It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
As artificial intelligence expands across more professions, robot preachers and AI programs offer new means of sharing religious beliefs, but they may undermine credibility and reduce donations for religious groups that rely on them, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
“It seems like robots take over more occupations every year, but I wouldn’t be so sure that religious leaders will ever be fully automated because religious leaders need credibility, and robots aren’t credible,” said lead researcher Joshua Conrad Jackson, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago in the Booth School of Business.
The research was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Jackson and his colleagues conducted an experiment with the Mindar humanoid robot at the Kodai-Ji Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. The robot has a humanlike silicon face with moving lips and blinking eyes on a metal body. It delivers 25-minute Heart Sutra sermons on Buddhist principles with surround sound and multi-media projections.
Mindar, which was created in 2019 by a Japanese robotics team in partnership with the temple, cost almost $1 million to develop, but it might be reducing donations to the temple, according to the study.
The researchers surveyed 398 participants who were leaving the temple after hearing a sermon delivered either by Mindar or a human Buddhist priest. Participants viewed Mindar as less credible and gave smaller donations than those who heard a sermon from the human priest.
In another experiment in a Taoist temple in Singapore, half of the 239 participants heard a sermon by a human priest while the other half heard the same sermon from a humanoid robot called Pepper. That experiment had similar findings -- the robot was viewed as less credible and inspired smaller donations. Participants who heard the robot sermon also said they were less likely to share its message or distribute flyers to support the temple.
While participants said they believed human preachers were more credible, it was still a close contest with the robots. On a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being most credible, the robot preachers received an average credibility rating of 3.12, compared with 3.51 for human preachers.
“This suggests that there are a lot of people out there who think robots could be effective preachers, but there are more people who aren’t convinced,” Jackson said.
While the robot preacher studies focused on Eastern religions, Jackson believes the findings could apply to other religions.
A third experiment included 274 Christian participants from the United States who read a sermon online. Half of the participants were told it was written by a human preacher while the other half were told the sermon was generated by a highly advanced AI program. Participants in the AI sermon group reported the sermon was less credible because they felt an AI program had less capacity to think or feel like a human.
“Robots and AI programs can’t truly hold any religious beliefs so religious organizations may see declining commitment from their congregations if they rely more on technology than on human leaders who can demonstrate their faith,” Jackson said.
Article:“Exposure to Robot Preachers Undermines Religious Commitment,” Joshua Jackson, PhD, University of Chicago; Kai Chi Yam, PhD, and Ting Liu, PhD, National University of Singapore; Pok Man Tang, PhD, University of Georgia Terry College of Business; and Azim Shariff, PhD, The University of British Columbia, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, published online July 24, 2023.
Exposure to Robot Preachers Undermines Religious Commitment
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
24-Jul-2023
Wednesday, March 08, 2023
Robots are performing Hindu rituals -- some devotees fear they'll replace worshippers Holly Walters, Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology, Wellesley College
THE CONVERSATION Wed, March 8, 2023 A robotic arm (below on right) is used to worship by maneuvering a candle in front of the Hindu god Ganesha.Monarch Innovation
It isn’t just artists and teachers who are losing sleep over advances in automation and artificial intelligence. Robots are being brought into Hinduism’s holiest rituals – and not all worshippers are happy about it.
In 2017, a technology firm in India introduced a robotic arm to perform “aarti,” a ritual in which a devotee offers an oil lamp to the deity to symbolize the removal of darkness. This particular robot was unveiled at the Ganpati festival, a yearly gathering of millions of people in which an icon of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is taken out in a procession and immersed in the Mula-Mutha river in Pune in central India.
Yet this kind of religious robotic usage has led to increasing debatesabout the use of AI and robotic technology in devotion and worship. Some devotees and priests feel that this represents a new horizon in human innovation that will lead to the betterment of society, while others worry that using robots to replace practitioners is a bad omen for the future.
As an anthropologist who specializes in religion, however, I focus less on the theology of robotics and more on what people actually say and do when it comes to their spiritual practices. My current work on religious robots primarily centers on the notion of “divine object-persons,” where otherwise inanimate things are viewed as having a living, conscious essence.
My work also looks at the uneasiness Hindus and Buddhists express about ritual-performing automatons replacing people and whether those automatons actually might make better devotees.
Ritual automation is not new
Ritual automation, or at least the idea of robotic spiritual practice, isn’t new in South Asian religions.
Historically, this has included anything from special pots that drip water continuously for bathing rituals that Hindus routinely perform for their deity icons, called abhisheka, to wind-powered Buddhist prayer wheels – the kinds often seen in yoga studios and supply stores.
While the contemporary version of automated ritual might look like downloading a phone app that chants mantras without the need for any prayer object at all, such as a mala or rosary, these new versions of ritual-performing robots have prompted complicated conversations.
Thaneswar Sarmah, a Sanskrit scholar and literary critic, argues that the first Hindu robot appeared in the stories of King Manu, the first king of the human race in Hindu belief. Manu’s mother, Saranyu – herself the daughter of a great architect – built an animate statue to perfectly perform all of her household chores and ritual obligations.
Visvakarman, considered to be the architect of the universe in Hindu belief. British Museum
Folklorist Adrienne Mayorremarks similarly that religious stories about mechanized icons from Hindu epics, such as the mechanical war chariots of the Hindu engineer god Visvakarman, are often viewed as the progenitors of religious robots today.
Furthermore, these stories are sometimes interpreted by modern-day nationalists as evidence that ancient India has previously invented everything from spacecraft to missiles.
Modern traditions or traditionally modern?
However, the recent use of AI and robotics in religious practice is leading to concerns among Hindus and Buddhists about the kind of future to which automation could lead. In some instances, the debate among Hindus is about whether automated religion promises the arrival of humanity into a bright, new, technological future or if it is simply evidence of the coming apocalypse.
In other cases, there are concerns that the proliferation of robots might lead to greater numbers of people leaving religious practice as temples begin to rely more on automation than on practitioners to care for their deities. Some of these concerns stem from the fact that many religions, both in South Asia and globally, have seen significant decreases in the number of young people willing to dedicate their lives to spiritual education and practice over the past few decades. Furthermore, with many families living in a diaspora scattered across the world, priests or “pandits” are often serving smaller and smaller communities.
But if the answer to the problem of fewer ritual specialists is more robots, people still question whether ritual automation will benefit them. They also question the concurrent use of robotic deities to embody and personify the divine, since these icons are programmed by people and therefore reflect the religious views of their engineers. Doing right by religion
Scholars often note that these concerns all tend to reflect one pervasive theme – an underlying anxiety that, somehow, the robots are better at worshipping gods than humans are. They can also raise inner conflicts about the meaning of life and one’s place in the universe.
For Hindus and Buddhists, the rise of ritual automation is especially concerning because their traditions emphasize what religion scholars refer to as orthopraxy, where greater importance is placed on correct ethical and liturgical behavior than on specific beliefs in religious doctrines. In other words, perfecting what you do in terms of your religious practice is viewed as more necessary to spiritual advancement than whatever it is you personally believe.
This also means that automated rituals appear on a spectrum that progresses from human ritual fallibility to robotic ritual perfection. In short, the robot can do your religion better than you can because robots, unlike people, are spiritually incorruptible.
This not only makes robots attractive replacements for dwindling priesthoods but also explains their increasing use in everyday contexts: People use them because no one worries about the robot getting it wrong, and they are often better than nothing when the options for ritual performance are limited. Saved by a robot
In the end, turning to a robot for religious restoration in modern Hinduism or Buddhism might seem futuristic, but it belongs very much to the present moment. It tells us that Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions in South Asia are increasingly being imagined as post- or transhuman: deploying technological ingenuity to transcend human weaknesses because robots don’t get tired, forget what they’re supposed to say, fall asleep or leave.
More specifically, this means that robotic automation is being used to perfect ritual practices in East Asia and South Asia – especially in India and Japan – beyond what would be possible for a human devotee, by linking impossibly consistent and flawless ritual accomplishment with an idea of better religion.
Modern robotics might then feel like a particular kind of cultural paradox, where the best kind of religion is the one that eventually involves no humans at all. But in this circularity of humans creating robots, robots becoming gods, and gods becoming human, we’ve only managed to, once again, re-imagine ourselves.
This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.
Meet Cathy, the new AI chatbot and Episcopal Church expert
Unlike many of her religious AI predecessors, Cathy isn’t posing as a pastor or guru but a virtual guide. A new AI chatbot program called AskCathy offers entry-level access to learning more about the Episcopal Church. (Photo from Pixabay/Creative Commons)
(RNS) — First, there was Xian’er, the cartoon-like, mantra-chanting robot Buddhist monk that China introduced in 2015. Then there was the German “BlessU-2” robot that dispensed blessings using ATM parts, and Pepper, the Japanese robot priest that delivered funeral rites.
Now a new generation of religious AI is emerging with the advent of OpenAI’s ChatGPT — some with mixed success. The latest AI chatbot geared for spiritual seekers is AskCathy, co-launched in June by a research institute and ministry organization and aiming to roll out soon on Episcopal church websites. Cathy draws on the latest version of ChatGPT and is equipped to prioritize Episcopalian resources.
“This is not a substitute for a priest,” said the Rev. Tay Moss, director of one of Cathy’s architects, the Innovative Ministry Center, an organization based at the Toronto United Church Council that develops digital resources for communities of faith. “She comes alongside you in your search queries and helps you discover material. But she is not the end-all be-all of authority. She can’t tell you how to believe or what to believe.”
AskCathy.ai logo. Courtesy image
The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, the executive director of TryTank Research Institute at Virginia Theological Seminary and Cathy’s other principal developer, said all the institute’s projects attempt to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, and Cathy is no different. He told Religion News Service the idea for Cathy materialized after brainstorming how to address young people’s spiritual needs. What if a chatbot could meet people asking life’s biggest questions with care, insight and careful research?
“The goal is not that they will end up at their nearby Episcopal church on Sunday. The goal is that it will spark in them this knowledge that God is always with us, that God never leaves us,” Lebrija said. “This can be a tool that gives us a glimpse and little direction that we can then follow on our own.”
To do that, though, would require a chatbot designed to avoid the kinds of hallucinations and errors that have plagued other ChatGPT integrations. In May, the Catholic evangelization site Catholic Answers “defrocked” their AI avatar, Father Justin, designating him as a layperson after he reportedly claimed to be an ordained priest capable of taking confession and performing marriages.
The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, chief innovation officer of Virginia Theological Seminary. Photo courtesy of Lebrija
Lebrija’s TryTank Institute teamed up with Moss’ Innovative Ministry Center to create a specific retrieval mechanism for Cathy tailored to the Episcopal Church. When asked a question, Cathy first searches her own library of resources for relevant information, then sends that context and the original question to ChatGPT before spouting off an answer. When possible, Cathy cites her sources. Her library, prioritized over the rest of ChatGPT’s resources, includes over 1,000 pages from the Episcopal Church’s website, The Book of Common Prayer and authorized publications from the Forward Movement, a ministry of the Episcopal Church.
Pauline Cheong, professor of human communication at Arizona State University who studies spiritual groups’ use of AI, told RNS via email it is “rather tenuous” to claim, as AskCathy’s FAQ does, that Cathy exhibits “remarkable accuracy,” given that religious chatbots powered by ChatGPT can provide “erroneous and outdated information with false references.”
Photo courtesy of Pauline Hope Cheong, professor, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University
“Religion and technology have a historically complex and contested relationship, so it is interesting how the presentation of Cathy appears to exhibit the optics of optimism and trust in AI technology,” she wrote.
However, Moss said Cathy incorporates “state of the art” technology as of spring 2024, and her capabilities aren’t comparable to previous religious AI chatbots.
As Cathy developed, Moss and Lebrija realized she could be useful in a range of scenarios: a lay minister leading a parish who is looking for TEC-specific liturgies, a church member parsing through the denomination’s complex bylaws, a priest looking to accelerate their service planning to spend more time with parishioners or a person curious about the denomination’s positions on controversial topics.
“She makes it possible to have a different kind of conversation, which is far lower stakes for people who want to talk about subjects that make them feel vulnerable or defensive,” Moss said. “For example, one of the questions that we’ve gotten quite a bit is about polyamory.”
Peter Levenstrong, an associate rector at an Episcopal church in San Francisco who blogs about AI and the church, told RNS he thinks Cathy could familiarize people with Episcopalianism.
“We have a PR issue,” Levenstrong said. “Most people don’t realize there is a denomination that is deeply rooted in tradition, and yet open and affirming, and theologically inclusive, and doing its best to strive toward a future without racial injustice, without ecocide, all these huge problems that we as a church take very seriously.”
In his own context, Levenstrong has already used Cathy to brainstorm Harry Potter-themed lessons for children. (She recommended a related book written by an Episcopalian.)
Cathy’s creators know AI is a thorny topic. Their FAQ page anticipates potential critiques. In terms of environmental impact, Cathy’s creators report she uses between 3.6kJ and 36kJ of energy per exchange. By comparison, a single Google search uses roughly 1.08kJ of energy, per the FAQ page, and driving to the library to do research has “much more climate impact,” Moss said.
Moss added, that, in terms of privacy, Cathy saves the texts of conversations but not usernames or IP addresses. But even if Cathy is relatively secure, some experts and potential users are concerned that she could become a substitute for human interactions.
David DeSteno, professor of psychology at Northeastern University. Photo courtesy of DeSteno’s website
“I worry about disconnection,” said David DeSteno, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University in Boston who hosts the podcast “How God Works.” “One of the big benefits when it comes to health and wellbeing in religion has to do with building community, coming together, having personal relationships. If people start relying on AI for guidance, or in some ways leading prayer ceremonies at home, I worry it could separate them from actual clergy themselves, who they can form personal relationships with.”
Levenstrong said while concerns about AI replacing human interaction are valid, he doesn’t see that happening as a result of Cathy’s development. He sees Cathy not as a replacement for a priest, but a resource for people who don’t have “an expert on speed dial.” Cathy’s FAQ page notes that Cathy isn’t equipped to provide counseling or spiritual guidance.
Still, DeSteno said users begin to perceive AI as more sentient and spiritual when it doles out advice and shows empathy.
“It can build trust and connection in ways, because you think this thing is understanding you,” DeSteno said. “And if it has malintent, whatever message it’s giving you about how to act or what you should believe, can be much more persuasive.”
In RNS exchanges with Cathy, the chatbot often responded to requests for advice in part by suggesting speaking with a trusted priest, spiritual adviser or professional counselor. In questions about scenarios involving divorce and domestic violence, Cathy expressed sorrow about the difficult situation before listing potential action steps, including ensuring people’s safety, listening non-judgmentally, encouraging professional help and respecting people’s autonomy. She also often offered potentially relevant prayers from The Book of Common Prayer.
For now, AskCathy is still relatively new, and her impact remains to be seen. The designers initiated a “soft launch” at the denomination’s General Convention in June, and the website is live for anyone to use for free. Though AskCathy isn’t an official project of the Episcopal Church, nor is it on the denominational website, individual churches can fill out a form to have the chatbot embedded on their website for free as part of a pilot project.
If you ask Moss and Lebrija, AI is poised to transform the future of the church, regardless of whether the church is ready. To them, Cathy is just one way for the church to wield AI to its own advantage at a time when many in the church are struggling with burnout and a shortage of resources.
“I think the availability of information is going to explode in a new kind of way. We got used to what happened when the web opened up, and suddenly the church got pushed into the territory of livestreaming services,” Moss said. “This, I think, is the next step of that evolution.”
Monday, September 04, 2023
Artificial intelligence program poised to shake up Catholic education, doctrine
Magisterium AI uses artificial intelligence technology to provide information for users on everything relating to Catholic doctrine, teachings and Canon law.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A new Catholic program using artificial intelligence, Magisterium AI, is promising to revolutionize academic research in Catholic education and holds the potential to disrupt long-held doctrines and beliefs.
Created by the U.S.-based company Longbeard, Magisterium AI uses artificial intelligence technology like the one used by the now-famous ChatGPT to provide information for users on everything relating to Catholic doctrine, teachings and Canon law. Unlike other AI programs, which have access to vast swaths of ever-evolving data, the information used by Magisterium AI is limited to official church documents and is carefully curated.
“This way, it avoids the pitfalls of the use of AI,” said Fr. Philip Larrey, who teaches philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and is chair of the Product Advisory Board at Magisterium AI, in an interview with Religion News Service on Wednesday (Aug. 23).
Artificial intelligence programs can sometimes “hallucinate,” meaning they will assemble incorrect or partially incorrect information in order to provide an answer to a query. “Magisterium is trained to only use official documents of the Catholic Church, which is a very small, consistent and narrow documentation,” Larrey said.
“It’s never going to give you a wrong or false answer,” he added.
The Magisterium AI interface. Screen grab
With a simple interface, where users can type in questions that will be answered by the artificial intelligence, Magisterium AI hopes to be a helpful service for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The project can be used by priests seeking to write a homily, canon lawyers looking for the latest updates and researchers wishing to access Catholic documents from the ancient past.
Magisterium AI is already used in 125 countries and is currently available in 10 languages, but its creators hope to add even more. Every day, more information is being entered into the program’s database drawn directly from Catholic resources.
Fr. David Nazar, the rector of the Pontifical Institute for Eastern Churches, believes AI technology has the power to revolutionize research in Catholic academia by providing scholars with access to large amounts of data. Eastern Christian Churches spread all over the world, from Russia to Ethiopia and India, rely on extremely ancient and diversified documents.
The Rev. David Nazar, SJ. Video screen grab
Magisterium AI “shortens the time and refines your research,” Nazar told RNS in an interview Wednesday. Research that has been ongoing for 10 years over 400 documents and manuscripts could be done in a month or a week, he explained.
The institute is currently digitizing 1,000 documents from its archives and adding them to the Magisterium AI database. This includes one of the largest collections of Syriac manuscripts outside of Syria, which were brought over to Rome after the start of the war in the Middle Eastern country. While the program has the scope of “preserving and researching history with precision,” Nazar said, it also has the potential to be a powerful tool for promoting ecumenism and addressing ancient doctrinal questions.
“The early church councils were as concerned about defining principles — the number of the Trinity, the nature of Jesus etc. — as they were about excluding false expressions of the faith,” he said. The varied amount of languages and cultures that convened at these ancient councils meant participants “often misunderstood one another, and some people were called heretics for the wrong reason.”
Nazar brought up the example of Nestorius, a bishop who was deemed a heretic after the Council of Ephesus in 431. Research conducted at the institute over years led to the conclusion that Nestorius was actually largely misunderstood in his beliefs and wrongly condemned. This understanding promoted communion between the Catholic Church and his remaining followers today.
With tools like Magisterium AI this kind of research could happen in much less time, Nazar said. He acknowledged that as more data from the church’s vast and ancient documentation is inserted into the program, researchers might uncover uncomfortable facts about the church’s doctrine on hot-button issues like married priests and the role of women in the church.
“The truth shall set you free!” Nazar said, quoting Jesus. For the scholar, there is a consolation in finding out that people were wrong, and that is much more valuable than “neurotic concerns over words.”
Image by Gerd Altmann/Pixabay/Creative Commons
Beyond changing how research is conducted in Catholic schools, Magisterium AI also holds potential for canon lawyers, who can use it to access the latest developments. Pope Francis, for example, has issued a massive number of Motu Proprio, which are changes to the wording of the 1983 Book of Canon Law, during his pontificate. Canon lawyers can view the most updated laws thanks to the AI-powered program.
It can also offer support for priests writing their homilies for Mass, by offering information about church teaching and commentary by experts from the past and present. Larrey said that despite the bad reputation often attributed to artificial intelligence, he believes such programs have a potential for good.
“Is this going to replace canon lawyers or teachers? No, it’s going to be a help,” he said. “Fortunately they won’t substitute a priest so I think I’m safe!”
While Pope Francis has acknowledged the advantages and positive aspects of artificial intelligence, he has also warned against the potential pitfalls and consequences this technology holds, especially for the most vulnerable people in society.
This month, the pope announced that “Artificial Intelligence and Peace” will be the theme of World Day of Peace on Jan. 1, to promote dialogue and ethical reflection on the question of AI.
Navigating the intersection between AI, automation and religion – 3 essential reads
The merging of technology and faith is sparking a transformative shift in redefining spirituality and religious practices.
AI is slowly becoming part of the religious sphere. (robertprzybysz/iStock via Getty Images)
(The Conversation) — In a era marked by rapid technological advancement, we are seeing everything from artificial intelligence to robots slowly seep into our everyday lives. But now, this technology is increasingly making inroads into a realm that has long been uniquely human: religion.
Over the last few months, The Conversation U.S. has published a number of stories exploring how AI and automation are weaving themselves into religious contexts. These three articles from our archives shed light on the impacts of such technology on human spirituality, faith and worship across cultures.
1. Prophets come to life
As one of the most prominent religious figures in the world, Jesus has been continually reinterpreted to fit the norms and needs of each new historical context, from Cristo Negro or “Black Christ” to being depicted as a Hindu mystic.
But now the prophet is on Twitch, a video live-streaming platform. And it’s all thanks to an AI chatbot.
AI Jesus provides insight on both spiritual and personal questions users ask on his channel. Twitch user ask_jesus
Presented as a bearded white man wearing a brown hood, “AI Jesus” is available 24/7 on his Twitch channel “ask_Jesus” and is able to interact with users who can ask him anything from deep religious-in-nature questions to lighthearted inquiries.
AI Jesus represents one of the newest examples in the growing field of AI spirituality, noted Boston College theology faculty member Joseph L. Kimmel, and may help scholars better understand how human spirituality is being actively shaped by the influence of AI.
2. Robotic rituals
A unique intersection of religion and robotic technology has emerged with the introduction of robots performing Hindu rituals in South Asia. While some have welcomed the technological inclusion, others express worries about the future that ritual automation could lead to.
A robotic arm performs “aarti” — a Hindu practice in which light is ritually waved for the veneration of deities.
Many believe that the growth of robots within Hindu practices could lead to an increase in people leaving the religion, and question the use of robots to embody religious and divine figures.
But there is another concern: whether robots could eventually replace Hindu worshippers. Automated robots would be able to perform rituals without a single error. This is significant because religions like Hinduism and Buddhism emphasize the correct execution of rituals and ceremonies as a means to connect with the divine rather than emphasizing correct belief.
It’s a concept referred to as orthopraxy, according to Wellesley College anthropology lecturer Holly Walters. “In short, the robot can do your religion better than you can because robots, unlike people, are spiritually incorruptible,” she explained. “Modern robotics might then feel like a particular kind of cultural paradox, where the best kind of religion is the one that eventually involves no humans at all.”
According to College of the Holy Cross religious studies scholar Joanne M. Pierce, preaching has always been considered a human activity grounded in faith. But what happens when that practice is taken over by an AI chatbot?
In June 2023, hundreds of Lutherans gathered in Bavaria, Germany, for a service designed and delivered by ChatGPT. But many are cautious about using AI to conduct these religious practices.
St. Paul’s Church in Fürth, Bavaria was packed with over 300 Lutherans who attended a church service generated almost entirely by artificial intelligence.
In their sermons, preachers not only offer advice, but “speak out of personal reflection in a way that will inspire the members of the congregation, not just please them,” Pierce said. “It must also be shaped by an awareness of the needs and lived experience of the worshiping community in the pews.”
For the time being, it seems as though the inability to understand the human experience is AI’s biggest flaw within the preaching sphere.
(The Conversation) — Jesus has been portrayed in many different ways: from a prophet who alerts his audience to the world’s imminent end to a philosopher who reflects on the nature of life.
But no one has called Jesus an internet guru – that is, until now.
In his latest role as an “AI Jesus,” Jesus stands, rather awkwardly, as a white man, dressed in a hooded brown-and-white robe, available 24/7 to answer any and all questions on his Twitch channel, “ask_jesus.”
Questions posed to this chatbot Jesus can range from the serious – such as asking him about life’s meaning – to requesting a good joke.
While many of these individual questions may be interesting in their own right, as a scholar of early Christianity and comparative religion, I argue that the very presentation of Jesus as “AI Jesus” reveals a fascinating refashioning of this spiritual figure for our AI era.
Reinterpreting Jesus
Numerous scholars have described how Jesus has been reinterpreted over the centuries.
For example, religion scholar Stephen Prothero has shown how, in 19th-century America, Jesus was depicted as brave and tough, reflecting white masculine expectations of the period. Prothero argues that a primarily peaceful Jesus was perceived to conflict with these gender norms, and so Jesus’ physical prowess was emphasized.
By contrast, according to scholar R.S. Sugirtharajah, around the same time in India, Jesus was represented as a Hindu mystic or guru by Indian theologians like Ponnambalam Ramanathan in order to make Jesus more relatable for Indian Christians and to show how his spiritual teachings could be usefully adopted by faithful Hindus.
The point is not that one of these representations is necessarily more accurate than the others, but instead that Jesus has been consistently reinterpreted to fit the norms and needs of each new context.
The AI Jesus who engages individuals online in the form of a chatbot is the latest in this ongoing pattern of reinterpretation, geared to making Jesus suited to the current times. On AI Jesus’ Twitch channel, users consistently treat this chatbot Jesus as an authority in both personal and spiritual matters. For example, one recent user asked AI Jesus for advice about how best to stay motivated while exercising, while another person wanted to know why God allows war.
AI Jesus at work
AI Jesus represents one of the newest examples in the growing field of AI spirituality. Researchers in AI spirituality study how human spirituality is being shaped by the rising influence of artificial intelligence, as well as how AI can help people understand how humans form beliefs in the first place.
Over time, such systems can revise and recalibrate these statements based on new information. For example, if the AI system is exposed to new data challenging its beliefs, it will automatically nuance future statements in light of that fresh information.
AI Jesus functions very similarly to this kind of artificial intelligence system and answers religious questions, among others.
For example, in addition to fielding questions referring to war and suffering, AI Jesus has responded to questions about why sensing God’s presence can be difficult, whether an action that causes harm yet was done with good intentions is considered a sin, and how to interpret difficult verses from the Bible.
This AI Jesus also adjusts his responses as the chatbot learns from user input over time. For instance, as part of the running stream of questions from some weeks ago, AI Jesus referenced past interactions with users and nuanced his responses accordingly, saying: “I have received this question about the Bible’s meaning before. … But in light of the question you have just posed, I want to add that … .”
AI spirituality beyond AI Jesus
This chatbot guru is facing increasing competition from other sources of AI spirituality.
For example, a recent ChatGPT church service in Germany included a sermon preached by a chatbot represented as a bearded Black man, while other avatars led prayers and worship songs.
Other faith traditions are also providing spiritual lessons through AI. For example, in Thailand a Buddhist chatbot named Phra Maha AI has his own Facebook page on which he shares spiritual lessons, such as about the impermanence of life. Like AI Jesus, he is represented as a human being who freely shares his spiritual wisdom and can be messaged on Facebook anytime, anywhere – provided one has an internet connection.
In Japan, another Buddhist chatbot, known as “Buddhabot,” is in the end stages of development. Created by researchers at Kyoto University, Buddhabot has learned Buddhist sutras from which it will be able to quote when asked religious questions, once it is made publicly available.
In this increasing array of easily accessible online options for seeking spiritual guidance or general advice, it is hard to tell which religious chatbot will prove to be most spiritually satisfying.
In any case, the millennia-old trend of refashioning spiritual leaders to meet contemporary needs is likely to continue well after AI Jesus has become a religious presence of the distant past.
(Joseph L. Kimmel, Part-Time Faculty Member (Theology Department), Boston College. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)
