Yuval Harari, the author of the books Sapiens and Home Deus, warned that religion will be “taken over” while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“What happens to the religion of a book when the greatest expert of the holy book is AI?” Harari said.
Why It Matters
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping the way religion looks. In late 2025, Axios reported that some churches are enlisting the help of AI to reach worshippers and personalize sermons.
Beyond this, there has been a rise in AI-powered religious apps which enable you to text with Jesus or talk to the Bible.
As the AI revolution continues to alter the fabric of society, it comes at a moment of flux for many religious institutions. A 2025 study from the Pew Research Center found that the share of U.S. adults who identified as Christian dropped by 16 percentage points from 2007 to 2019.
What To Know
A clip of Harari speaking at Davos about AI and religion has quickly picked up online, amassing 1.2 million views as of reporting.
“As far as putting words in order is concerned, AI already thinks better than many of us. Therefore, anything made of words will be taken over by AI,” he says in the clip.
“If laws are made of words, then AI will take over the legal system. If books are just combinations of words, then AI will take over books. If religion is built from words, then AI will take over religion,” Harari said, before adding that this “is particularly true of religions based on books, like Islam, Christianity, or Judaism.”
“No human can read and remember all the words in all the Jewish books, but AI can easily do that,” he added.
His theory was met with a mixed response online, with many loudly disagreeing.
What People Are Saying
Podcaster and YouTuber Chase, @sovereignbrah, in a post on X viewed over 400,000 times: “This is Antichrist behavior and straight out of Revelation 13.”
Social media user @SasuRobet, in a post on X viewed over 20,000 times: “AI does not have a soul and a heart, so he will not understand the Bible. He will be an expert in information and in how others have interpreted it.”
One social media user, @CaptainGhazi, in a post on X viewed over 10,000 times: “Harari raises an interesting point—AI could change how religious texts are interpreted, but the human element of faith and community might remain irreplaceable.”
What Happens Next?
President Donald Trump is set to speak at the WEF in Davos later today, Wednesday.
