The Orthodox Christian thinker warned AI could lead to authoritarianism if people 'make it into a god'
Christianity is the only force capable of preventing Western civilisation from collapsing under the twin pressures of cultural decline and artificial intelligence, author and icon carver Jonathan Pageau has said.
Speaking to GB News at the ARC conference in London, the Orthodox Christian thinker said faith was “the key” to preserving civilisation, but warned it could not simply be used as a political tool.
“I think Christianity is the key in some ways to being able to salvage our civilisation,” he said.
He added that many people rediscovering Christianity through concerns about the West's decline ultimately realise “it's the pearl... the thing that holds everything together.”
Mr Pageau also issued a stark warning about AI, claiming people were increasingly treating it as a higher authority.
“People are already treating the AI as their therapist, as their friend, as their lover, as their God,” he said.
He argued AI would inevitably drive societies towards authoritarianism and warned people would increasingly “make it into a god”.
Despite his concerns, Mr Pageau said Christianity offered the strongest defence because its central practices “have to be incarnate” and cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence.
“Without God... our civilisation collapses. I'm sorry, there is no doubt about it,” he concluded.
