Jonah McCune
CNA Staff November 21, 2024 / 15:50 PM
Numerous news reports in recent days have reported that a new artificial intelligence, “Jesus”, has begun listening to people’s confessions in Catholic churches in Switzerland.
Claim: A holographic “AI Jesus” was created and deployed in a Swiss chapel specifically to hear confessions.
Discover CNA: The historic parish church, St. Peter’s Chapel in Lucerne, has teamed up with the University of Lucerne’s Immersive Reality Laboratory to create an innovative project that explores the use of virtual characters based on generative artificial intelligence in a spiritual context. We have recently introduced a new project. applied sciences and arts.
The AI program was reportedly trained on New Testament content, allowing the “Jesus” avatar to verbally respond in one of 100 languages to Bible questions from people entering the confessional. It was intended to.
(In many reports, the avatar of “Jesus” is described as a “hologram”, a 3D projection created with a laser. However, Deutsche Welle’s video of the actual installation shows that “Jesus” ‘s artificial face is shown only on a curved computer monitor) behind a confessional screen. )
The installation’s title is “Deus in Makina” (Latin for “God in the Machine”, a play on the more commonly used literary expression “Deus ex machina”). The project is described as an “art exhibition” that “encourages thinking about the limits of technology in the context of religion,” the institute said in a statement.
Breakdown: Despite being installed in a confessional booth, the diocese says on its website that the AI installation is intended for conversation, not confession. Confession, also known as repentance or reconciliation, is one of the seven sacraments of the Church and can only be performed by a priest or bishop, and never in a virtual environment.
The Swiss diocese’s theologian said that the project aims to familiarize the faithful with AI, and that he sees the potential for AI to help priests in their pastoral work, given its ready availability. It is reported that. Because they work many hours a day, they have abilities that pastors cannot. ”
Peter Kirchschlager, an expert on theological ethics, responded to Deutsche Welle’s comments by theologians that “we should be careful when it comes to faith, pastoral care, and the search for meaning in religion.” I expressed my opinion. We humans are actually much better than machines in this area. So we should do it ourselves. ”
The Swiss art project is the latest in a series of attempts to put AI to work for the Catholic faith, including deploying the technology within the Vatican itself, with mixed results so far.
For example, CatéGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot designed by fellow Swiss engineer Nicolas Torschbeuf, aims to use authoritative documents to provide answers to questions about Catholic education. Other similar AI-based services are also gaining popularity, such as US-based Magisterium AI.
Less successful was the AI ”Priest” created and released earlier this year by California-based advocacy group Catholic Answers, whose video game-like avatar of a priest was criticized by some users. In addition, at least one user coaxed a priest character into listening to a confession, and a statement from the apostolate promised to replace the priest character with a lay character named “Justin.”
Verdict: Although the “AI Jesus” project exists, it is not intended to hear people’s confessions or replace priests. Rather, it’s an art exhibit created by researchers at a local polytechnic in collaboration with theologians, who say they want to raise questions about the use of technology in religious settings and demonstrate AI’s ability to answer questions about the Bible. I am doing it.
We rate this claim as misleading.
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer at Catholic News Agency. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, public radio producer, and videographer. He is based in St. Louis.
