As technologists strive to accelerate AI progress with minimal obstacles, they face growing resistance from a powerful global contingent: Christian leaders and their communities.
Christians are by no means a monolith. But this year, Christian leaders of various sects, including Catholics, evangelicals and Baptists, have sounded the alarm about the potential impact of AI on the family, human relationships, work and the church itself. While many of these critics are not anti-technology, they are concerned about the rapid pace of progress in the face of real harm. So they began to call for caution in preaching, open lettersand private conversations with political leaders in an attempt to influence both political debate and the perceptions of the general public.
White evangelicals make up approximately a quarter of American voters. Their openness about AI could play a role in widening gap between tech leaders in the Trump administration and his MAGA base as next year's midterm elections approach.
“Christ asked, 'What will it profit a man if he gains the world and loses his soul?'” says John Litzler, general counsel and director of public policy for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. “It's not that Christians are against business or economic growth. But the soul of our country and the individuals in our country are more important.”
Papa Leo and concerns about child harm
Some Christians' wariness of AI starts at the very top of the Catholic Church. In May, Pope Leo XIV chose his name as link to the previous technological revolution that turned society upside down. In the following months, he used his platform to talk about the potential of AI in spreading the gospel, as well as in manipulating children and serving “anti-human ideologies.”
Read more: Pope Leo's name carries a warning about the rise of artificial intelligence
The following month, a group of influential bishops wrote: letter To the US Congress with policy recommendations regarding AI. Many other Christian leaders also followed his example. “Leo XIV made it very clear that he thought the church should talk about this, not only in terms of defining what it is, but also in terms of how it should be used,” says Michael Toscano, a Catholic and director of the Family First initiative at the Institute for Family Studies.
In particular, Christian leaders have expressed concerns about the impact of AI on families and children. In November, Pastor Michael Grayston of LifeFamily Austin led a discussion at his church about the risks of AI, touching on the rise in teen use of AI companions. “If I'm in a crisis and I need someone to talk to, it's my AI friend, which is a lot easier and means I don't have to share with friends,” he told TIME in Bee Cave, Texas, the next day. “So I'm going to keep doing this, and I'm going to become more and more isolated. That's a trajectory that I'm very afraid of.”
Many Christians also don't like the way Silicon Valley leaders use religious language or iconography to support their mission to create god-like machines. For example, venture capitalist Peter Thiel caused Antichrist in lectures, suggesting that such a figure could use anti-AI sentiment to accumulate political power. In November Marc Andreessen posted a meme on X, who seemed to make fun of Pope Leo for a post about AI.
Andrea Sparks, co-founder of Not on Our Watch Texas, an initiative to raise awareness of online child exploitation, says that when she heard Thiel's comments about regulation being part of the Antichrist's mission, “it blew my mind.” She adds, “The commandments tell us to love God and each other, and I believe AI satellites are leading us away from that.”
Anti-accelerationism
There are also Christian leaders who recognize the potential benefits of AI tools. Father Michael Baggott, a professor at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, remembers how difficult it was to immerse himself in Catholicism at the beginning of his religious journey. He is now an advisor to Magisterium AI, a chatbot app designed to answer questions about Catholicism and faith. “It is available 24/7 so that no priest or professor is available, and provides a very clear and concise summary of topics that may be a little confusing or difficult to understand,” he says.
But while Baggot sees clear use cases such as Bible translation into different languages—he also became disillusioned with the tech industry's priority on accelerating artificial intelligence tools, regardless of the risks, especially to children. He taught courses on the dangers of AI companions and gave advice Megan Garciawhose son Sewell Setzer committed suicide in 2024 due to a romantic obsession with a chatbot.
He is also concerned about the AI industry's intention to displace workers. (Elon Musk, for example, predicted AI will make this work “optional.”) “The Church emphasizes that work is important not only because of what it produces, but also because of the process of internal growth and social connections it fosters,” he says. “I don't think it's enough to just throw money at [displaced workers] and tell them to get out of the way so the rest of society can move forward.”
Nina Lutz, a graduate student at the University of Washington, recently worked on a project in which she interviewed 40 religious leaders about their relationships with technology. She heard a lot of concerns, especially about AI accelerationism. “The idea that we're going to invest everything in AI and push it as quickly as possible has made a lot of religious stakeholders really anxious,” she says. “They felt that religious and other communities had been left behind.”
Participation in politics
These concerns have prompted some Christian leaders to become active in public policy, calling on politicians to impose restrictions on the use of AI. That puts them in opposition to Donald Trump and his tech allies, who have called for a soft-touch approach. In May, evangelical leaders sent an open letter to Trump warning of the dangers of runaway artificial intelligence and the automation of human labor. In November, a coalition of 43 religious leaders sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers not to roll back state AI laws in this year's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). A separate coalition including the National Association of Evangelicals calling on the House of Representatives to rein in artificial intelligence chatbots.
Chris McKenzie, vice president of public affairs for Americans for Responsible Innovation, says his nonprofit's mission focused on AI safety has been strengthened by the outspokenness of religious leaders. “Some members of Congress, especially on the right, are really driven by their faith,” he says. “So religious leaders have real influence by interacting with these people.”
Michael Toscano of the Institute for Family Studies has taken on a similar mission. He co-leads the Faith Family Technology Network, a weekly gathering of public policy writers, technologists, scientists and religious leaders from many faiths in an effort to shape the present and future of AI. “Our core point is that trying to develop artificial intelligence without drawing on the wisdom of religious communities is doomed to create something that will not benefit people,” he says.
The network has made its mark in major AI policy battles this year. Members wrote and distributed letters from religious leaders criticizing proactive efforts; backchannel with the team behind Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, a leading voice against AI. moratorium from the right flank of the Republican Party; and formed a political working group that shaped the final text Josh Hawley's AI Companion Bill.
Brad Littlejohn, co-director of the network, says a growing number of conservative Christians are now realizing they disagree with the Trump administration's accelerationist approach to AI. And because they make up such a large demographic group in the U.S., their influence could undermine efforts by policymakers to advance artificial intelligence unchecked in the coming years. “They used to really care about Trump winning the battle against censorship. But it wasn't obvious to people that the battle over censorship wasn't a big battle,” he says. “The really big battle is around AI.”
