AI as a Modern Deity?

A key focus of my research is the question of how religion and artificial intelligence are connected – and what this means for how we live together (you can find more about my project at the BAdW here). Journalist Jan Krüßmann spoke with me about this broad topic some time ago. The interview has now been published in Chrismon magazine (Chrismon plus 05.06/2025, pp. 54-56). If you have a subscription, you can read the full interview online here. Otherwise, you can purchase the entire issue in digital form for €4.99 here – or just ask someone who has the magazine...

Of course, it's always tricky when a long conversation gets condensed into a few pages. (And I understand if some people are tired of seeing AI-generated images of the type chosen for the illustration.) But I'm quite satisfied with the result. It covers several aspects that I find truly important and that, in my opinion, receive far too little attention in public discourse.

For instance, I think it's absolutely essential to openly address the transhumanist ideas that motivate large parts of AI development. These often come with fundamental ethical implications. So in my view, we shouldn't just be asking whether we're "allowed" to use AI in certain areas (like medicine or education). That immediately turns everything back to the tiresome topic of regulation. Instead, we need to ask ourselves more fundamentally what kind of future we actually want to head towards – a question that becomes all the more important when we're racing full speed toward AGI or even artificial superintelligence.