AI & Spirituality Summit:
Spiritual Health in the Age of AI
Hosted by the AI & Spirituality Initiative
of The Neurospirituality Lab at
February 28, 2026
Somerville, Massachusetts
About the Summit:
A two-part convening: a closed, cross-disciplinary working session to synthesize evidence and draft recommendations,
followed by a public program featuring key findings, demonstrations, and case studies.
Collaborations
We work with partners at the intersection of faith and technology—including communities advancing responsible, human-centered tools—to evaluate impact, establish safeguards, and scale effective practices.
Contact & participation
Request an invitation to the working session
Register for the public program
Propose a tool, curriculum, or case study
Explore partnership or sponsorship
Overview
The AI & Spirituality Initiative advances the science of spiritual health amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence. Based at The Neurospirituality Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the initiative integrates empirical research, tool development, and field partnerships to promote spiritual health at all levels of artificial intelligence and automation use and development.
Why this work
AI and automation are reshaping work, attention, and meaning-making. Emerging evidence associates higher exposure to automation with declines in religious belief and practice, underscoring the need for precise measurement and carefully designed responses. The AI & Spirituality Initiative extends the Lab’s translational research to quantify risks, test mitigations, and deliver practical guidance for leaders. We also evaluate and co-design responsible uses of AI—tools and workflows that preserve human agency and promote spiritual health across the full lifecycle of development, deployment, and use.
Scientific foundation
The Neurospirituality Lab studies the role of the human brain in spiritual behaviors and experiences and translates that knowledge into applied insights for medicine, health, and well-being. Current research maps neural circuits supporting spiritual dispositions and examines the neural basis of spiritually salient emotions (e.g., compassion, awe). This Initiative extends that agenda into AI-intensive contexts.
What we do:
Research & measurement: Develop and validate indicators of spiritual health; evaluate AI’s effects on spiritual practices across populations and settings.
Tools & pilots: Co-design human-centered technologies (e.g., devotion and reflection supports, biometrics-informed wellbeing tools) that preserve human agency and pastoral judgment.
Collaborations
We work with partners at the intersection of faith and technology—including communities advancing responsible, human-centered tools—to evaluate impact, establish safeguards, and scale effective practices.
What we do through partnerships and collaborations:
Education & translation: Produce curricula, playbooks, and implementation guides for seminaries, denominations, schools, chaplaincy, and faith-based organizations.
Policy & governance: Offer frameworks that align responsible AI adoption with religious freedom, privacy, and safety.
Contact & participation
Request an invitation to the working session
Register for the public program
Propose a tool, curriculum, or case study
Explore partnership or sponsorship
About the Neurospirituality Lab
The Neurospirituality Lab investigates how brain systems support spiritual dispositions and emotions and translates discoveries into pathways that may benefit health and well-being. The AI & Spirituality Initiative situates this scientific program within contemporary AI environments to inform practice and policy.
Welcome to the AI & Spirituality Initiative of
The Neurospirituality Lab
Where Spirituality Meets Artificial Intelligence
The AI & Spirituality Initiative is dedicated to fostering research, ethical guidance, and dialogue that ensure AI is human-centric and serves as an able partner to humanity—one that amplifies wisdom, moral responsibility, and human dignity.
The AI & Spirituality Initiative is a project of The Neurospirituality Lab.
Our Research & Focus Areas
Get Involved
The AI Theology Coalition invites scholars, technologists, religious leaders, and the public to join us in shaping the future of AI & faith.
You can:
➡️ Attend the AI & Theology Symposium Register Now
➡️ Collaborate with us – Scholars and institutions interested in research partnerships can contact us.
➡️ Support our Work – Learn how to fund AI & Theology research and propose research areas michael@neurospirituality.io
About Us
AI Theology Coalition is an initiative within the Neurospirituality Lab dedicated to exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, theology, ethics, and human spirituality. The program is led by Dr. Michael Ferguson, PhD, Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Neurospirituality Lab at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics, and Rev. Dr. Marian Edmonds-Allen, Media Director and Teaching and Research Associate at the Neurospirituality Lab.
AI Theology Coalition is accepting applications for distinguished Fellows, contact marian@neurospirituality.io
These scholars and thought leaders contribute to groundbreaking research, ethical discourse, and interdisciplinary collaboration at the forefront of AI and faith.
“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.”
– St. Augustine
"I am the intelligence of the intelligent, and the brilliance of the brilliant."
– Bhagavad Gita 7:10
