AI Can Be Helpful… But It Will Never Replace Authentic Intimacy With God

I watched Pope Leo speak today in front of an auditorium filled with 16,000 young people right here in America. Sixteen thousand. Just imagine that many hearts gathered together—not for a concert, not for a celebrity meet-and-greet—but to praise God, ask real questions, and grow in faith. It moved me more deeply than I expected.

When the students began asking questions, one that stood out was about AI, because honestly… how could it not? It’s everywhere right now. It’s in our homes, schools, businesses—even in our pockets. And the truth is, most of us feel a mixture of curiosity and concern about how quickly it’s becoming part of daily life.

Pope Leo didn’t condemn it. He didn’t say, “Stay away,” but he did something wiser. He pointed out what AI is—a tool—and what it can never be—a substitute for forming your own mind, your own discernment, your own wisdom, and can never replace humans. He said something along the lines of: if AI disappeared tomorrow, we still need to be people who can navigate life ourselves. We still need to know how to think, learn, and grow with intention.

But what touched me also, was when the talk with him was over, a nun spoke about AI in terms of “Authentic Intimacy.” Pope Leo didn’t disagree that technology can mimic presence or conversation. But he gently clarified what authentic intimacy actually looks like—it looks like a real relationship with Jesus. With the Father. A relationship that listens, trusts, talks to, loves, and gives back.

No technology—not now, not ever—can replace that.

AI can scan the internet. Jesus scans your heart.

AI can offer suggestions. Jesus offers salvation.

AI can give data. Jesus gives direction.

AI can imitate knowledge. God is wisdom.

And that difference is everything.

Because we can put questions into an AI box and get an answer, but we can bring our whole selves to Jesus—our joy, our heartbreak, our sins, our victories, our confusion—and He receives all of it with love.

He shapes our character. He sanctifies us. He walks through the valley with us.

AI doesn’t care. Jesus does.

AI doesn’t sacrifice. Jesus did.

AI doesn’t love. The Father does—deeply, personally, eternally.

And honestly, I think that’s why seeing so many young people fill these stadiums lately gives me so much hope. They aren’t gathering for screens. They’re gathering for the One who breathed life into them. The One who knows them better than they know themselves. The One who says, “I am with you always… even to the end of the age.”

It reminds me of artists like Forest Frank, who recently declined an award—not because he’s anti-success, but because his success isn’t the point. His life is for God’s glory, not his own. That kind of humility is rare today, but you can tell it comes from a place of genuine relationship with the Father. A rootedness. A certainty in who he’s serving and why.

And that is the heart of authentic intimacy—knowing who you belong to.

We need intimacy with God, and we need intimacy with each other. Real love. Real compassion. Real forgiveness. Real kindness. The kind of relationships that sharpen us, soften us, and lead us closer to Him. Not the cheap imitations the world tries to sell us.

Because chasing money won’t fill the soul.Chasing fame won’t quiet the loneliness.Chasing relationships—endlessly searching for validation in men or women—won’t heal the heart.

Those pursuits don’t come from Heaven—they come from the enemy who wants us distracted, divided, exhausted, and empty.

But money itself? Not bad. Fame? Not evil. Relationships? God-given and beautiful.

The difference is in the heart posture.

Money in God’s hands becomes provision, generosity, mission work, care for the suffering. A platform in God’s hands becomes testimony, encouragement, influence, light in dark places. A spouse given by God becomes a partner in holiness, in love, in service, in purpose.

Everything God gives us is meant to be stewarded, not worshipped.

And at the end of our lives, none of these earthly things come with us. Not the bank accounts, not the trophies, not the titles, not the likes, not the applause. Even our bodies—the very thing we spend so much time trying to perfect—stays behind.

But our goodness? Our love? Our faithfulness? What we gave? Who we helped? How we forgave, showed mercy, shone light?

That is what walks with us into eternity.

And as listening with Pope Leo today reminded me of, the only relationship that survives death is your relationship with God.

AI won’t hold your hand in your final moments. Jesus will. AI won’t whisper peace into your soul. The Holy Spirit will. AI won’t welcome you home.Your Father will.

So yes, use AI if you want. Use it the way he encouraged—as a tool, not a teacher. As an assistant, not a master. As a supplement, not a source of truth. But don’t ever let it take the place of authentic intimacy with the One who made you, loves you, and longs for your heart.

In the end, the greatest thing we can offer this world—and the only thing we can take into the next—is the goodness we lived out through Him.

And that starts with intimacy. Not artificial. Not manufactured. Not coded.

But real. Holy. Eternal. Authentic intimacy with God.

Peace be with you all,

XO, Marie