List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction, Alessandra Vitullo (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy), Ruth Tsuria (Seton Hall University, USA), and Nesrine Mansour (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
Part I: Theoretical Foundations
2. Religious Social Shaping of Technology as a Theoretical Approach to Studying Religious Users' Choices around AI, Kaiyao Zhuang (National University of Singapore, Singapore) and Heidi A. Campbell (Texas A&M University, USA)
3. AI and Religion in the Age of Mediatization: Exploring Promises and Pitfalls, Stefen Gelfgren (Umeå University, Sweden)
4. Paradox, Artificial Intelligence Learning, and Innovation, Pauline Hope Cheong (Arizona State University, USA) and Liu Liming (Arizona State University, USA)
5. Gods of Data: Why AI Systems Are the Deities of the Information Age, Carl Öhman (Uppsala University, Sweden)
6. Agency, Religion and Digitalization: A Research Overview, Kerstin Radde-Antweiler (University of Bremen, Germany) and Ilona Nord (Universität Würzburg, Germany)
7. Time-Sparing and Time-Consuming Scholarship: Being a Religious Studies Scholar in the Era of AI, Massimo Leone (University of Turin, Italy)
Part II: Empirical Data on Religion in the Age of GenAI
8. ChatGPT for Durga Puja Parikrama: Artificial Intelligence and Religious Representation in the Global South, Ishani Mukherjee (University of Illinois Chicago, USA), Maggie Williams (Northeastern University, USA), and Priyanka Kundu (University of Illinois Chicago, USA; University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)
9. Ghost(s) in the Machine: Spiritualism and the Enchantment of Artificial Intelligence, Emma St. Lawrence (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
10. AI as a Personalized Spiritual Companion: Exploring Chatbot Potential in the Czech Context, Helena Lipková (Charles University, Czech Republic)
11. AI Advisor and Digital Spirituality in China: A Case Study of Cece App, Haoyang Zhai (University of Melbourne, Australia)
12. “Can I Send a Robot to Attend an AI Church Service on My Behalf?” Experiences and Opinions of AI-Led Worship in a Helsinki Church, Katja Valaskivi (University of Helsinki, Finland)
13. Japanese Buddhist Materiality and the Ethical Horizons of AI: Revisiting the Case of the Android Preacher Mindar in Light of Evolving Generative Artificial Intelligence Technologies, Luca Milasi (Tohoku University, Japan)
14. Sacred Spaces Reimagined: Exploring Artificial Intelligence in the Ritual-Architectural Design Process, Brandon R. Ro (Tetrad Architecture and Planning, USA)
15. Shifting Islamic Authority and Knowledge in Virtual Spaces: From Websites to Artificial Intelligence, Sana Patel (Rice University, USA)
16. Jewish Religious Uses of GenAI: Issues of Credibility, Usability, and Sacredness, Ruth Tsuria (Seton Hall University, USA)
17. “The Discerning Heart Seeks Knowledge”: Bringing Human Intelligence into AI in the Study of the Babylonian Talmud, Mafalda Papini (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy), Emiliano Giovannetti (CNR-ILC, Italy), Simone Marchi (CNR-ILC, Italy), Davide Saponaro (Fondazione Rut and University of Rome, Italy), and Flavia Sciolette (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
Part III: Is this a beginning of a beautiful innovation?
18. Conclusion: Understanding Religion in the Age of AI, in Conversation with GenAI, Ruth Tsuria (Seton Hall University, USA), Nesrine Mansour (University of Colorado Boulder, USA), and Alessandra Vitullo (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
Index