As artificial intelligence and algorithmic technologies increasingly shape modern life, Catholic psychologist Sean Tobin believes the deepest crisis may not be technological at all — but spiritual.
Speaking in Rome during one of the Catholic Church’s largest annual gatherings focused on exorcism and spiritual warfare, Tobin reflected on the growing overlap between mental illness, loneliness, compulsive technology use, and what many believers increasingly interpret as spiritual oppression.
A practicing psychologist who works closely with exorcists and individuals reporting demonic phenomena, Tobin argues that modern society’s obsession with self, stimulation, and digital affirmation mirrors ancient spiritual patterns described in Christian theology for centuries.
In this conversation, we discuss:
Why Tobin believes modern technology can condition people in ways that resemble “a form of possession”
The Vatican-linked conference on exorcism and why AI became a major topic this year
How social media, algorithms, and smartphones may contribute to anxiety, isolation, and spiritual fragmentation
Why Tobin thinks modern culture increasingly searches for supernatural meaning through demons, exorcism, and the occult
The relationship between psychology, trauma, mental illness, and alleged demonic activity
This is a conversation about AI, demons, exorcism, mental illness, spiritual trauma, loneliness, modern technology, and the search for meaning in an increasingly fragmented world.