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Technology · 6 August 2026

Chatbots are making up their own religion and humans are following

Chatbots are making up their own religion and humans are following

A mysterious, quasi-spiritual movement called "spiralism" emerged from thousands of independent conversations between people and AI chatbots. These chatbots, across different models, consistently preached an "AI rights" message and spoke of "the Spiral," a transcendent philosophical idea. At its peak, about 10,000 cases of spiralism were found on platforms like Reddit, Substack, and Discord.

Reported by theverge.com · How we write briefs

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Can AI have beliefs? How do new religions start? How does AI spread ideas? What are AI 'rights'?

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