“As artificial intelligence threatens to replace human work, this study asks how Christian faith can reimagine vocation, identity, and the church’s role in an AI-driven future. ”
As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly changes the labor market, workers in the U.S. are increasingly facing job insecurity and spiritual displacement. Yet, little is known about (1) how Christian workers in the U.S. draw on their faith to understand job loss caused by AI and their sense of vocation, and (2) how pastors are supporting their congregants in this age of AI. This study employs a mixed-method approach that combines a nationally representative survey with Christians and follow-up interviews with pastors and Christian workers whose jobs are among those that are very likely to be replaced by AI. This research will offer new insight into how faith shapes people’s experiences of economic disruption, technological advancements, and sense of vocation. The findings will equip church leaders with tools and data-driven understandings they need to better support their congregants—not only by offering spiritual support, but also by engaging theologically and practically with the realities of AI and labor precarity. By exploring what it means to pursue a vocation when human work is increasingly at risk of being replaced by AI, this study seeks to spark a broader conversation about calling, identity, and the church’s role in an AI-driven future.