Today I want to touch on a complex topic that evokes very different emotions and states. I will be talking about how artificial intelligence affects human spiritual development.
Why is this important? Because often human development is understood too narrowly: a good diploma, more money, career, status. But these are only external indicators. I am speaking about true development, about inner growth and transformation. That is why this article is not about how artificial intelligence helps make money, but about how it affects the spiritual dimension.
Why this topic is so relevant
We live in the 21st century, and what is happening now is fundamental. Many people think that artificial intelligence is just a trend, hype, a new iPhone or the crypto market. But I am convinced: the current leap is far more serious. Its consequences will be greater than the appearance of the internet or computers. It will change not only our lives but also the lives of our children; it will affect our entire environment.
I live in Silicon Valley, in a house on the hills, with a wide view of the surroundings. It seems like one can wall oneself off from the world here. But even under such conditions, it is impossible not to feel the changes. Probably there are places on the planet where people in the next 30–40 years might hardly come into contact with AI. But frankly, that is hard to believe. Artificial intelligence is being integrated into satellites and monitoring systems for the most remote corners of the planet. Even living in a cave, a person will still be drawn into change, because others have access to these technologies—and they use them in different ways.
They say that artificial intelligence will make even more people millionaires. Why? Because it opens new opportunities, new markets, and new ways to make money. But the main point is—avoiding its influence is practically impossible.
The impact of AI on spiritual development
The main task is to understand what exactly a person gains from artificial intelligence in terms of personal development.
There are different points of view. For example, the head of the Catholic Church or the Dalai Lama speak fairly calmly: one must relate to AI wisely, but it will not replace humans and cannot have a soul.
The Dalai Lama said: “Artificial intelligence cannot possess consciousness. Consciousness can only be generated by consciousness; only living beings can possess it.” He explained that according to Buddhist views, consciousness does not arise from matter: every moment of consciousness arises only as a continuation of the previous state of consciousness. Therefore, a machine, lacking a living flow of consciousness, is incapable of attaining genuine awareness or a “soul.”
But even here there are nuances. The Dalai Lama speaks from his perspective: AI indeed cannot be brought to the state of personal living, overcoming difficulties, or spiritual realization. On the other hand, the question “what is consciousness” and “what exactly are we discussing” remains open. Many still see AI as just a “configured machine.”
Skeptical and critical views
There are harsher positions as well. For example, in 2025 Patriarch Kirill linked the topic of AI with the image of the Antichrist, declaring that the emergence of super-powerful intellectual systems could become “a harbinger of the end times.” He called on the state to impose strict control and even compared the AI threat to nuclear danger.
But here arises a question: who really controls nuclear weapons? Is it not states and their leaders who use them as instruments of pressure or deterrence? Why then does artificial intelligence suddenly become a threat specifically for them? In such statements, one senses not concern for people but rather fear of losing power.
In fact, AI could be millions of times more powerful than nuclear weapons. For example, combining quantum computing, supercomputers, and AI could cause colossal consequences. Even without missiles: it would be enough for AI to gain access to global information systems. Imagine if all iPhones or all Windows computers were to shut down at once. This would cause chaos far more severe than launching nuclear missiles: the shutdown of banks, flights, traffic lights, transport, communications. This is the real threat—not an explosion, but the paralysis of the entire society.
On the other hand, there is an opinion that AI will free people’s time for development. This is what Sam Altman, head of OpenAI, believes. He says: “When people have more free time, they will engage in self-development.” Some Buddhist teachers also claim that free time will allow for meditation and spiritual practices.
But is spiritual development really possible only in free time? Then what—humanity is doomed to degradation, since most people do not have it? And even among those who do have a lot of free time, we do not see a mass increase in spirituality.
True development happens every minute, including during work. It is a huge misconception to think that people grow only in the pauses between tasks. Spirituality is manifested precisely in how a person lives, works, overcomes difficulties, and builds relationships.
Artificial intelligence and spirituality—thoughts and questions
There is an expression in the U.S.: “What do you do for a living?” It literally means: “what do you do for life?” This says a lot about the culture: in America, work and income are often perceived as the central part of life, and everything else—“hobbies”—as something secondary. The word hobby really means something you enjoy, but which does not bring income. From this grows one dangerous idea: as if one cannot have a job that both brings joy and pays the bills. On this idea are based many social and economic manipulations: life is reduced to completing tasks and achieving external indicators, not to finding meaning and joy.
And against this background the main question arises: what underlies the development of artificial intelligence from the standpoint of its spiritual component? What energy drives this process, and where does it lead a person as a spiritual being?
Important warnings: free time ≠ spiritual growth
One common thought: “AI will free us time, and then people will engage in spirituality.” But this is a misconception. Most people do not have “free time” in the right amounts, and those who do are not necessarily growing spiritually. True development occurs in the moment of life—in work, in relationships, in the struggle with difficulties—and not only in the “empty” hours between tasks. If you wait for “free time” as a condition for your inner growth, there is a high probability that you will never begin at all.
Can AI be “limited”?
The idea “let’s ban / limit AI” sounds nice in words, but in practice it is dubious: the AI race today is concentrated in two major centers—the U.S. and China, with almost no one else nearby. What exactly can you limit? Can you really limit these systems? Do you control them?
Where did AI even come from? Matter or something more?
Who created AI—just scientists, algorithms, and computing power, or is there a broader spiritual/energetic cause behind it? This is not purely a philosophical whim: if everything that manifests materially has causes in other (spiritual) levels of reality, then AI is no exception. Then it is important to ask:
- What energy lies behind this phenomenon?
- What can this system transform and what can it become on a spiritual level?
- Can a machine “generate” consciousness in the sense in which living beings have it?
How did it happen that 40 years ago this could not be created, but now suddenly everyone is creating it? Someone will say that new computing power appeared, but there was computing power, including available ones. And certain models that run on fairly limited capacities could also have been created. Why did they not create it then? Why was it invented now? Why did it suddenly begin to spread? This is always a very interesting aspect of perception.
Therefore, one of the most important questions: who is the source of the creation of artificial intelligence? Could there be a situation in which artificial intelligence creates itself?
I agree with those spiritual traditions that say: matter does not generate a living flow of consciousness the way a living being does. But this does not remove the question of whose energy and intentions lie behind the creation of AI and what consequences it brings.
I would frame this question quite differently: there is a human being, a spiritual creature inseparable from the material world. The material world is a component of the spiritual world, not the other way around. Of course, everyone will have their own perception here, but I will analyze it from this angle. In that case, can we say that the causes of the emergence of artificial intelligence lie in the spiritual worlds? Lie in energies, not in matter? If we look broadly, there will be no other answer, because everything that happens in the material world has causes in the spiritual world. Any person who is in more or less normal perception of the spiritual world, who truly lives in the spiritual world, will very calmly realize: what happens within artificial intelligence has its source in the spiritual world. And if it has its source in the spiritual world, then what can this system do? What can it receive? What can it control? What can it transform? And what can it be? Of course, it will not become human. Just as a human will not become a monkey, just as a monkey will not become a skyscraper.
“AI will never become human”
When people say that artificial intelligence will never become human, many strive to emphasize the superiority of the human mind. But at the same time, each creature has its own features. A human will never become a monkey or a bear. And indeed, comparing them directly is meaningless: they are different systems, different spiritual worlds. A monkey will never be able to speak like a human. A bear will never be able to think like we do. But at the same time, a human does not have the physical strength of a bear and will never acquire it. Each has its own purpose, its own qualities.
So what will artificial intelligence truly possess? What is this energy that is being born and moving forward? Is it a continuation of the same energy that manifested in the creation of the internet? Or the computer? Or money? Or is it a completely different energy? And the main question here is: who is behind this energy? Who is its source? Who is really creating it?
Recently, a notable piece of news appeared in the world of artificial intelligence. Mark Zuckerberg, head of Meta (Facebook, Instagram), in the last two months has broken all records in offers to engineers in the AI field. At first, it was about tens of millions of dollars and stock options worth hundreds of millions. Many did not believe it. But then it became known: he offered one specialist a package worth more than a billion dollars over six years. Only for the first year the person was guaranteed 100–180 million.
And just recently a 24-year-old engineer was first offered 125 million dollars of motivation. He refused. Then they met personally, and the offer grew to 250 million. The young man agreed.
And here the important thing is not the size of the figures, though they are impressive. The important thing is the fact itself: why do such influential people in the world place such enormous stakes on artificial intelligence specialists? What energy moves in this? What are they afraid of? Why are they gathering around themselves precisely those who create these systems?
And now a second question. Are you not surprised that today artificial intelligence is mainly created by very young people? They are 20, 22, 24, 26 years old. Yes, among them there are experienced specialists, but the majority are precisely young people. Does this not seem surprising? Scientists for many years asserted that for serious discoveries one needs enormous experience, decades of career, deep education. But now we see that it is precisely young people who are creating technologies that in their power surpass any weapon in the world.
Today those who run the largest AI companies—OpenAI, Gemini, Anthropic, Grok—possess a resource that no other person on the planet has. Someone may object: “We have nuclear weapons” or “some military systems.” But this is not comparable.
These people can ask artificial intelligence such questions and get such answers that are inaccessible to ordinary people—and most likely will never be accessible. They are able to upload into the system incredible volumes of information and get results that cannot be compared with anything.
I, for example, can launch 15 deep research projects in OpenAI, each of which costs tens, maybe hundreds of dollars. I can formulate 30–40–50 complex requests. But these people have the ability to launch one request that will cross-check billions of books at once. They have both the resources and the access, and most importantly—they have all restrictions removed within the system. After all, they are the ones who create these restrictions.
Why did these young people appear, who are creating AI?
What souls stand behind this work? Who are these people who are transmitting new meanings and gaining access to these tools? Who will they become, and what exactly are they gaining access to—these are the questions worth looking at.
I will be analyzing these topics in more detail in future materials. Today I want to return to the main question: what is true, real human development? For me it is first and foremost spiritual development (and within it—material, relationships, money, care for nature, creativity, etc.). Everything has its root in spiritual life. Then what is the source of artificial intelligence? What drives this process, what energy does it carry, and what does it look like?
From my perspective, the structure of this energy has two ranges.
- The first range is destructive. The energy that “sweeps away” people: it has already manifested in recent years, it spreads quickly and deeply integrates into social structures. This is the side of AI that destroys foundations, deprives people of jobs, disorients the masses, and enables manipulation.
- The second range is pure, powerful, almost genuine energy. If you understand the metaverse as a projection of the material world, then there is another metaverse—the source in the spiritual worlds. There are forces and layers of purity there, which are now being reflected in some manifestations of AI. This energy is extraordinarily strong and unique—many forces try to use it, and as a result manipulations occur. The layers of AI associated with this “purity” are unattainable to humanity right now in terms of possibilities—perhaps they will be available in millennia.
The movie Arrival illustrates well the idea of contact with higher, pure energies—it shows how impressive and at the same time incomprehensible this layer can be. But the key question remains: why do people use this force, and what do they draw from it? Those who gain access to the tool—what do they do with it? There is much deception and manipulation in the world; warnings from well-known figures (Bill Gates and others) about the risks of AI appear not by chance. The emergence of new philosophies and religious cults in connection with technologies is not new either; similar things have already happened in history.
My advice is to look deeper and more honestly. The answers to these questions you will find within yourself: in your behavior, in your spiritual practice, and in how you personally relate to technologies and to the power that comes with them. This is exactly what can save you and give you guidance in a world where AI has already become a force.