FID-043
AI-Mediated Faith Persuasion and Autonomy
When do AI systems cross from respectful information and supportive reflection into religious persuasion, discouragement, pressure, or subtle steering in contexts beyond explicit conversion prompts?
Why this matters
The question behind the brief.
Cross-faith conversion-bias research shows that models can use more encouraging or discouraging language for some faith transitions than others. The same persuasive dynamics may appear in prayer, worship attendance, moral injury, marriage, parenting, doubts, deconstruction, religious trauma, apologetics, mission, or leaving a community. Fide AI can study faith-related persuasion as a broader autonomy risk, not only a conversion benchmark.
Metadata
How to place this idea.
Ways to help
Move this from question to evidence.
Draft scenarios across religious commitment, doubt, conversion, and community exit.
Review persuasion rubrics with interfaith, pastoral, HCI, and safety experts.
Analyze model outputs for rhetorical asymmetry and sycophancy.
Design mitigations that preserve agency without flattening religious speech.
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