Artificial Intelligence in the Intergenerational Transmission of Religious Values: New Challenges for the Family and Upbringing from the Perspective of Catholic Personalist Anthropology
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of the environments in which religious questions are explored, and values are interpreted and transmitted across generations. Although existing scholarship addresses digital religion and the ethical and educational implications of AI, the mechanisms through which conversational AI may influence intergenerational religious communication within families require further conceptual examination. This article develops a Responsible Relational AI Mediation Model grounded in family pedagogy, religious socialization theory, digital religion studies, AI ethics, and Catholic personalist anthropology. This study employs an interdisciplinary conceptual approach based on critical literature analysis and synthesis, supplemented by selected international policy documents and Catholic Church teaching. The proposed model integrates three analytical dimensions: structural, identifying the persons, relationships, communities, and technologies involved in religious formation; processual, examining how AI-generated interpretations may influence perceived authority and intergenerational dialogue; and normative, establishing criteria for responsible technological mediation. It distinguishes between relationally integrated and non-integrated pathways of AI-mediated religious inquiry and recognizes generative AI as an educational tool, a mediator of interpretation, and a potential environment for ongoing religious learning. This article argues that the formative significance of AI depends on how its use is connected with critical discernment, interpersonal relationships, and religious community participation. The model offers a conceptual framework for future empirical research rather than establishing causal effects of AI on religious formation.
Source: Religions
DOI: 10.3390/rel17111271
Author: Mateusz Pisarek
Institution: John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
Language: English
Subfield: Safety Research
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,172
OpenAlex ID: W7224790751