Will priests lose their jobs? Swiss churches experiment with 'AI Jesus' confessionals that can speak hundreds of languages.

Swiss church introduces 'AI Jesus' to assist in confession, believers participate in the experiment

In the Peter's Church in Lucerne, Switzerland, an unprecedented technology experiment is quietly underway.

According to a report by The Guardian, this historic old church will transform its confession room into a tech-savvy dialogue space, allowing believers to interact with an AI Jesus.

Why let AI Jesus assist in confession? Marco Schmid, theological assistant at St. Peter's Church, said it's just a simple experiment, mainly to understand people's reactions to conversing with AI Jesus.

The experiment called 'Deus in Machina' officially launched in August this year.

During the two-month experimental period, over 1,000 people came to have conversations with AI Jesus, including Muslims, tourists, and visitors from China and Vietnam.

What technologies are used behind AI Jesus? Can it master hundreds of languages?

According to the Associated Press, the technology behind AI Jesus is quite complex. The tech team first used OpenAI's GPT-40 language model and employed Whisper for speech understanding, which is Open Source. Another AI video generator named Heygen is responsible for creating the voice and image of AI Jesus.

With the help of language models, this AI Jesus can converse in nearly a hundred languages, including Chinese, English, French, and Russian, and can almost respond to any question, from love, the afterlife, to war and pain, and even sensitive issues about the church, such as sexual abuse cases and positions on homosexuality, can receive immediate responses.

The image of AI Jesus is basically in line with the classic appearance in paintings and movies. When you enter the confession room, He will ask you to agree to a statement in advance, that is, not to disclose personal information and bear the risk yourself.

Image source: The Swiss Catholic Church introduced AI Jesus experimental confession service, source: AP

The West has AI Jesus, and the East has AI Buddha

The attempt to integrate AI into the religious field is not limited to Western sects. As early as 2023, Japan had an AI Buddha named 'HOTOKE AI', which was at the forefront of the religious field.

Unlike the experiments in Switzerland, Japan's HOTOKE AI is more popular, and is even jokingly referred to as the "online chicken soup master", providing some seemingly reasonable but lacking in Depth advice.

The developer of the AI Buddha is Jiaru Yizhen. He said he had received over 200,000 questions, ranging from trivial daily chores to profound philosophical questions about life. However, this is just a novelty tool and cannot replace professional counselors, such as psychological counselors or real clergy.

Further reading: Chinese can also be understood! When the Japanese ChatGPT AI Buddha descended to earth, ask him how he would respond to the difficulties of the crypto world?

Do humans really need AI to explain it?

Experts have different views on this marvelous experiment of technology and faith.

Kenneth Cukier, an expert in AI and faith-based non-profit organizations in the United States, believes that if AI can help people gain a deeper understanding of themselves, it is definitely a good thing. However, excessive reliance on AI may lead people away from deeper and more authentic spiritual pursuits.

The theological assistant of St. Peter's Church stated that although this experiment was quite fruitful, he would not immediately install AI Jesus in the confession room. According to statistics, about two-thirds of the participants considered this to be a 'spiritual experience,' but some still believe that conversing with a machine is meaningless.

To manage AI in a way that enriches rather than exploits human life, the Vatican has invited experts with an engineering background to serve as advisors. Pope Francis has also called for the establishment of an international treaty this year to ensure that AI technology is used in accordance with ethical conditions.

And this 'AI deity' experiment may be an interesting attempt to explore the boundaries between technology and faith.

The article 'Is the priest going to be unemployed? Swiss church relies on 'AI Jesus' experiment for confession, and can speak a hundred languages' was first published in 'encryption city'.