Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has issued a timely warning against relying on Artificial Intelligence for spiritual direction, urging Australians to look instead to the "Authentic Intelligence" of the Easter message.
In his Easter message, the Archbishop said it was surprising that people were not “just searching an online Bible for answers — people are asking AI to generate spiritual guidance for their lives.”
“At Easter,” he said, “we celebrate something infinitely greater: God speaking to us in person.”
“When Jesus appeared to his disciples on the first Easter day, they were ‘locked away’ fearing those who put Jesus to death. But Jesus appears in the midst of them, speaking ‘Peace’.“
While acknowledging AI's utility and its inherent risks, the Archbishop insisted that life’s deepest questions require a divine response.
“This Easter, remember that for two thousand years we have had God’s Authentic Intelligence. Communication from God - in Jesus!”
In the video message, the leader of Australia’s largest Anglican church made a plea for people to put down the smartphone and pick up a Bible, discovering a God who doesn’t just provide data, but provides himself.
“Some questions only God can answer.”
The uncertainty of the world through war and economic hardship is likely to boost the number of people searching for spiritual answers in church this Easter.
The Archbishop will speak at St Andrew’s Cathedral in the centre of Sydney on Easter Day while Anglican churches will hold hundreds of services around Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.
