Recent Barna research on faith and artificial intelligence suggests Christians “are outpacing the majority of other population segments on AI adoption, including pastors.”
According to the study, 44 percent of practicing Christians say they use AI “very often” or “often” in their personal lives, compared to 31 percent of U.S. adults overall and 29 percent of nonpracticing Christians.
This AI usage is not merely personal. Research indicates 39 percent of practicing Christians use AI often or very often at work, compared to 26 percent of U.S. adults nationally. The rates of AI use also vary between practicing Christians and pastors.
In a separate survey, Barna researchers recorded only 16 percent of pastors claim to use AI “often” personally. One-third of pastors surveyed claimed they use it only “sometimes,” and 45 percent said “not very much” or “not at all.”
At work, pastors reported using AI often or very often at a rate of 24 percent, compared to 39 percent of practicing Christians.
“Ask people yes-or-no whether they use AI, and the average pastor and the average American look about the same,” said Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research. “It’s [the] frequency of use where the difference actually shows up.”
“Pastors understand that AI is out there, but they’re not immersed in it the way their engaged congregants may be,” Copeland continued. “The danger for pastors is underestimating just how normal AI is for the people around them. For most practicing Christians, AI isn’t for occasional use. It’s already woven into how they work, learn, and make decisions.”
How Christians are using AI
Research suggests most Christians are using AI for mundane, everyday tasks, such as looking something up, learning how to complete a task, ask for advice, stay updated on news, or enhance a piece of writing.
Using AI for faith-related questions appears at a much lower rate of only 22 to 25 percent for practicing Christians, compared to 38 to 66 percent for tasks such as looking for recipes, shopping, or searching for specific information.
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“That doesn’t mean AI has no place in people’s spiritual lives,” the Barna report states. In a separate study released in May, Barna asked practicing Christians whether they’d trust AI with something as significant as their own spiritual growth. Nearly half said “yes.”
The data also showed how practicing Christians would trust AI in areas of personal flourishing, with nearly 61 percent claiming they would completely or somewhat trust AI with achieving financial stability, and the majority (56 percent) claiming they would “trust AI with feeling happy and content with life.” For growing spiritually, 48 percent said the same.
“Across nearly every domain, practicing Christians express higher trust than non-practicing Christians, and in every category, they outpace pastors by a wide margin,” the report states.
Pastors’ trust in AI across the same domains was much lower: 12 percent for spiritual growth, 11 percent for feeling happy and content with life, 8 percent for building meaningful relationships, and 6 percent for having a sense of meaning or purpose in life.
“What we’re seeing is that Christians are genuinely open to AI as a support for the domains that matter most to them—wellbeing, purpose, even spiritual growth,” said Copeland. “That level of openness is higher than we might have expected, and it holds across multiple areas of flourishing.”
AI as a spiritual voice
Despite higher trends of practicing Christians using AI to enhance spiritual growth, many expressed concerns over AI’s ability to understand Scripture, divine authority, and the integrity of faith. Among U.S. adults, 74 percent expressed concerns about AI misinterpreting Scripture, a figure rising to 83 percent among practicing Christians and 94 percent among pastors.
Among practicing Christians, 65 percent expressed concerns about AI beginning to act as a replacement for God, compared to roughly four in five pastors (79 percent). Also, 72 percent of practicing Christians expressed concerns about AI replacing the role of pastors or spiritual leaders, while 63 percent of pastors expressed similar worries.
Among practicing Christians, 73 percent expressed concern about people losing their religious faith because of AI. However, not everyone draws the line.
When asked by Barna researchers whether spiritual advice from AI is as trustworthy as advice from a pastor, nearly 30 percent of U.S. adults agree. Among practicing Christians, 34 percent agree, and 60 percent disagree.
“This is where the data gets genuinely confounding,” said Copeland.
“Christians say they trust AI with spiritual growth, and a meaningful share say its spiritual guidance is as trustworthy as a pastor’s—yet large majorities are simultaneously concerned about AI misinterpreting scripture, replacing God, or undermining the role of spiritual leaders. The use case and the underlying fear are both present, and they’re pointing in different directions.”
The report claimed Christians have not made up their minds about AI and are “extending trust and registering fear in the same breath.”
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