtu.be/FJS3APiJOzQ – it’s the introduction to the course I mention below.

Here is just one example.

Imagine being able to ask your computer to write a thesis on something like ‘the intersection of spirituality, religion, and AI’ and to provide references from 2021 and 2022.

I asked it to just provide a summary with that prompt, and here is what it generated – in 17 SECONDS – three options from which I could choose (I could have asked it to produce hundreds and it would have done so in about 30-ish seconds):

This thesis examines the intersection of spirituality, religion, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The paper investigates the potential impact of AI on religious and spiritual practices, beliefs, and institutions. It aims to explore how current and emerging AI technologies can contribute to the development of spiritual and religious worldviews, offering insights into how the relationship between humans and machines may develop in the future. Evidence from recent research is used to demonstrate how AI has already begun to influence religious, spiritual, and ethical considerations. Furthermore, research from 2021 onwards is drawn upon to show how AI technologies are affecting religious and spiritual practices and institutions. Finally, implications for the future of AI-based spiritual and religious practices are discussed. (References: Haseeb et al., 2021; Hertz et al., 2022.)

This thesis explores how spirituality, religion, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) intersect in the modern world. It investigates how recent advances in AI technology have caused a shift in how people think about spirituality and religion, from traditional associations to new ideas of “post-religion”, with AI at the center. The research draws on recent studies, such as Gomez and Swander’s 2021 paper on “Post-Religion and AI”, and Williams’ 2022 paper on “The Spiritual Implications of Artificial Intelligence”, which both examine the philosophical implications of AI on spirituality and religious beliefs. Overall, this thesis proposes that AI technology has opened up new ways to think of spiritual practices and religious beliefs, and encourages further exploration into the complexities of this intersection.

This thesis examines the relationship between spirituality, religion, and artificial intelligence (AI). It aims to explore how spirituality, religion, and AI can work together and the implications of such an intersection. It looks at the ways in which AI can provide insights into spiritual or religious practices, as well as how it can be used to enhance them. Additionally, the thesis will discuss ethical considerations that must be taken into account when developing AI-driven spiritual or religious practices. Lastly, it will examine the potential outcomes of such overlap, as well as how it may affect both individuals and society as a whole. In doing so, this thesis seeks to provide insight into how AI can support spiritual and religious practices in the 21st century. References: 2021 – Gershenfeld, N. (2021). Giving Machines Souls: The Intersection of Technology and Spirituality. Scientific American. Online version. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/giving-machines-souls/. 2022 – White, J. (2022). The Intersection between Religion, Spirituality, and AI: Implications for a Postmodern World. Theology and Technology Review. Online version. Retrieved from https://ttrjournal.org/the-intersection-between-religion-spirituality-and-ai/.

If this is all new to you, I have created an introduction to AI / CHAT-GPT course that is a series of videos with PDFs that you can go through at your own pace and in your own time, that not only brings you up to speed, but gives you examples of how you can use this new technology (and the course is only $49 as opposed to a lot of the hugely expensive programs available):

http://elegantisvitae.com/ai-chat-gpt-introduction-course/