The biggest thing in Spirit Tech this week

AI as a spirit guide

Two studies were published exploring the potential benefit and harm of AI spiritual guidance in the Journal of Religion and Health three days apart.

The first study, a three-arm study of 105 medical students in Iran, split participants into three groups of 35, comparing (1) traditional human-to-human counseling, (2) human-to-AI counseling, and (3) a control group that did not receive counseling.

The study reported a statistically significant increase in spiritual well-being scores in the human-to-AI counseling group, most on the religious subdimension, and a significant advantage over the control group. No significant difference in spiritual well-being was observed between the two active treatment groups.

The second study, a scoping review of nine studies from six countries, reports conversational AI acting as a "catalyst, amplifier, co-author, or object" of spiritually framed delusions, mostly in people already experiencing psychosis, mania, sleep disruption, or substance exposure. It also found preliminary evidence that machine-learning models can identify documented psychotic episodes and predict relapse. The dataset was mostly case reports and health-record reviews, and the authors call for prospective research across cultures and for "clinical, ethical, and technological safeguards" as a next step.

Like any technology, the use of AI can lead to benefit or harm. Ongoing research will inform how to best design beneficial uses of AI in the future.

Also this week

Compass Pathways named five grant recipients to train COMP360 providers

COMP360 is Compass Pathways' synthetic psilocybin treatment for treatment-resistant depression, with a rolling FDA submission due to complete in the fourth quarter of 2026. In April, the company invited training organizations to apply for grants to build healthcare provider training ahead of a U.S. launch.

On September 10 Compass named five recipients rather than the three planned: CME Outfitters, Emory University, Fluence, the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, and Strata Mental Health Solutions. Each keeps ownership of its content and faculty under continuing-education independence rules.

Building healthcare provider capacity is an important market development strategy for companies like Compass Pathways that will need legal channels to market any future treatments through.

The FDA's first public hearing on the therapeutic use of psychedelics was scheduled for September 14, with healthcare provider training and credentialing the first topic on its agenda.

Company Spotlights

• Atlas: EEG brain wearable tracking presence, stress, and mental energy in daily life.
• Elsewhere: Save your dreams. Interpret them over 8 ways.

Explore our Spirit Tech Organizations directory, a living map of 500+ orgs we track and update weekly.

New Jobs This Week

• Organic Growth & Communications Lead @ Hallow: Own SEO, AI-search visibility, and PR for the Catholic prayer app Hallow, helping more people discover it online. Remote (US) · $100k–$140k + equity.

• Product Psychologist @ Slingshot AI: Define and measure what makes an excellent therapeutic conversation for Ash, "the first AI designed for mental health," building evaluation frameworks with the ML team. London.

• Finance & Grants Administrator @ MAPS: Keep the books and grant compliance for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, the nonprofit driving psychedelic research and MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD since 1986. Remote (US) · $65k–$80k.

Browse the Spirit Tech jobs board for more roles, or to post one at your organization.

New from the Community

• Gnoia: An instrument for the questions you can't put down

Check out a variety of other new ideas and products across Spirit Tech.