NPR Religion and AI Survey (Ipsos): Most Americans skeptical of turning to AI for spiritual guidance

Key Findings

• — 61% of US adults have used an AI tool; among users (n=643), 30% use AI monthly or more for advice on personal decisions and 10% for emotional support or companionship.
• — Reasons given for turning to AI rather than a person on difficult or personal topics: always available (31%), not being judged (23%), more honest or open with AI (18%), not wanting to burden people (17%), and no one in their life they feel comfortable asking (7%); 47% would not turn to AI for such topics.
• — 30% of all adults are very or somewhat comfortable turning to AI with a personal question or problem.
• — 75% of AI users trust advice from people they know more than advice from AI; 6% trust AI more.

Methodology Notes

Ipsos KnowledgePanel (address-based probability panel), fieldwork 7-9 August 2026, n=1,011 US adults, weighted; margin of error plus or minus 3.6 points for all respondents and larger for the n=643 AI-user base. Self-report, no outcome measures. NPR first reported findings on 2026-09-21; the Ipsos release and annotated topline are dated 2026-09-28. Verified by fetching the Ipsos release and topline PDF (both HTTP 200).

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