Gods in the machine? The rise of artificial intelligence may result in new religions

We are about to witness the birth of a new kind of religion. In the next few years, or perhaps even months, we will see the emergence of sects devoted to the worship of artificial intelligence (AI). The latest generation of AI-powered chatbots, trained on large language models, have left their early users awestruck --and sometimes terrified--by their power. These are the same sublime emotions that lie at the heart of our experience of the divine. People already seek religious meaning from very diverse sources.