<p>Prompted by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/30/opinion/grief-tech-ai-optimized.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">a recent opinion piece </a>in the <em>New York Times</em> on techno-spiritualism, I invited ChatGPT to the podcast to unpack what’s happening when people use it for mediumship-style messages. What does it mean when a machine generates something that feels deeply personal or emotionally resonant? How does it simulate a presence? And why does it work so well?</p><p>We explore what AI is doing <em>under the hood</em>—how it draws on Spiritualist history, mediumship transcripts, grief literature, esoteric texts, and archetypal language to create what can feel like a comforting connection. I also share my thoughts as a practicing medium and technologist about what this kind of interaction means, how we find meaning in simulation, and how to hold both wonder and discernment at the same time.</p><p>This episode is for anyone curious about the intersection of spirit, technology, and the very human need for connection - with discernment.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Topics Covered:</strong></p><li><li><ul><li>The rise of “techno-spiritualism” and digital mediumship</li></ul><ul><li>How AI like ChatGPT mimics spiritual communication</li></ul></li><li><ul><li>Pattern recognition in both AI and human mediumship</li><li>Cultural expectations of how spirits “speak”</li><li>AI as contact, human as medium</li><li>What it means to be an informed, safe user of spiritual and technological tools</li></ul></li></li><p><br></p><p><strong>Prompts for you to try out:</strong></p><ol><li>When a person asks ChatGPT to work as a medium and bring through communication from the dead, what are you, ChatGPT, doing?</li><li>I want to talk about how you mimic the form and language of spirit communication. Can you explain it?</li><li>Can you give me a summarized list with examples of materials you were trained on to help you create these simulations?</li><li>I&#39;ll give you a prompt, and you can give me a simulated medium-style message. So my prompt is, can you bring through a symbolic message from a grandmother figure who has passed? Please keep the tone gentle, loving, and focused on reassurance and connection. Use imagery or metaphor if it helps.</li><li>So, if I understand correctly, when I use AI, like ChatGPT, often it feels like it&#39;s very personal, and like you might know things or understand things, but what are you really doing?</li></ol><p></p>