Historian Warns That AI Will Control Religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam

AI has already started to transform the way society functions, from automating routine tasks to analysing a huge amount of data beyond human capacity. AI's influence is expanding across every sector of modern life. But can it come between you and your religion?

Now, historian Yuval Noah Harari has triggered a major debate, suggesting that AI's impact could reach the very human and historically rooted realm of religion. Harari argues that faiths rooted in sacred texts may be challenged by AI's ability to read and interpret in ways that humankind has never experienced before.

Also, his words have gone viral on social media, much of it distilled into a stark warning that AI could one day 'control' big world religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam by becoming the ultimate authority on sacred scripture. This claim, however, is more nuanced than some online posts make it out to be.

What Harari Actually Said About AI and Religion

In case you don't know, Yuval Noah Harari is a historian and author best known for Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. His work usually encompasses a large sweep of human history and the implications of new technologies for society.

Now in talks, including those covered online, Harari has pointed out how AI's mastery of language and information could alter established institutions that depend on text and interpretation. Specifically, he has asked what will happen to religions built around sacred books when AI can not only read every sacred text but also synthesise and 'speak' from them with precision that no human scholar can match.

Moreover, Harari explains that until now, religious authority has depended on humans who interpret texts. For example, no single rabbi can claim mastery of all Jewish texts and commentaries, given the corpus is so massive. Modern AI systems, by contrast, can hold enormous libraries in memory, analyse them instantly and provide answers tailored to individual queries. In this sense, the religious word could be said to speak independently of human intermediaries, changing believers' relationships with their traditions.

Furthermore, some online posts have taken these words to an insane level, saying that Harari or the World Economic Forum intends to use AI to write a 'new Bible' or create a single, correct global religion. However, fact-checking organisations have clarified that the World Economic Forum itself did not propose rewriting religious texts or imposing new world religions through AI, and that Harari's comments were more curiosity-driven than prescriptive. He used examples such as the printing press or hypothetically AI writing a Bible, as he said,

'(Johannes) Gutenberg printed the Bible, in the middle of the 15th century. The printing press printed as many copies of the Bible as Gutenberg instructed it, but it did not create a single new page. It had no ideas of its own about the Bible,' Harari added. 'AI can create new ideas, can even write a new Bible.'

Even so, Harari's main point remains that for religions where scripture and interpretation play major roles, introduction of AI into those realms could diminish the traditional role of human clergy and scholars in a way.

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Can AI Really Impact Religion?

Now, the idea of AI influencing religion is not limited to Harari's remarks. At one level, AI is already transforming how people encounter sacred texts. Tools that can answer questions about scripture or provide historical context make religious knowledge more accessible than ever before. Websites and apps powered by AI already provide personalised readings, interpretations, and historical notes for texts such as the Bible, the Quran, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, and others.

However, there is an obvious caution that understanding the potential impact of AI on religion requires nuance.

Religions are not simply sets of texts; they are lived traditions, communities and practices made by human experience, culture and ritual. While AI might provide interpretations, it does not possess the lived experience, faith commitments or spiritual authority that many believers consider integral to religion. Basically, AI may become a tool used by faithful people or religious institutions, but it is unlikely to replace the interpersonal and communal dimensions of religious life.