Books Religion and Artificial Intelligence An Introduction By Beth Singler

The book Religion and Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction by Beth Singler, published in 2024, explores the emerging field at the intersection of religion and AI from a religious studies perspective. It draws on cultural and digital anthropological methods to show how religion and AI are entangled with each other, shaping each other's imaginaries and futures. The book covers:

What AI is and is not.

How various religions react to AI, including rejection, adoption, and adaptation.

How traditional religions understand creation and the place of human-like AI.

Perspectives of secular and new atheist groups seeing AI as a tool for transcending human evolution and religion.

Religious visions of superintelligent AI and its implications.

Singler’s work highlights the deep interconnections and mutual influence between religion and AI, addressing topics like transhumanism, posthumanism, and new religious movements. It also discusses how religious groups incorporate AI in practice, such as AI-generated sermons, prayer apps, and even animatronic temple elephants in Hindu rituals. The book emphasizes the complexity of these relationships, where AI is both shaped by and shapes religious ideas and practices, blurring boundaries between secular and sacred.

This book is a key resource for understanding the dynamic and multifaceted relationship between religion, technology, and AI’s role in shaping future imaginaries and spiritual concepts.