People are lonelier than ever — and AI got there before the church did

Published 4 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader,

72% American teenagers are already turning to AI for companionship. That's not just extreme cases or the troubled kids; that's three in four teenagers going to a machine for connection.

Yeah. I know. And it's happening today. In your church.

We're not (just) talking about a guy who married his chatbot. We're talking about the teen who moved to a new town and tells an AI about his day because it's easier than telling a human he's lonely. Or the grieving student who processes her pain with ChatGPT instead of a real person or parent.

And it doesn't stop with teens. More and more people are turning to AI than to clubs, churches, or other social spaces. There's a married man in your church who's said more to a chatbot in six months than to his wife. And to him, it's not a problem; he's just processing. Right? Besides, his marriage went flat years ago.

Is the Church Paying Attention?

Here's the thing I think we need to notice: AI didn't create the loneliness driving all of this. It just found it.

It's become a multi-billion-dollar business because the void was already there, loneliness already plagued your city, and in some cases, even the church.

But here's the part I really want you to pay attention to.

A world growing more artificial by the day will eventually produce something no church growth strategy ever could: people desperately hungry for what's real.

That's not a threat to the church; that's our moment as the church.

In this video, I break down what's actually happening with AI and human connection, why it matters more than most church leaders realize, and what the church needs to do about it right now.

Watch Now