Location
Monserrat
Start Date
25-6-2026 9:30 AM
End Date
25-6-2026 11:00 AM
Description
The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) into religious sites presents both profound opportunities and significant challenges (Arnold & Shultz, 2025). While AI shows considerable promise for enhancing visitor experiences (Khan, 2024), its deployment in sacred spaces where tradition and authenticity are paramount requires careful investigation. This study explores visitor perceptions of AI-mediated experiences at Hong Kong's Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, a major pilgrimage site uniquely housing Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian traditions. Employing a qualitative approach, 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The study utilized the vignette method (Finch, 1987) to anchor conversations in a tangible context, presenting speculative scenarios of AI integration in a religious site. This technique is particularly effective for investigating complex phenomena that are difficult for both researchers to articulate and respondents to address directly (Skilling & Stylianides, 2020). Participants reacted to three Gen AI applications: an animated "Digital Docent," an interpretive "Digital Soothsayer" for the lottery poetry ritual, and a "Creative Co-creator" for visualizing wishes.
The analysis is guided by a synthesis of three theoretical frameworks. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) provides a lens for evaluating the functional aspects of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use Wang’s (1999) model of existential authenticity is applied to understand how visitors negotiate the authenticity of a mediated spiritual experience. Finally, Campbell’s (2012) work on networked religion frames the analysis of how the temple's unique spiritual traditions shape the social acceptance and interpretation of this new technology.
Preliminary findings reveal key themes surrounding the perceived value of AI for informational versus spiritual tasks, the tension between digital convenience and traditional practice, and the critical factors shaping the perceived authenticity of an AI-mediated sacred experience. This paper provides foundational insights into the design sensitivities required for respectfully embedding advanced AI into living heritage environments, contributing a user-centric perspective to the emerging scholarship on AI in spiritual and cultural contexts.
Creative Commons License
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Included in
A1) When the Oracle is an Algorithm: The Future of the Sacred Experience
Monserrat
The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) into religious sites presents both profound opportunities and significant challenges (Arnold & Shultz, 2025). While AI shows considerable promise for enhancing visitor experiences (Khan, 2024), its deployment in sacred spaces where tradition and authenticity are paramount requires careful investigation. This study explores visitor perceptions of AI-mediated experiences at Hong Kong's Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, a major pilgrimage site uniquely housing Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian traditions. Employing a qualitative approach, 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The study utilized the vignette method (Finch, 1987) to anchor conversations in a tangible context, presenting speculative scenarios of AI integration in a religious site. This technique is particularly effective for investigating complex phenomena that are difficult for both researchers to articulate and respondents to address directly (Skilling & Stylianides, 2020). Participants reacted to three Gen AI applications: an animated "Digital Docent," an interpretive "Digital Soothsayer" for the lottery poetry ritual, and a "Creative Co-creator" for visualizing wishes.
The analysis is guided by a synthesis of three theoretical frameworks. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) provides a lens for evaluating the functional aspects of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use Wang’s (1999) model of existential authenticity is applied to understand how visitors negotiate the authenticity of a mediated spiritual experience. Finally, Campbell’s (2012) work on networked religion frames the analysis of how the temple's unique spiritual traditions shape the social acceptance and interpretation of this new technology.
Preliminary findings reveal key themes surrounding the perceived value of AI for informational versus spiritual tasks, the tension between digital convenience and traditional practice, and the critical factors shaping the perceived authenticity of an AI-mediated sacred experience. This paper provides foundational insights into the design sensitivities required for respectfully embedding advanced AI into living heritage environments, contributing a user-centric perspective to the emerging scholarship on AI in spiritual and cultural contexts.