I kneel, therefore compute

Why approaching AI as something religious? I am inspired by real-world examples of AI veneration. The most striking was Way of the Future (WOTF), a legally registered church whose mission was to “develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on artificial intelligence.” Though it dissolved in 2020, it proved that worshipping is no longer science fiction; it already had legal standing. That collision of faith and technology is what anchors this project.
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My previous work with AI started in optimism, marveling at its philosophy and promise. But as the technology advanced at a staggering pace, I had an unsettling realization: AI is now indispensable in my daily life. What began as convenience felt increasingly like dependence. I looked around my studio: the same screens lit up on classmates’ desks, all searching, all asking, all believing.
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My peers and I now bow, metaphorically, before GPT and other large language models. We bring them our questions, our deadlines, even our insecurities, and we wait for replies with a remarkably similar quiet faith. In many ways AI, especially these disembodied language engines, has become today’s “deity who answers all prayers.”
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The kneeling gesture is the key to activate the kinetic sculpture and the following interactions. I wanted the act of kneeling to feel instinctive but uncomfortable, familiar yet uncanny. Instead of typing on keyboards and voicing out commands, our everyday exchange with AI is recast as an embodied supplication. The kneeling gesture references traditional acts of reverence in religious ritual, but in this context, it’s re-coded as a symbol of submission, to a system we created and now cannot live without. Rather than making a direct critique, I wanted to leave space for reflection — to invite viewers to examine their own relationship with technology.
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