ABSTRACT
While some expressions of the relationship between AI and religion are implicit – for instance, the implicit religiosity of transhumanists, as discussed in the previous chapter – others are more explicit in their use of the word and category of ‘religion’. This chapter will explore both intentional and playful efforts to develop AI religions. After case studies on specific AI NRMs and on the idea of AI creating a religion itself, the reader will be taken through the existing context of NRMs as an object in religious studies – including how they act as a counterexample to the secularisation thesis and how identifying something as a religion is a political act that some see as harmful. We will also highlight in particular the academic typologies that have recognised the emergence and development of pragmatic and performative forms of religiosity that openly express their created-ness, such as invented religions (Cusack 2010) and hyper-real religions (Possamai 2005).
