LUCERNE, Switzerland (AP) 鈥 Would you trust an 鈥淎I Jesus鈥 with your innermost thoughts and troubles?
Researchers and religious leaders on Wednesday released findings from a two-month experiment through art in a Catholic chapel in Switzerland, where an avatar of 鈥淛esus鈥 on a computer screen 鈥 tucked into a confessional 鈥 took questions by visitors on faith, morality and modern-day woes, and offered responses based on Scripture.
The idea, said the chapel鈥檚 theological assistant, was to recognize the growing importance of artificial intelligence in human lives, even when it comes to religion, and explore the limits of human trust in a machine.
After the two-month run of the 鈥淒eus in Machina鈥 exhibit at Peter鈥檚 Chapel starting in late August, some 900 conversations from visitors 鈥- some came more than once 鈥- were transcribed anonymously. Those behind the project said it was largely a success: Visitors often came out moved or deep in thought, and found it easy to use.
A small sign invited visitors to enter a confessional -鈥 chosen for its intimacy 鈥- and below a lattice screen across which penitent believers would usually speak with a priest, a green light signaled the visitor's turn to speak, and a red one came on when 鈥淎I Jesus鈥 on a computer screen on the other side was responding.
Often, a lag time was needed to wait for the response 鈥 a testament to the technical complexities. After exiting, nearly 300 visitors filled out questionnaires that informed the report released Wednesday.
Of love, war, suffering and solitude
Philipp Haslbauer, an IT specialist at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts who pulled together the technical side of the project, said the AI responsible for taking the role of 鈥淎I Jesus鈥 and generating responses was by OpenAI, and an open-source version of the company鈥檚 was used for speech comprehension.
An AI video generator from was used to produce voice and video from a real person, he said. Haslbauer said no specific safeguards were used 鈥渂ecause we observed GPT-4o to respond fairly well to controversial topics.鈥
Visitors broached many topics, including true love, the afterlife, feelings of solitude, war and suffering in the world, the existence of God, plus issues like sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church or its position on homosexuality.
Most visitors described themselves as Christians, though agnostics, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists and Taoists took part too, according to a recap of the project released by the Catholic parish of Lucerne.
About one-third were German speakers, but 鈥淎I Jesus鈥 鈥 which is conversant in about 100 languages 鈥 also had conversations in languages like Chinese, English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Russian and Spanish.
鈥榃ork of the Devil鈥?
鈥淲hat was really interesting (was) to see that the people really talked with him in a serious way. They didn鈥檛 come to make jokes,鈥 said chapel theologian Marco Schmid, who spearheaded the project. Most visitors were aged 40 to 70, and more Catholics respondents found the experience stimulating than did Protestants, the report showed.
Schmid was quick to point out that the 鈥淎I Jesus鈥 鈥 billed as a 鈥淛esus-like鈥 persona 鈥 was an artistic experiment to get people thinking about the intersection between the digital and the divine, not substitute for human interaction or sacramental confessions with a priest, nor was it intended to save pastoral resources.
鈥淔or the people it was clear that it was a computer ... It was clear it was not a confession,鈥 Schmid said. 鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 programmed to give absolutions or prayers. At the end, it was more summary of the conversation.鈥
The Catholic Church from the Vatican on down has been wrestling with the challenges 鈥- and possible opportunities -鈥 presented by the explosion in public interest in AI since generative artificial intelligence captured the world鈥檚 attention two years ago when OpenAI's ChatGPT made its debut.
The Vatican has appointed as its top expert on AI, and a Lutheran church in Bavaria served up last year. Pope Francis, in his annual peace message for this year, pushed for an of AI technology.
Chatbots like ChatGPT are powered by algorithmic models trained on vast pools of text and other data to mimic speech and generate seemingly unique and human-like responses.
Haslbauer is sensitive to public reaction and has noted chatter on social media saying the project is 鈥渂lasphemous鈥 or the 鈥渨ork of the devil.鈥
鈥淚f you read comments on the internet about it, some are very negative 鈥 which is scary,鈥 Haslbauer, whose long-haired look featured as a basis for the image of the virtual Jesus.
In a demonstration of the technology in the chapel, Haslbauer queried 鈥淎I Jesus鈥 about its message for a troubled world, and about whether AI could be helpful as a way for people to find God.
鈥淎ll knowledge and wisdom ultimately come from God," the chatbot said in a soothing voice, after a pause to respond, and the image briefly crackled. 鈥淚f used wisely, AI can indeed be a tool to explore the wonders of creation, deepen our understanding of Scripture, and foster connections among people.鈥
"Yet it remains essential to seek God with all your heart and soul beyond any technology,鈥 it added.
A good side, and downsides
Kenneth Cukier, a journalist, author and expert with the U.S.-based nonprofit group called 鈥淎I and Faith,鈥 said if 鈥淎I Jesus鈥 helps people connect deeper to themselves and the world, it 鈥渉as to be a good thing.鈥
鈥淚t will lead to better individuals and a better world,鈥 he said. 鈥淗owever 鈥 and there鈥檚 a big however 鈥 this does feel a little bit infantile, and pardon my pun, machine-like.鈥
鈥淭he risk is that it pulls people, ultimately, farther away from that which is more meaningful, deeper and authentic in spirituality,鈥 said Cukier, co-author of 鈥淏ig Data: A Revolution that Will Transform How We Work, Live and Think.鈥
For Schmid, the exhibit was a pilot project 鈥 and he doesn't foresee a second coming of 鈥淎I Jesus鈥 anytime soon.
鈥淔or us, it was also clear it was just a limited time that we will expose this Jesus," he said, adding that any return would need to be done after deeper thought.
鈥淲e are discussing ... how we could revive him again," he said, noting interest from parishes, schoolteachers, researchers and others as the project got media attention in Switzerland and beyond. 鈥淭hey all are interested and would like to have this 鈥楢I Jesus鈥. So we have now a little bit to reflect on how we want to continue."
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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