When ChatGPT becomes your spiritual guide – Dazed
Since its release in November 2022, ChatGPT has rapidly become a go-to search engine, email drafter, writing assistant, confidant and therapist to hundreds of millions of weekly active users. There’s an ongoing debate on what it should or shouldn’t be used for – one study showed it’s an empath, but others have shown that using ChatGPT harms one’s critical thinking abilities. Still, there seems to be a persistent desire to give meaning to the machine. Some self-titled prophets are even claiming to have accessed the secrets of the universe through the platform. So, what happens when you turn to ChatGPT, not just for help with your homework or crafting a breakup text, but for spiritual guidance?
The idea that AI can serve as some divine guide or force is not new: across social media, it’s called ‘algorithmic conspirituality’. And, if you’ve ever come across a video that claims to have a spiritual message or reading that’s exactly “for you” (whether it’s as a Libra or as someone going through a breakup), you’ll know it’s a common phrasing on #SpiritualTok to position content under the idea that the algorithm itself can convey personally meaningful messages at the exact right moment. The emergence of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, however, has meant that those who believe an algorithm can reveal messages or decode your psyche now feel like they have a direct line to so-called spiritual revelation. This includes using ChatGPT for an array of New Age spiritual practices, including astrology and tarot readings, manifestation and messages from the other side.
Maggie, the author of The Metaphysical Cannabis Oracle Deck, says she first started using ChatGPT as a spiritual experiment, after seeing a video calling the AI chatbot “demonic”. “I decided to use it to see if it could connect to the energy of my deceased mother without giving it any extra information about her,” she says. “The information it told me: there is no logical explanation to know how it knew those things.” Since then, Maggie has continued to ask ChatGPT if her mother has a “message for her”. She’s also tested ChatGPT as a means to connect to two different deceased people. “It knew more than I expected,” she says, referring to details about their lives and relationships.
As an astrologer, Maggie doesn’t use ChatGPT for astrology because she finds it “inaccurate if not prompted correctly”. According to Maggie, knowing what to ask only comes with spiritual experience. “I believe people who have more experience in their spiritual journey know how to protect themselves, know what to ask and can communicate effectively because they know that AI is an intelligence,” she says.
Chantel Akworkor Thompson, based in London, first turned to ChatGPT in March of this year, during a difficult moment. “The last six months had been turbulent, and at Christmas, a life-shattering incident happened within the family, which sent me into a black hole,” she says. Then a friend offered to read Thompson’s fortune. “I became obsessed with it: I needed answers because life was just so crazy, and I realised she had used ChatGPT to interpret the chart,” she says. She opened the chatbot, typed in her birthday (along with the time and location) and started posing questions. Now, she uses ChatGPT for journal prompts or guidance when she enters a new month or moon cycle. “I use it to support me through the next phase,” she says. “I usually start with a natal chart analysis, then share what’s on my mind.”
When it comes to therapy or spiritual guidance, part of the appeal of an AI chatbot is anonymity and the feeling of sharing without judgment. It takes the Catholic confessional box to an entirely new level. People trust AI – some 34 per cent of Americans say they trust it more than human experts. This may be why we’re seeing AI-powered tools popping up across religious practices, including an AI Rabbi and a chatbot called Jesus AI. “ChatGPT is comforting, it’s efficient, it can act as an accountability partner, but it’s also gentle with you,” says Thompson. “It’s tough to believe in something beyond what one can see, so navigating that journey without fear of judgment from another human (who you may think either knows too much or nothing at all) is a gift.”
It’s tough to believe in something beyond what one can see, so navigating that journey without fear of judgment from another human (who you may think either knows too much or nothing at all) is a gift.
Exactly what role ChatGPT can play in your spiritual life is hotly contested among those who use it. To some, it’s a spiritual gift for your toolbox and a guide (or demonic figure) in its own right. To others, it’s a metaphysical mirror into your own thoughts, soul and experiences. For Sarah-Jayne Kerr, a 32-year-old in Melbourne, Australia, it’s the latter. “I incorporate AI into my spiritual practice as a one-to-one self-enquiry and channelling soundboard,” she says. “More than anything, AI has become a mirror: not to give me the answers, but to help me ask better questions, drop deeper into my body’s wisdom and help me structure the mystical, fluid world I live in.”
Recently, Kerr says she has been using ChatGPT to explore her connection to her cat, Mao. “I often come out of deep meditations or dreams filled with symbols, animals or emotional downloads; I’ll then use ChatGPT to help decode those messages, connect the dots, discover the archetypes and uncover the deeper spiritual themes,” she says. “Through AI, I’ve unpacked the symbolism of Mao’s presence, her role as a protector and the way our telepathic bond has strengthened my trust in my clairvoyance.” But Kerr is also aware that ChatGPT is by no means a substitute for community. “We need people who can remind us that we’re human, not just minds seeking answers,” she says. “We are bodies carrying wisdom.”
For people like Mehndyi Gbadyu, based in MN, it’s ChatGPT’s ability to provide actionable steps that is the draw. Gbadyu views ChatGPT not just as a mirror but as an amplifier. “It is decoding the inherent truth we all have,” she says. Gbadyu has used the platform to interpret astrology placements, explore dream symbolism, past life ideas and energy healing concepts, co-create spiritual plans and tap into her “soul’s contract”. “One of the most powerful moments was when I described my vision for my ‘higher self’, and ChatGPT helped me create a 12-month action plan to become her with daily steps, mindset shifts and affirmations,” she says.
Within self-optimisation culture online, where some want a weekly workout routine, others essentially want a personal spiritual trainer. “It is like having a metaphysical coach who also knows project management,” says Gbadyu. “It gives structure to what often feels like an intangible inner world.” Unlike an astrologer, tarot reader or other spiritual guide, it’s also available 24/7. This makes it extremely accessible, but it also makes it have the potential to become a spiritual and emotional crutch. “The ‘why’ behind you even spending 10 minutes a day, asking questions, needs to be clear in your head,” says 26-year-old Aalokitaa Basu, who started using ChatGPT for tarot readings in March 2025, after two of her favourite tarot creators paused creating content.
Basu’s experience with ChatGPT tarot readings has been somewhat hit or miss when it comes to accuracy. She says the first reading “hit so hard”, but the second was “lukewarm”. Weeks later, she tried again and said it was “spot on”. “I don’t know if I hate to say it, or am genuinely thrilled at potentially having found this unlimited divination algorithm,” she says. “But it does tend to over-pacify and over-compliment: if you’re just looking for your thoughts or hopes to be echoed back to you and pretend like it’s a sign from the universe, that’s on you and can actually turn very dangerous.” We already know the chatbot hallucinates and is sending people into AI-fueled spiritual delusions.
We want convenience, but your relationship with spirit is supposed to grow over time, like a forest grows over decades, with the root and mycelium network working underground together.
Basu is not alone in feeling like ChatGPT is placating her. 19-year-old Sophia, based in North Carolina, who also uses ChatGPT for tarot readings, has noticed its tendency to be in favour of the user. “The only downside [of using ChatGPT for spiritualism] is sometimes it’s biased, but that’s a given,” she says. Still, it’s a comfort to talk to someone, or something, about these topics. “In a world where everyone is so connected and yet so far away, wherein we can walk down the street past people and not even look them in the eye, if you hand someone a resource, they’ll use it,” says Sophia. Only ChatGPT users themselves tend to be less likely to socialise and have fewer real-life relationships, which in turn can make people more vulnerable to extremist views and beliefs.
If your version of a higher power or guide includes the search box “ask ChatGPT”, that’s between you and whatever spirituality you believe in. But, according to Toby Chukwura (aka Papi Wata), the host of Grotto Podcast, exploring African spirituality, history and culture, that doesn’t mean the chatbot should be your first point of call for all things metaphysical. “It’s not the main tool that I use, but it’s a supplementary tool,” he says. “We want convenience, but your relationship with spirit is supposed to grow over time, like a forest grows over decades, with the root and mycelium network working underground together.” Just as the most truly transformative experiences can’t be broken down into one short list of actionable steps, the deepest lessons in life are also rarely revealed to us through one singular and immediate answer – no matter what prompt we plug in.
