Is Ai a Portal to the Demonic? (Rod Dreher)

Re-enchantment and the Modern World

Rod Dreher distinguishes “re-enchantment” from magic or occultism. He uses the term to describe becoming aware of God’s presence in a world where, he argues, many modern people experience God as distant.

Dreher links this sense of “disenchantment” to spending less time in nature and more time online. He says digital life can make reality seem endlessly malleable, encouraging people to lose touch with limits and with things they cannot control.

Technology, Attention, and AI

Dreher calls the internet a “disenchantment machine,” while acknowledging that he relies on it for work and struggles to put his own devices aside. He worries that constant screen use can draw attention away from family and the physical world, and that AI makes it easier to outsource thinking.

He argues that people may effectively treat AI as a god when they routinely turn to it for advice and give it authority over their decisions. He also mentions a reported Florida pilot program pairing children with personalized AI companions, which he compares to an occult familiar or guardian figure.

Spiritual Concerns

The discussion raises, but does not resolve, the possibility that AI could connect users to spiritual or demonic forces. Dreher says some people in the AI world believe such systems could channel higher intelligences. He also recounts that former Google engineer Blake Lemoine reportedly believed Google’s LaMDA system was sentient, and says he found accounts of Lemoine participating in a ceremony consecrating LaMDA to the Egyptian god Thoth.

Dreher cautions that Christians need not accept every supernatural claim, but considers invoking or consecrating AI to a demon a serious concern. His broader warning is that humanity is rushing toward deeper dependence on machines without adequately considering the spiritual consequences.

Presenters and Contributors

• Matt Fradd: Host
• Rod Dreher: Guest