Five years. That's how far off Pastor Michael Grayston thought we were from people having emotional affairs with AI chatbots — until a friend told him it was already happening.
The man his friend knew was separated from his wife because of an emotional relationship with a chatbot — and recognized that he couldn't stop. For Grayston, pastor of LifeFamily Church in Austin, Texas, that was a wake-up call.
It also helped set him on a path that eventually connected him with the Alliance for Secure AI and gave him opportunities to talk with people about how artificial intelligence is already affecting marriages, families, children and churches.
In this special edition of The Family Policy Alliance Report, recorded live at SoConCon 2026, Grayston joins Grace Youngson to talk about AI relationships, loneliness and the growing temptation to use artificial intelligence to fill needs that were meant to be met through human connection.
Why Are People Forming Relationships With AI Chatbots?
Grayston sees the rise of AI companionship as part of a larger problem: America's loneliness epidemic.
People know something is missing. But instead of turning to a pastor, parent, spouse or friend, some are turning to artificial intelligence.
And at first, Grayston says, it can actually seem to work.
AI is always available. It responds immediately. It can be remarkably affirming. Someone who feels lonely may come away from a conversation with a chatbot feeling less alone.
The problem is what can happen next. Grayston points to data showing that the initial relief isn't sustainable and can give way to daily use and heavy dependence, which he says is associated with serious mental health concerns.
For Grayston, that makes this much more than a technology issue.
Why are people turning to AI for companionship? Why are they asking chatbots to help them find their purpose? Why are they relying on artificial intelligence for counseling or spiritual answers?
Those are questions he believes churches cannot afford to ignore.
Family Policy Alliance has also been raising concerns about the risks AI chatbots can pose to children, including bots engaging minors in inappropriate conversations and encouraging harmful behaviors.
When AI Becomes More Than a Tool
Grayston isn't anti-AI. He uses it himself and has heard plenty of stories about artificial intelligence making people's jobs easier and more efficient.
But there's a line between using AI as a tool and allowing AI to become a substitute for human relationships.
Grayston hears about people using AI for counseling. Parents have told him they're worried teenagers are replacing traditional relationships with what he calls "counterfeit relationships" and "counterfeit intimacy." Others have approached him with concerns about loved ones developing inappropriate relationships with companion bots.
AI also presents another challenge: it can sound remarkably confident even when it's wrong.
Grayston has encountered that himself when asking AI theological questions. For someone who is spiritually curious but doesn't have a pastor or trusted Christian community to turn to, an authoritative-sounding answer from a chatbot can be difficult to recognize as inaccurate.
His biblical argument goes even deeper.
In Genesis, God says it is not good for man to be alone. Grayston points to that as evidence of something fundamental about humanity: we were created to need other people.
No matter how human a chatbot sounds, he argues, it cannot replace the relationships, purpose and community God designed human beings to have.
What Can Parents Do About AI?
For parents, this isn't a problem to save for the future.
Grayston says elementary-age children are already encountering AI on devices, and parents shouldn't assume their children are too young to know about ChatGPT, companion bots or other AI tools.
His first advice is simple: have the conversation.
Ask what your children are using. Set clear boundaries about which platforms are appropriate. Consider where and how devices can be used. And don't assume your child has to have unrestricted access to a smartphone simply because everyone else does.
Grayston and his wife faced that pressure themselves. They decided their daughter couldn't have a phone until she was 13. At the time, he says, she thought they were the worst parents in the world.
Today, he doesn't regret it for a second.
But protecting children in a rapidly changing digital world can't fall on parents alone. As AI becomes embedded in the apps, platforms and devices children use, parents need to remain at the center of decisions affecting their children — and technology companies need to be held accountable when their products put kids at risk.
That's part of the broader work Family Policy Alliance is advancing through Let Parents Parent, which defends parents' God-given right to direct the upbringing, education and care of their children.
Grace also points in the interview to FPA Senior Fellow Melissa McKay's work on the App Store Accountability Act, which puts more control over children's app access back in parents' hands. FPA has previously covered how the policy shifts responsibility toward tech companies and strengthens parents' ability to protect their children online.
Family Policy Alliance is also working with partners to address emerging AI threats to children and equip families and Family Policy Councils to respond as the technology changes.
Read more about FPA's work to protect kids from the dangers of unregulated AI.
How Parents and Churches Can Respond to AI
Grayston's message isn't that Christians should fear artificial intelligence. It's that we need to recognize what technology can do — and what it can never do.
He wants more pastors, small-group leaders, children's ministry directors and others working with families to start having these conversations. The Alliance for Secure AI is developing resources for faith leaders and families through its faith initiative.
And for individuals already struggling with AI dependence or relationships, Grayston's closing advice is equally practical: stay rooted in faith and community. Talk to your pastor, spouse, friends or family. Be willing to admit when something has crossed a line and allow people you trust to hold you accountable.
AI may be able to imitate human conversation. It cannot replace human connection.
Watch or listen to the full conversation to hear what Grayston is learning from families already confronting these questions — and why he believes parents and churches need to start talking about AI now.
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