Need spiritual guidance? Gurus join chatbot trend as people turn to AI for answers

CHENNAI, India (AP) — When Kripa Vaidyanathan’s 27-year-old niece died in an Alaska car crash in 2024, her family in Chennai, India, felt shell-shocked. They questioned why this tragedy would befall them when they had such “immense faith in God.” Vaidyanathan, a yoga instructor, helped her grieving sister get face time with a high-profile guru who she hoped would help. “But he told her this was the work of karma and she should use this opportunity to connect with her inner nature,” she said.

“I understand how karma works, but saying that was cruel and extremely unhelpful to someone who was freshly grieving the loss of a child.” That’s when they turned to artificial intelligence chatbots. “It was a lot easier trying to get answers and peace of mind because ChatGPT is not judging you,” Vaidyanathan said. “We’ve found a compassionate guru now, but even he only has limited time.

AI is accessible anytime.” AI offers access and advice without judgment This unfettered access — which can be challenging to find among human gurus — is what’s drawing more people to AI for spiritual guidance. This is a big step, particularly in Hinduism, where gurus are part of culture and deemed necessary to attain moksha — liberation from the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation. The word guru in Sanskrit means “dispeller of darkness.” These chatbots are powered by large language models, AI systems that generate responses by using advanced statistics and troves of text, including sacred ones like Hinduism’s Bhagavad Gita.

Users can explore spiritual answers to personal problems and existential questions at anytime, without the typical hurdles of connecting with an in-demand guru and paying for their services. AI’s rising popularity has encouraged some successful gurus to launch their own chatbots. In India, Jaggi Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, has launched his Miracle of the Mind app with an interactive AI feature that answers questions using a database of his teachings.

California-based self-help guru Deepak Chopra has an AI platform where “Digital Deepak” answers questions drawing from his decades of talks and writings. Critics argue that AI cannot truly replace the lived experience, wisdom and ethical accountability of a human guru. Researchers also note that AI often validates and agrees with the user rather than posing those challenging questions needed for real spiritual a…