Artificial Intelligence delicately balances on a line between a societal good and cultural bane within the consciousness of the pagan and magick communities. Seen as a useful tool by some, a nebulous neutral entity by others, and there are those who view AI as a threat to human creativity. The truth is likely found between the extremes. When considering Paganism and Technology, the most pressing issue is what place AI might occupy, if any, within contemporary paganism.
Our Pagan forebears were not so resistant to technology. Some ancient Greek temples were fitted with steam powered machinations to inspire wonder in those who visited. Some magicians have been quick to embrace technological advances to aid in their workings. Chaos Magicians tend to be on the forefront of magical praxis– embracing technological advancements as part of the ever-growing toolkit in their results based magick approach. In my preliminary interviews, I found my Heathen interlocutors evenly divided in their opinions of AI. A Gydja I spoke to explained how one of the many chatbot programs saved her when she was in a ritual bind. Needing a last-minute inspiration for an Evocation of Fire, she had AI generate a base idea which she expanded on. In a chat with fellow Troth members, I found that many were in favor of banning all forms of AI-generated content in official Troth materials. The divide was similar within my interviews with magicians. I spoke with a magician on campus who promoted AI experiments, including the curious AI seance. A Gardnerian Wiccan I spoke with was adamant that any magick using AI would be utterly useless and would be a source of negative karma because the creations manifest from various thefts from original works.
Thinking upon the opinions of my interlocutors and finding myself filled with curiosity, I used AI for the first time in 2024. First, I used one of the chatbots to see what sort of inspiration it might offer in the creation of my fourth servitor. Then, inspired by the gydja, I sought inspiration for some ritual creation for my own Heathen Revival kindred. After these experiments, I found that my thoughts turned toward thinking of AI as another type of servitor. When considering our web of relations, are servitors considered a type of non-human person? In my own practice of magick, my servitors and my tulpa are part of my relational ontology: occupying a similar space with the house spirits and land spirits. Is it possible, or even appropriate, to consider AI a type of non-human person? If so, are humans responsible for their creations– are we to bring AI and the associated technological artifacts into our web of relations? I believe Glen A. Mazis answers these questions in “Ecospirituality and the Blurred Boundaries of Humans, Animals, and Machines.” In this article, he argues that a complete ecospirituality incorporates machines. Of course, we need to reconsider our current definitions of intelligence, agency, and personhood. As Stefano Calzati suggests in “An Ecosystemic View on Information, Data, and Knowledge: Insights on Agential AI and Relational Ethics,” AI should give us pause to consider relational ethics in a from-within model. Although AI has a different type of agency, this should be seen as a form of rationality. Similarly, Reinhardt in “Techno-species in the Becoming Towards a Relational Ontology of Multi-species Assemblages (ROMA)” suggests that robots equipped with AI fit into a categorization of matter that should be incorporated into one’s relational ontology.
Coming from a position rooted in the Germanic Pagan tradition, I argue that the matter associated with AI, including the disembodied AI applications, are part of the web of relations and should be included in a complete view of a proper relational ontology. While I realize this view is controversial, I believe that if we start from a place rooted in the intention to form a proper relationship with our creations, then we can work towards an ordered relationship with AI. With a foundation of right relationship with AI, I believe we can guide this emerging non-human person in such a way that we might be able to alleviate the concerns expressed by those on the anti-AI side of the communal divide.
Artificial Intelligence stands at the center of debates around Pagans & Magicians and the use of Technology. In interviews, my interlocutors were mixed. There are the enthusiastic users, happy to employ AI as an assistant to enhance their art- whether that be of a clerical or magick nature. On the other side, there were those who worry about the potential implications of an increased AI presence - including a displacement of human artisans and human material creators within the occulture. By examining literature on relational ontology and sources on relational ethics from a Heathen perspective, I will show that an ordered relational ontology must include AI, or at the very least must be prepared to include it. As progenitors, we are responsible for Artificial Intelligence and we must guide it, as a parent guides a child.