The recent years have seen tremendous growth in the AI segment, with multiple AI tools being available for simplifying our day-to-day life. The technology has definitely taken the world by a storm, revealing its immense capability to do things in a few seconds which would ordinarily take a number of hours. Based on November 2024 data from Semrush, ChatGPT attracts 464 million visitors each month.

Few days back, I got an update in my Macbook for installing AI – “Apple Intelligence.” They were boasting about its unique capabilities, and integration with ChatGpt for writing, note and summary making, and even generating photos. Although I don’t use much of Chatgpt for my writing as I feel it takes away my style of writing, and introduces bombastic words which make understanding more difficult, I felt this “Apple Intelligence” worth trying. I thought I’ll simply use it for proofreading and punctuations without letting it overpower my creative thinking (whatever little I have got!), as I do with ChatGpt on some occasions.

On using “Apple Intelligence” for a couple of times, I didn’t find it so appealing. Nor did the Image Playground impress me. But it definitely brought me to a thought (which had been going on since a while) about integration of devotional service and AI. Can AI be integrated with Bhakti?

Before exploring integration possibilities, let us try to see the power of AI and ChatGPT.

The AI Revolution:

AI is definitely helping us in many ways – simply give it a prompt, it will answer for you. It has made searches easy, it has made writing assignments easy and it can give you a lengthy code free of errors. These are just a few things that AI does. Nowadays, it can give you a transcript of an entire YouTube video, it can even design a robot!

Yet, anything powerful in this world doesn’t come without a side-effect. Almost all of the allopathic medicines we take have side effects. What are the cons of AI?

AI as Intelligence Robber:

AI has the potential to put a full powered brake on our thought process. Thought refers to the intelligence. AI can convince our intelligence to not use our intelligence. So much so that even in composing one line messages, people take the help of AI tools. How can such people ever become confident in their reading, writing and speaking abilities? It is one thing to save time, but it’s another thing to make a huge facade of our great learning, while being a nut! AI must be used in a way that it doesn’t interfere our learning and developing skills, rather, it assists in the same.

AI as Time Waster:

In the name of saving time, I have seen many people waste time on AI tools! AI tools are like a sword. They need to be used with great care and caution. Else, we may end up wasting more time on ChatGPT than what we could have taken to execute the same task without it. So, we must use AI tools like a tool! And not let those tools fool us!!

Integrating AI and Devotion:

AI can be used in various aspects of devotional service. If we wish to have some statistical data on some topic, it can help us get it easily without having to go through the garbage of multiple websites. ChatGPT can provide effective means to organize, preach in many innovative ways. It can give a pointwise presentation for any topic. All these, and many more, are apt uses of AI if they are helping us come closer to Krishna.

The purview beyond AI: Emotions

The field where AI cannot enter is emotions. It can surely give us “aha” moments by simplifying things and making us “feel” happy for having solved our problem, or having saved our time, but there is definitely more to life than this!

The area where AI cannot influence is emotions. Bhakti is all about spiritual emotions. Srila Rupa Goswami defines sadhana bhakti as,
kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya-bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā
Action of the senses which produces the stage of bhāva is called sādhana-bhakti.

Spiritual life is based on exchanging “rasa” with Krishna. And having affectionate heart-to-heart relationships with devotees. ChatGPT can definitely give us 20 gift options that could be given to devotees on their birthdays, yet, it cannot improve our relationships simply by it’s usage. We need to definitely make a conscious endeavor. AI cannot, in any way, provide the juice, the nectar we get by serving Krishna, by pleasing devotees, by sacrificing for others and by investing our time and energy in Krishna Consciousness.

We may use many techniques for chanting effectively, but if we forget to take shelter of Krishna, all those techniques make little sense. In the same way, AI must not overwhelm us to the extent that we forget Krishna. If it helps us enhance our remembrance, then we can understand that we are using the philosophy of “yukta” vairagya in the right manner.

AI can definitely assist our Krishna Consciousness, but we must always remember that our real intelligence comes from Krishna. AI should be like a boat to take us towards the ocean of Krishna’s infinite love. Then, utilizing AI also, we can remain perfectly grounded in Krishna’s love.