Archive · 7 Oct 2026
Javed Akhtar Questions Inherited Faith, Defends Reason and AI Royalties
Javed Akhtar says many people keep the religion they learned when they were young.
He says 99% of people die in the religion they were born into.
He questions whether that means people truly chose their faith.
He says feeling comforted by a belief does not prove that it is true.
He also warns that faith can make people stop asking questions.
Akhtar says ideas should be judged with logic and reason.
He says he is an atheist and supports the right to be one.
He also says artists should be paid if their work is used to train AI.
He would ideally seek royalties if ChatGPT were trained on his songs.
Akhtar said most people follow the religion they were born into, and claimed 99% die in that faith.
He argued that religious comfort does not prove a belief is true and said faith can suspend rational thinking.
Akhtar said ideas should be assessed through logic and reason, rather than trusted because of a person.
He said he has no objection to singing Vande Mataram’s opening stanzas but objects to pressure to sing verses with religious content.
He argued that people whose work is used to train AI should receive compensation, and said he would ideally seek royalties if ChatGPT used his songs.
- Who
- Javed Akhtar, writer and lyricist
- What
- He discussed inherited religious belief, atheism, Vande Mataram, public commentary, and compensation for creative work used to train AI.
- When
- The articles describe a recent interview; one article was published October 7, 2026.
- Where
- In an interview with Indian Express Hindi; the other article identifies the conversation as Express Hindi with Saurabh Dwivedi.
- Why
- Akhtar questioned whether religious belief is a conscious choice and argued that ideas should be examined with logic and reason; he also said creators should be compensated when their work is used for AI training.
Akhtar’s stated positions
Alternative considerations in the articles
Faith and rationality
Akhtar’s stated positions
Akhtar said faith can close people’s eyes to questions and suspend rationality; he favors examining ideas through logic and reason.
Alternative considerations in the articles
He acknowledged that religion can comfort people during difficult times, while arguing that comfort alone does not prove a belief true.
Use of creative work in AI
Akhtar’s stated positions
Akhtar said creators whose work is used to train AI should receive compensation, and he would ideally seek royalties for songs used to train ChatGPT.
Alternative considerations in the articles
The articles do not provide a response from AI companies or another opposing position.
- Claim about religion
- Akhtar said 99% of people die in the religion they were born into.
- View of faith
- He said faith can make people suspend rationality and that emotional comfort does not establish that a belief is true.
- Approach to ideas
- Akhtar said he trusts ideas, logic, and reason rather than a person.
- Atheism
- He identified himself as an atheist and said an Indian has the legal right to be one.
- Vande Mataram
- He said he had no problem singing its opening stanzas, which he had translated into Hindi, but objected to being asked to sing religious verses.
- AI compensation
- Akhtar said people whose work is used to train AI models should receive a share.
- ChatGPT and royalties
- Asked about his songs being used to train ChatGPT, he said royalties would ideally be appropriate and that he would work toward that.
