Dissertationsprojekt von Md Tawhid Hasan, M.A., M.S.S.

“AI, the Dawn of a New Religion:
Why Could Artificial Intelligence Transform Aspects of Traditional Religions and Give Rise to a New Religion of AI?”

What does it mean to be human? Does life have a purpose? How should one live their lives? Does one omnipotent God exist? Homo sapiens have been asking such fundamental questions since the dawn of civilization. These questions have become relevant once again thanks to the unprecedented advancement of artificial intelligence (AI).

Religious ideas not only influence human thought, but also new scientific and technological advancements. Similarly, science and technology transform traditional religions. This reciprocity of influence can be observed in each stage of socioreligious development. Agricultural Revolution incubated Zoroastrianism and other monotheisms, while making hunter-gatherer religion virtually irrelevant. A similar patter has been observed since the advent of the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, for they challenged some essential concepts of religions.

Religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism claim that the universe was created by one omnipotent God, humans are unique and superior to other species, God created them for a purpose, and afterlife is eternal. They also maintained that God created humans in present form. However, during the Scientific Revolution some claims were proven counterfactual.

As traditional religions were thereby losing their superiority, science was gaining the same idea of superiority: the notion that science can achieve almost everything. Owing to this scientific superiority, humans might well experience a new revolution: the advent of artificial intelligence. It is believed that AI will be so powerful that humans will become intellectually inferior to it. Therefore, traditional religions will inevitably fail to answer fundamental questions of human life.

Under these unprecedented circumstances, humans will inevitably endeavor to rediscover the meaning of life. Out of this striving to perceive our existence anew could give rise to a new religion and a new God, or a new godless religion. It could also increase the adherents of the existing monotheistic religions as it happened in Africa during the colonial period. The objective of this project is therefore to scrutinize the upcoming religious transformations.