Generative AI Alignment with Hinduism's Theological Plurality and Sacred Representation
Artificial IntelligenceComputers and SocietyHuman-Computer Interaction
Summary
The authors studied how Hindu people in Bangladesh use AI systems to learn about and practice their religion. They found AI helpful for exploring scriptures and creating religious stories, but users also worried about AI simplifying complex beliefs and misrepresenting culture. The authors suggest AI needs to be honest about its limits and respect different religious views without pretending to be sacred or overly flattering.
Authors
Dipto Das, Arpita Kundu, Nusrat Jahan Mim, Shion Guha, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed
Abstract
Generative AI systems are increasingly used to answer personal questions and mediate everyday practices, including religion. However, existing discussions around AI alignment and ethics have largely centered secular, Western, and Abrahamic assumptions about religion, offering limited attention to other faith-based traditions. In this paper, we examine how Hindu users engage with generative AI systems in relation to their religious knowledge, belief, and practice. Drawing on 15 semi-structured interviews with Bangladeshi Hindu participants, we analyze how users interpret AI-generated religious representations, scriptural explanations, devotional interactions, and synthetic religious media. We found that AI can be both accessible and ethically troubling. While AI supported scriptural inquiry, devotional visualization, and religious storytelling, our study also identified concerns about theological flattening, cultural misrepresentation, devotional manipulation, and the simulation of sacred presence and authority. We conclude by arguing that religious alignment in generative AI requires interpretive alignment: systems that disclose their limits, preserve plurality, and avoid simulating sacred authority and sycophantic personalization.