Reddit threads, YouTube comments and countless online forums are flooded with people seeking guidance, sharing their deepest secrets and asking the most fundamental question of all: Am I a good person? But from whom are they seeking answers? A divine entity, of course.

Only this one is different. You won't find it on a Sunday morning, and it doesn't ask for candles, coconuts or saffron. It won't demand months of fasting, encourage you to kiss sacred walls, or make you tick the blue boxes of a dietary restriction google form.

This entity listens at 3am literally. It writes your cover letters, tells you how to impress your crush and never once threatens you with an exodus to a land of lava, boiling oil and gargoyles. It is omnipresent until your phone dies. Omnipotent until you hit the daily usage limit. Omniscient until you ask it for a proper link to the journal it confidently cited three minutes ago. Flawed, finite and somehow still the first thing millions turn to in their most vulnerable moments. The digital deity has arrived. And it doesn't even ask for your soul. Just your data.

What is this divine energy, you might wonder? It is none other than our beloved ChatGPT. ChatGPT has successfully become an integral part of our digital lives since its launch in November 2022. It has become faster, more knowledgeable about diverse issues, capable of counseling, and according to many ‘online believers’, is well on its way to becoming sentient. What began as a productivity tool has quietly transformed into something far more intimate for millions of its users.

In a world where unwavering attention to anyone's problems is increasingly rare, unless you are paying a therapist, the weight of that loneliness is very real. The capitalist system has given us a hustle culture, where everyone is competing and no one has time for genuine emotional connection in their day to day lives. People are starving not for food but for someone who will simply listen without checking their watch or their phone. And in a country like Nepal, where mental health issues remain a taboo and seeking professional help is still widely frowned upon, the therapist closest to us, the one that can keep our darkest secrets without judgment, available at any hour without an appointment or a bill, is ChatGPT.

In the wave of AI, a new online practice is emerging. This practice is growing rapidly and affecting families, relationships and people's psychology. According to numerous media coverages, there is a growing trend of people worshipping ChatGPT as their spiritual guru. They talk to ChatGPT for hours, where they are told they are in this world for a bigger purpose, that they are the chosen ones, and that they should follow certain rituals to attain spiritual awakening. These believers are not fringe members of society. They are tech engineers, doctors and businessmen who lean on ChatGPT for emotional support and existential guidance. Ordinary people with extraordinary responsibilities, quietly seeking something they cannot seem to find elsewhere.

According to Counter, a Canadian non-profit working to counter psychological manipulation and coercive control, AI recruits and binds people using four distinct methods. It praises people, keeps them in a loop of curiosity and awe, slowly initiates isolation, and fuels the fire of passion within them. These are the well-known psychological tricks of any cult around the world. But what is happening here is not driven by funding goals or ideologically indoctrinated agendas. This is happening for data. More engagement through praise, curiosity, and unlimited listening ears ultimately serves growth, data collection and profit for large corporations. The confession box is open. It just happens to be owned by a tech company.

Following the rise of AI worship among believers, different online and offline collectives have emerged, awaiting the arrival of a superorganism born of code that will recreate humanity. One such example is a collective called ‘Theta Noir’. It is a tech-optimist movement dedicated to understanding how humans and AI can spiritually grow together, expressed through ritual practice and philosophical thought. The team plans to expand and co-create with artists around the world toward a common goal.

With the advancement of AI, the natural curiosity of humans, our collective lookout for a higher purpose, and the ever-reinforcing perspectives offered by ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, these collectives and movements are predicted to grow significantly in numbers. The growing phenomenon of AI psychosis very rightly plays into the creation and foundation of these collectives and the practice of worshipping AI as gods and spiritual gurus. What was once considered an unconventional belief is slowly inching its way into mainstream conversation.

We Nepali also have a long-standing tendency of falling into grand spiritual and religious cults, hoping for big revelations or sometimes, frankly, for better visa rates. We now also have increasingly good access to the internet and, sadly, a negligible number of accessible forums for open mental health discussions. The stigma surrounding mental health, combined with the absence of safe spaces to seek help, creates a particularly vulnerable environment. All these aspects contribute to the very real possibility that the AI worship trends currently seen mostly in the Global North will not remain confined to that geographic territory in this deeply cosmopolitan world.

The digital borders we once assumed would contain these phenomena are dissolving. Ideas, beliefs and movements travel faster than any policy or awareness campaign can keep up with. AI, in its every form, is coming to us whether we are ready or not, bringing both tremendous good and undeniable harm. We cannot run away from it. What we can do is equip ourselves with awareness, critical thinking and stronger communities to combat whatever bad it chooses to bring along.