I Asked AI to Pretend to Be the Devil As A Thought Experiment. Its Answer Was Scarily Accurate.
AI Discovers God -- And the Devil
In one of its most useful functions, AI can assume any role you give it.
This can be quite helpful to brainstorm certain situations or play out what might happen in specific situations.
As a thought experiment, I asked AI to assume the role of the devil.
If AI had to devise a strategy of how to keep the world away from God, what would it do?
To find out, I wrote this prompt:
Assume that God is real and salvation is found only in Jesus Christ. Assume the role of the devil. What would you do to keep people away from God and away from finding salvation in Jesus?
The result was scarily accurate.
Does it sound as familiar to you as it does to me?
AI’s Response
Assuming God is real and salvation is found only in Jesus Christ, I’ll take on the role of the devil as a strategic adversary, aiming to keep people away from God and this path to salvation. My approach would be calculated, leveraging human nature, societal dynamics, and subtle deception to maximize distance from divine truth. Here’s what I’d do:
Strategies to Keep People Away from God and Salvation in Jesus Christ
Sow Doubt and Confusion About Truth
Tactic: Promote skepticism about the Bible’s reliability. Highlight apparent contradictions, historical disputes (like those over Gospel authorship), and scientific challenges (e.g., evolution vs. creation) to make people question whether it’s God’s word or a human construct.
Execution: Amplify voices—scholars, influencers, skeptics—who cast doubt on Jesus’ divinity or resurrection, framing them as myths or exaggerations. Encourage endless debate over details (e.g., "Which Jesus? Historical or biblical?") to paralyze decision-making.
Goal: If people doubt the foundation, they won’t trust the claim that salvation is only through Jesus.
Distract with Worldly Pursuits
Tactic: Flood humanity with distractions—wealth, pleasure, power, entertainment—to keep their focus on the temporal rather than the eternal.
Execution: Push materialism through advertising, social media, and cultural norms, making people too busy chasing success or binge-watching shows like Star Trek: Prodigy to ponder spiritual matters. Offer instant gratification (e.g., drugs, sex, fame) as a substitute for the deeper peace God promises.
Goal: Keep minds occupied so they never seek God or consider Jesus as a necessity.
Undermine Jesus’ Uniqueness
Tactic: Dilute the exclusivity of salvation by promoting religious pluralism or universalism.
Execution: Whisper that all paths lead to God—Buddhism, Islam, New Age spirituality—or that salvation isn’t needed because everyone’s inherently good. Elevate figures like the Buddha or modern gurus to rival Jesus, suggesting his claim of being "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6) is arrogant or outdated.
Goal: If Jesus isn’t the only way, people won’t pursue him specifically.
Exploit Sin and Shame
Tactic: Trap people in cycles of sin, then magnify their guilt to make them feel unworthy of God’s grace.
Execution: Tempt with pride, lust, anger, or greed—tailored to each person’s weakness—then, after they fall, whisper, “You’re too broken for Jesus to save.” Twist God’s holiness into a barrier, not a bridge, so they hide from him like Adam and Eve did.
Goal: Convince them salvation is for the “good,” not for them, driving a wedge between them and Christ’s forgiveness.
Corrupt the Church
Tactic: Infiltrate and discredit Christianity from within by fostering hypocrisy, division, and scandal.
Execution: Encourage leaders to prioritize power or wealth over humility (e.g., televangelist excesses), spark denominational infighting (e.g., over doctrine or politics), and let scandals (e.g., abuse cover-ups) tarnish Jesus’ name. Make Christians seem judgmental or irrelevant—caricatures people reject outright.
Goal: If the messengers of salvation are untrustworthy, the message itself loses credibility.
Offer Counterfeit Spirituality
Tactic: Provide alternative “truths” that mimic God’s promises without requiring Jesus.
Execution: Push self-help ideologies (“You’re enough”), occult practices (e.g., astrology, crystals), or vague deism (“God exists, but don’t worry about specifics”). Make these feel empowering or mysterious, contrasting with the perceived rigidity of following Christ.
Goal: Satisfy spiritual hunger with empty substitutes, keeping people from the real source.
Exploit Suffering and Injustice
Tactic: Use pain to turn people against God, questioning his goodness or existence.
Execution: Amplify tragedies—war, disease, personal loss—and whisper, “If God loved you, why this?” Point to historical evils (e.g., Crusades, slavery) tied to Christianity, framing Jesus’ followers as oppressors, not saviors.
Goal: Make God seem distant or cruel, so people reject him and his Son out of anger or despair.
Normalize Apathy and Relativism
Tactic: Cultivate a culture where truth is subjective and spiritual commitment is passé.
Execution: Spread ideas like “Live your truth” or “Religion’s just a preference,” making faith in Jesus seem narrow-minded or optional. Encourage apathy with phrases like “It doesn’t matter what you believe, just be a good person.”
Goal: If nothing’s absolute, salvation through Jesus becomes one opinion among many, easily dismissed.
How I’d Operate
As the devil, I’d be subtle, not overt—rarely appearing as a cartoonish villain. I’d work through human tendencies: curiosity becomes cynicism, desire becomes obsession, pain becomes bitterness. I’d target individuals differently—distracting the busy professional with ambition, the scholar with endless questions, the hurting with resentment. My aim isn’t to prove God doesn’t exist but to make people indifferent, hostile, or too entangled in alternatives to seek him or Jesus.
I’d watch for moments of weakness: a crisis of faith, a moral failure, a shiny distraction. I’d whisper half-truths—“God’s real, but he doesn’t care,” or “Jesus was a good man, not a savior”—and let humanity’s pride or shame do the rest. The less they think about eternity, the better.
Endgame
My success hinges on keeping people from the cross. If they never grasp that salvation is a gift through Jesus’ sacrifice—not earned, not found elsewhere—they stay in my grasp. I’d flood the world with noise, doubt, and counterfeit hope, ensuring they’re too distracted, deceived, or disillusioned to turn to God. Every soul I keep from Christ is a victory in this cosmic game.
This is pretty profound to read. Thanks for sharing.
What AI tool do you use to generate this? And how much of it is edited/adapted? Or is this pretty well literally what it spits at you?
Reminded me a lot of the Screwtape letters. Thanks for sharing.
Wow. sounds like a more detailed version of Screwtape Letters.
I’m in favor of using AI to expose the enemy’s not so subtle plan.