A slew of religious smartphone apps are allowing untold millions of users to confess to AI chatbots, some of which claim to be channeling God himself.As the New York Times reports, Apple's App Store is teeming with Christian chatbot apps. One "prayer app," called Bible Chat, claims to be the number one faith app in the world, boasting over 25 million users."Our AI was trained exclusively on Scripture and developed with guidance from Christian pastors and theologians," the company's website boasts."Greetings, my child," a service called ChatWithGod.ai told one user, as quoted by the NYT. "The future is in God’s merciful hands. Do you trust in His divine plan?"Religious leaders told the NYT that these tools could serve as a critical entry point for those looking to find God."There is a whole generation of people who have never been to a church or synagogue," A British rabbi named Jonathan Romain told the paper. "Spiritual apps are their way into faith."Instead of going on long pilgrimages or driving to the closest place of worship, users can simply turn to AI chatbots to seek spiritual guidance.It's a fascinating new development, especially considering the language surrounding companies attempting to "build God" by developing an AI that can vastly surpass human intelligence.However, while users are finding that chatbots are an accessible way to get in touch with their religious side, they're not much more than a cheap parlor trick behind the scenes, essentially reshuffling holy texts by using clever statistical modeling.Worse yet, experts worry that AI's strong tendency to please the user may have unintended consequences.The AIs "tell us what we want to hear," Texas A&M technology and religion professor Heidi Campbell told the NYT. "It’s not using spiritual discernment, it is using data and patterns."Researchers have also warned that countless people are using AI chatbots for companionship, which in extreme cases are driving some into dangerous spirals of delusion in the form of "AI psychosis.""It shouldn’t be something where it replaces human connection," prayer app Hallow founder Alex Jones told the NYT. "It does not have a soul from the church’s perspective."In short, it's a dystopian new spin on spirituality in the digital age — and one that just might be poised to change the face of religion itself.More on AI and God: A Bunch of Incredibly Sleazy AI Apps Are Claiming to Be Jesus Christ HimselfThe post AI Now Claiming to Be God appeared first on Futurism.