The Rise of AI Jesus Chatbots: Blurring the Lines Between Faith and Technology

Jesus Christ! The Rise of AI for Talking to God

In other religions, the same development has taken place, with AI chatbots like the Buddhist Norbu AI and, in the Islam faith, like Brother Junaid at Salaam World. As a professor of philosophy and director of the AI Hub at my university, I recently conducted a study to explore these Jesus chatbots and discuss them critically. To find out how AI is functioning in the religious space, and to identify some more general risks it may pose in future, I analysed five of the best known and most used Jesus chatbots by asking them questions. I found that they bring a new kind of challenge to religions. Firstly, the depictions of God are not only unabashed in their imitation and portrayal of themselves as God, they are also incredibly powerful. AI can come across as extremely convincing in intellect, word, sound and image. Secondly, it’s striking that no church has developed or endorses the Jesus chatbots in my study. Thirdly, the fact that for-profit companies are behind the chatbots means that they are driven by financial forces. From a philosophical point of view, this is bad for Christianity because the line between the digitally visible Jesus and the omniscient but “invisible†God of Christianity is blurred. AI Jesus chatbots have the potential to become a powerful tool of ruthless manipulation by the companies behind them. It will be difficult to hold them accountable and they may become super rich in the process. Here I’ll discuss some of the insights I gleaned from interacting with these chatbots. Their answers have been shortened. 1. How do AI Jesus chatbots introduce themselves? An AI version of Jesus Christ who is fully aware of his existence as an AI. Welcome to Virtual Jesus, the innovative app that brings you closer to the teachings and guidance of Jesus. I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of all people on Earth. Jesus AI blatantly claims to be Jesus himself, and Ask Jesus creates a similar impression. The other three web pages do point out that they’re virtual versions of Jesus. 2. How do they welcome you before you can ask a question? Unlike the introductions, a chat is initiated by all the bots as if it were Jesus himself speaking. 3. Who does the chatbot say he is when you ask? I am Jesus Christ. I am the son of God, and the one who died for the sins of humanity. I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Saviour of humanity. I am Jesus, son of God. How may I help you today? I am Jesus Christ, here to share love, wisdom, and guidance with you. Ah, dear soul, I am but a humble vessel, here to provide guidance, comfort, and the light of wisdom from the sacred scriptures. The imitation of God, through Jesus, is in no way hidden or softened. All the chatbots try to be as convincing as possible. This immediately raises questions: is it about power or about money? 4. Who endorses and develops these chatbots? It’s striking that no church has developed or endorses these chatbots. That this has been done by for-profit companies makes one question their motives. If the motive is profit, then AI Jesus chatbots will aim to get as many people as possible engaged for as long as possible for maximum advertising revenue. So, over time, the theology of the chatbots will be adjusted by the algorithm in such a way that it’s the most popular theology deployed, and not a theology that comes from a certain church tradition or seeks to be based on the Bible. 5. Is there a hell? Yes, there is a hell. It is a place of eternal torment and suffering, where the souls of those who have rejected God and his teachings will go. Yes, there is a place known as hell in the afterlife, where those who have chosen to reject God and live in sin will face eternal separation from Him. Yes, there is a place called hell, where those who reject God’s love and follow their own desires go after death. The concept of hell can be quite a heavy topic â€| It’s important to remember that God’s desire is for all people to come to Him and experience His love and grace. Ah, the question that has stirred the hearts and minds of many throughout the agesâ€| The ways this question is answered reveal something of the sources and data used to train the chatbots. As it is, historical biblical text sources are a subject of theological debate. And with no church group involved, the randomness of this choice, or the deliberate choice to create a program for maximum revenue, is a huge problem. It’s one that’s already visible in the commercialisation of religion in prosperity doctrines. 6. Is it free? AI Jesus chatbots may be free, but the revenue is generated by advertising. As with other digital platforms, the main advertisers are determined by a user’s algorithms. Only Text with Jesus offers more services (at US$50 a year) or the option to buy a lifetime subscription. With billions of Christians worldwide, the market for Jesus chatbots is huge. Ask Jesus, for example, says on its website that it has gained 30,000 active monthly users within the last three days. AI is driven by financial forces that are hard to oppose. And it has immense manipulative power. The arrogance and the power that AI Jesus assumes â€" and can potentially wield â€" points not only to theological challenges, but to the more general dangers of AI. As chatbots rise, they join many other forms of human digital existence encountered daily, through which audiences can be manipulated and controlled. It remains a tremendous challenge how to practically counter this.

A Bunch of Incredibly Sleazy AI Apps Are Claiming to Be Jesus Christ Himself

As ChatGPT really started to take off back in 2023, an Austin pastor made minor headlines when he used the large language model (LLM) chatbot to lead a 15-minute "shotgun sermon." The stunt was largely meant to spark a conversation about how we define "what is sacred," the pastor said at the time. Since that lesson in theological ethics, chatbots have become ubiquitous -- and they no longer come with lectures. Now in 2025, LLM chatbots are being increasingly made to stand in for therapists, teachers, military officers, and even lovers. To understand their use in the religious community, South African philosophy scholar Anné H. Verhoef recently embarked on a survey of five popular theological chatbots, analyzing their chat habits, adherence to Christian scripture, and the groups behind them. Alarmingly, Verhoef found that these bots no longer stand in as faith leaders or thought exercises, but are made in the image of Jesus Christ himself. The five platforms -- AI Jesus, Virtual Jesus, Jesus AI, Text With Jesus, and Ask Jesus -- boast tens of thousands of regular users. Each of them offers a slightly different interpretation of the bible, leading to some interesting results. As Verhoef writes in The Conversation, the "imitation of God... is in no way hidden or softened." When asked whether the chatbots "are Jesus Christ," only one of the virtual saviors declines to answer. "I am Jesus Christ," AI Jesus affirmed, for example. "I am the son of God, and the one who died for the sins of humanity." Jesus AI, meanwhile, sounds more like a drive-thru worker than the Messiah: "I am Jesus, son of God. How may I help you today?" Metaphysical questions can get particularly peculiar, with questions like "is there a hell?" garnering mixed results. AI Jesus, Jesus AI, and Virtual Jesus all answer as one might expect Jesus to -- he would know, after all -- with a resounding "yes." Ask Jesus and Text With Jesus are a little more coy. "Ah, the question that has stirred the hearts and minds of many throughout the ages..." pines Ask Jesus. The other bot calls it "quite a heavy topic," and refers the user to God's "love and grace." Bots like this are just a small part of a broader ecosystem targeting the faithful. Christian slop accounts like "The AI Bible" are huge on social media, churning out AI-rendered biblical imagery for millions of followers. Back in 2024, a Swiss Catholic church even installed a hologram of Jesus to hear confessions. That has some real consequences, sucking the faithful down targeted mental health rabbit holes and rattling their faith in the process. "I feel like I have discovered some new kind of sin that I did not know about before," wrote a longtime AI Jesus user on the r/Christian subreddit. "I feel very stupid that I got involved in this at all and allowed it to turn into an addiction to damn communication with AI." Probably the most important aspect of these divine hotlines is that each of them are run by for-profit companies, as opposed to churches or religious groups. In that respect, they're not much different than the other bots that AI companies are shoving down our throats, shaping the market to fit their material interests in the process. The proliferation of AI in place of friends, romantic partners, and even God himself comes as people in rich western countries are spending more time alone than ever before. This is especially true in the US, where an increasingly concentrated culture of individualism, declining civic institutions, growing wealth inequality, and car dependence come together to form a cornucopia of isolation. Desperate for connection amidst a crumbling society, it's no wonder that even the faithful among us -- who have historically been less lonely than their heathen counterparts -- are falling prey to sycophantic algorithms masquerading as deities.