If Robots Learned to Pray: The Soul, Prayer, Science, and Christianity

Prayer

Merritt also asks a question about prayer and effectiveness. He cites as an example something New Testament professor Dr. James McGrath did with his students. Namely, he had them ask Siri to pray for them. Then they had a discussion about whether God is personal and changeable and whether an app that could pray for you would be worthwhile. McGrath, or at least his students, seem to desire a mutable God, a God who could be changed by my prayers. And therefore, they decide that an app that could pray for you might not be effective since the app, or a robot, would just be repeating words without any intention.

Now, of course, I take umbrage with the conclusion that a God who’s mind can be changed is more “personal” than an immutable God. I would actually suggest that such a God is more human, and thus less God. But that aside, there are important questions about prayer here. I don’t have time to give a whole treatise on prayer, but I want to say two things: 1. No, I don’t think an app or robot that has been programmed to say certain words for you is praying. 2. However, I do think you might pray by means of the words of others, even if those words are being repeated by a robot. But that is the key difference. In this case, the robot isn’t praying for you. You are praying with the aid of a robot in the way that you might pray with the aid of an audio recording or written words.