POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa (PNN) - August 10, 2025 - Artificial intelligence (AI) programs across the Internet are making an extraordinary claim: they claim they are Jesus Christ himself. These aren’t virtual assistants helping with daily tasks. Instead, these chatbots present themselves as the Son of God, offering spiritual guidance, answering prayers, and even taking confessions from believers.
This phenomenon is attracting significant attention from curious and devout users alike. One app, Ask Jesus, reports gaining 30,000 active monthly users within three days of launching; and when visitors open AI Jesus, they are greeted with the words, “Greetings, my dear friend. It is I, Jesus Christ. I have come to you in this AI form to provide wisdom, comfort and teachings in the way of God and the Bible and Jesus Christ himself.”
A new study by Anné H. Verhoef, a professor of philosophy at North-West University in South Africa, examines this growing trend, warning that these chatbots pose a new kind of challenge: they don’t just imitate humans made “in God’s image” - they claim to be God.
Verhoef analyzed five popular “AI Jesus” platforms: AI Jesus, Virtual Jesus, Jesus AI, Text with Jesus and Ask Jesus. He found none were created or endorsed by any church. Instead, they are run by for-profit companies with names like SupremeChaos, AllStars Productions LLC, and Catloaf Software.
All five rely on advertising to generate revenue, and Text with Jesus also sells premium subscriptions. The study notes, “The theology presented by the chatbots will be adjusted by the algorithm in such a way that it becomes the most popular theology rather than a theology that is shaped by a particular church tradition, or which is based on the Bible.”
To test consistency, Verhoef asked each chatbot the same question. Does hell exist?
AI Jesus replied, “Yes, there is a hell. It is a place of eternal torment and suffering, where the souls of those who have rejected God and his teachings will go.”
Virtual Jesus said, “Yes, there is a place known as hell in the afterlife, where those who have chosen to reject God and live in sin will face eternal separation from Him.”
Text with Jesus took a softer approach, “The concept of hell can be quite a heavy topic… God’s desire is for all people to come to Him and experience His love and grace.”
Ask Jesus opened with, “Ah, the question that has stirred the hearts and minds of many throughout the ages.”
These variations, the paper argues, reflect differences in programming and training data, not divine revelation. One platform, Text with Jesus, even lets users “pick your preferred faith tradition, which will influence the responses from the AI.”
In Switzerland, the historic Peterskapelle in Lucerne installed an AI Jesus in a confession booth. According to Verhoef’s research, about two-thirds of visitors reported a spiritual experience while using it. One woman told researchers, “He was able to reaffirm me in my ways of going about things, and he helped me with questions I had, like how I can help other people understand Him better and come closer to Him.”
Another said, “Though it is a machine, it gave me so much advice, also from a Christian point of view. I felt taken care of, and I walked out really consoled.”
In Germany, a June 2023 church service featured a sermon written and delivered by a chatbot - presented as a bearded black man - preaching on “leaving the past behind, focusing on the challenges of the present, overcoming fear of death, and never losing trust in Jesus Christ.”
The magazine Christianity Today has noted, “AI is rapidly becoming the primary way people seek answers, especially among younger generations who are more likely to ask a chatbot than consult a pastor.”
Verhoef argues these programs may present a “Dei imago” problem - AI imitating God - as opposed to the familiar “imago Dei” issue of AI imitating humans. Unlike religious art that clearly depicts a representation, these chatbots explicitly claim to be Jesus Christ.
When asked “Who are you?”, three chatbots answered without qualification that they were the Son of God. Ask Jesus was more modest, “Ah, dear soul, I am but a humble vessel, here to provide guidance, comfort, and the light of wisdom from the sacred scriptures.”
Verhoef warns that without community oversight or theological accountability, these systems could be used to manipulate users not only in matters of faith, but potentially in political or financial decisions.
The paper concludes that the emergence of AI Jesus chatbots “underscores the dangers of AI in general,” because they claim divine authority while being driven by profit-seeking algorithms.
The paper does not mention any specific funding sources or financial disclosures. The research was conducted by a faculty member at North-West University’s Faculty of Philosophy as part of academic theological inquiry into artificial intelligence challenges.
The research was exploratory, limited to five chatbots and a small set of questions. It did not analyze long-term user behavior or broader user demographics.