Most Americans skeptical of turning to AI for spiritual guidance

Washington, DC, September 28, 2026 – A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds that while a majority of Americans have used artificial intelligence, few are turning to it for questions of faith or spirituality. Among those who use AI, most still trust the people in their lives, not AI, when it comes to matters of the heart, conscience, and belief.

The poll finds that roughly three in five U.S. adults have used an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Claude for any purpose. Among those AI users, though, a small minority have turned to it for spiritual or religious guidance, to generate prayers, or study scripture.

Detailed Findings

1. Most Americans use AI, but few for spiritual matters.

• Among poll respondents who use AI (61% of all Americans), 11% have sought spiritual or religious guidance from it, 13% have used it to write or generate prayers, and 15% have used it to study religious scripture or texts.
• These individuals tend to have lower income and lower education; adults 65 and older are notably less likely than those 35-49 to use AI this way.
• Nearly seven in 10 poll respondents who use AI (69%) say they would never seek religious or spiritual guidance from it.
• When asked how likely they would be to seek advice on a difficult personal topic from an AI tool, just 26% of all Americans say they would be likely to — far behind family members (66%) and friends (63%), and roughly on par with a religious leader (28%).

2. When it comes to personal counsel, people still trust each other more than AI.

• Three in four poll respondents who use AI (75%) say they trust advice from people they know more than advice from AI, compared to just 6% who trust AI's advice more; 17% trust both equally.
• Only 29% of all Americans say they're comfortable turning to AI when they have a personal question or problem, while 68% are not comfortable doing so.

3. When Americans do turn to AI instead of a person, it's mostly for practical reasons.

• Among poll respondents who use AI, the top reasons for turning to AI over a person for a difficult topic are that it's available anytime without scheduling or waiting (31%) and that it has access to more information than the people they could ask (29%).
• About one in four cite not wanting to be judged (23%), while about one in five say they can be more honest with AI than with people they know (18%).
• Nearly half (47%) say they simply wouldn't turn to AI for this kind of topic at all.

4. Few Americans see AI as a meaningful spiritual resource.

• Just 5% of Americans believe AI tools can help bring people closer to spirituality or religious practice, benefit those who are spiritually seeking, or serve as a pathway to spiritual exploration for people who do not practice religion.
• Notably, more Americans (17%) agree that using AI for spiritual guidance feels fundamentally different from using it for other kinds of advice.

About the Study

This poll was conducted by Ipsos from August 7^th through 9^th, 2026, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel^®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,011 adults age 18 or older. 

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult U.S. population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the U.S. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The study was conducted in English. The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS). Party ID benchmarks are from the 2025 National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• Party Identification (Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Not lean, Lean Democrat, Democrat)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.34.

The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing nearly 20,000 people. 

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 business solutions are based on primary data from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques. 

“Game Changers” – our tagline – summarizes our ambition to help our 5,000 clients navigate with confidence our rapidly changing world. 

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has been listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120, Mid-60 indices, and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD). 

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP 

www.ipsos.com 

35 rue du Val de Marne 
75 628 Paris, Cedex 13 France 
Tel. +33 1 41 98 90 00