Jesus is just a text away. An app that allows users to converse with a chatbot trained on the Bible, called Text With Jesus, has created a new way to “engage with your faith,” the app’s description says. Users can share daily stressors or ask for guidance, and the bot will respond with Bible verses and their interpretations and prayers. Available personas include Jesus and the apostles, with the Three Wise Men coming soon. Conversations with Satan are available for premium users.
The app is one of many ways people of faith are exploring letting AI play a role in their spiritual lives. Earlier this year, a Lutheran church in Finland held a service almost entirely prepared by AI. But critics have raised concerns about mixing chatbots with religion and therapy. Pope Leo XIV, much like his predecessor, has warned about the technology, recently saying, “It must not be forgotten that artificial intelligence functions as a tool for the good of human beings, not to diminish them, not to replace them.”