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arXiv · 2507.20525

The Xeno Sutra: Can Meaning and Value be Ascribed to an AI-Generated "Sacred" Text?

Murray Shanahan·Tara Das·Robert Thurman
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Abstract

This paper presents a case study in the use of a large language model to generate a fictional Buddhist "sutra"', and offers a detailed analysis of the resulting text from a philosophical and literary point of view. The conceptual subtlety, rich imagery, and density of allusion found in the text make it hard to causally dismiss on account of its mechanistic origin. This raises questions about how we, as a society, should come to terms with the potentially unsettling possibility of a technology that encroaches on human meaning-making. We suggest that Buddhist philosophy, by its very nature, is well placed to adapt.

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Murray Shanahan, Tara Das, Robert Thurman. 2025-08-05. The Xeno Sutra: Can Meaning and Value be Ascribed to an AI-Generated "Sacred" Text?. https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.20525

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