Practicing Christians, Scripture engaged more skeptical of AI than general public: poll

May 13, 2024

The American Bible Society has released a report showing that practicing Christians and believers who read their scriptures are more skeptical of artificial intelligence (AI) than the American public as a whole.

The Christian Post reports that the American Bible Society has released the second part of its State of The Bible USA report for 2024. The second chapter of that report titled “Faith and Technology” focuses on respondents’ views on AI and how it affects their faith.

American Bible Society Chief Program Officer and State of the Bible Editor-in-Chief John Farquhar Plake said in a statement, “Our survey also shows a great deal of uncertainty. People just don’t know how AI will change the culture, but they’re mildly uneasy about it. Practicing Christians and those who engage with Scripture are even more concerned about AI than the general public, more likely to say the bad results of AI will outweigh the good. The greatest uncertainty is at the intersection of faith and AI.”

58% of those surveyed said they disagreed with the idea that “artificial intelligence can aid in moral reasoning” and 68% disagreed with the statement “the use of artificial intelligence can enhance my spiritual practices and promote ‘spiritual health’.”

According to the Christian Post, the views of “scripture engaged” respondents showed that they are slightly more concerned about AI than their peers.

The survey also showed that those who are scripture engaged were more likely to agree with the statement: “the bad that may result from AI outweighs any positive impacts that may be produced.”

Data in the report was based on responses from 2,506 adults who were surveyed Jan 4-23 of this year.

Photo: top, Credit: iStock/Chor Muang