Jesus meets AI: Swiss church confession booth has God that 'answers' worshippers' concerns
AI-powered Jesus (not in picture) answers questions in a church. Is this the future?
Humanity is bringing God closer to Artificial intelligence, with a Swiss church creating an AI-generated Jesus who will listen to confessions in 100 languages.
In place of a priest, Peter’s chapel in Lucerne, the oldest church in the Swiss city, plugged in an AI-powered computer in the confessional booth.
They are calling it Deus in Machina, which is part of a collaboration with a local university on immersive reality.
“We wanted to see and understand how people react to an AI Jesus. What would they talk with him about? Would there be interest in talking to him? We’re probably pioneers in this,” The Guardian quoted Marco Schmid from the church who is part of the project as saying.
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After discussing what avatar should be given to the confessional booth listener, they zeroed in on Jesus himself.
Wired into the confessional room is a computer trained in Christian theology. A hologram of Jesus is beamed on a screen that answers questions.
The Jesus image first asks that no personal information be shared, and after pressing the 'agree' button, the worshippers can share their concerns.
The project, which began in August, will end on November 27 with an analysis of its results.
Besides Schmid, the AI programme was developed by Philipp Haslbauer and Aljosa Smolic from the Immersive Realities Center at Hochschule Luzern.
According to the Guardian report, more than 1,000 people including tourists from China and Vietnam as well as Muslims 'talked' to Jesus.
And as per Schmid, two-thirds of them felt it was a spiritual experience.
“So we can say they had a religiously positive moment with this AI Jesus. For me, that was surprising,” the paper quoted him as saying. But there were some who felt the interaction was mechanical.
(With inputs from agencies)
