As AI enters Sikh life, old debates on technology and tradition continue

(RNS) — More than a century before Sikhs debated artificial intelligence, they debated another new technology: electric lights in the gurdwara.

When lightbulbs were first introduced at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, in 1897, some Sikhs questioned whether replacing traditional ghee oil lamps with electricity would diminish the sanctity of Sikhism’s holiest shrine. For two decades, rival factions debated whether the technology threatened tradition or could better serve pilgrims.

Eventually, electricity prevailed.

Today, the Golden Temple relies on electric lighting, digital displays and sophisticated sound systems to welcome millions of visitors each year.

Now, the adoption of artificial intelligence is raising similar questions as it’s embraced in religious communities in India and the diaspora.

Across the Sikh world, AI is being used to create educational materials, answer questions about scripture and make religious teachings more accessible. But it has also sparked concerns about whether technology can replicate forms of spiritual expression rooted in human presence and devotion.

Supreet Singh, a Sikh educator based in Houston, Texas, grew up hearing stories from his father, who was raised in Amritsar, about the lightbulb controversy. Today, he sees that debate as a reminder that Sikh communities have long wrestled with how to integrate new technologies.

“The guru says that as time progresses, light and the truth will prevail,” Supreet Singh told RNS. “And so I think that if AI has some truth in it, I think it will last the test of time, it will do good for society. And I think if it has more bad and fails, then it will diminish out of our views.”

As an educator with the nonprofit Everythings 13, Supreet Singh uses AI to create videos and animations about Sikh history and philosophy. The technology allows a small organization to produce materials that would otherwise require significantly more resources.

For Gurpreet Singh, a New Jersey-based senior director of applied machine learning in the biopharmaceutical industry, AI’s greatest potential may be helping younger Sikhs reconnect with teachings written in languages they may not fully understand.

Gurpreet Singh spends every Sunday teaching children from the Sikh community at the SAGE Khalsa School in Oakland, New Jersey. He said he noticed a difference between his own relationship with Sikh scripture, having grown up in Punjab, and that of his children, who grew up in the U.S.

“I was very comfortable in the native language of Punjabi in which it is written,” he said. “But my kids here, they don’t have the same meaning attached to that word when they hear it the way I have it.”

To bridge that gap, Gurpreet Singh and students at SAGE Khalsa developed GianiJi.com, an AI chatbot designed to answer questions about Sikh teachings in any language alongside the original Punjabi using Gurbani, sacred teachings of the gurus contained within the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scriptures, as its source material.

Gurpreet Singh sees AI as part of a longer Sikh tradition of translating timeless teachings into new forms of communication.

He compared the moment to the creation of Gurmukhi, the innovative written script associated with Sikh scripture, which helped make religious teachings accessible beyond elite languages at a time of great inequality in India.

“Guru Nanak’s message was about translating that language into practical aspirations of what it means for life,” he said. “I see this as the same moment.”

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But for some Sikhs, AI’s ability to reproduce religious expression raises concerns about spiritual practice and the human aspect of devotion and worship.

Karina Skye Kaur, a Brazilian-American musician and yoga instructor living in Florida, said she has encountered YouTube channels featuring Sikh devotional music, “shabads,” that were created using AI.

“At first, I enjoyed the music, but part of me feels the plasticity and lifelessness of it,” Skye Kaur said.

Skye Kaur worries AI-generated devotional music may imitate spiritual beauty without the consciousness and intention behind human worship.

“While I don’t think Sikhi and its philosophy can be in anyway threatened by AI, shabad created by AI is only reinforcing the illusion of this world,” she said. “It can help us navigate the world better, but it can also pull us further away from the truth.”

Responding to concerns, Sikh institutions and authorities are navigating the tension between the benefits and limitations of AI’s use. In 2025, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Sikhism’s highest temporal authority, directed Sikhs not to use AI, animation or digital deepfakes to depict Sikh gurus, martyrs or sacred ceremonies. Sikh advocacy organizations have also urged technology companies to prevent inaccurate representations of Sikh history and scripture.

As such, Sikh developers have focused on building technological safeguards.

Daljit Singh, a web developer in Kartarpur, India, launched his own platform, KhalsaGPT, in 2023, that is an AI assistant designed to answer questions about Sikhism.

“I wanted to create an AI platform dedicated to Sikhs that can help Sikhs get every question answered from trusted sources with references,” Daljit Singh said.

KhalsaGPT was designed as a text-only educational platform. Daljit Singh prohibited it from generating verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, creating images of Sikh gurus or presenting itself as a religious authority.

Nonetheless, the project also highlighted AI’s risks, Daljit Singh said. Generative AI systems can produce false information, known as “hallucinations.”

“As Sikhs ourselves, we understood that this area requires great care, responsibility and proper oversight,” he said.

The project has been paused for the past year, Daljit Singh said, because of his professional commitments — not because of the Akal Takht directive. He believes carefully verified Sikh data could eventually help improve how major AI systems answer questions about Sikhism.

A machine may reproduce words, images or melodies. But Sikh practice, many argue, remains rooted in intention, consciousness and connection.

For Gurpreet Singh, the promise of AI is that it can help a new generation rediscover a tradition that has always adapted to new technologies.

“I think my invitation to the next generation,” he said, “would be to really embrace this as a tool — a way in which they can better understand why this was written, and why it is this relevant in today’s context.”

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