It didn’t take long for artificial intelligence to go too far.
AI has slowly-but-surely crept into our lives in the past five years, as companies like OpenAI have become more and more accessible. The idea is that the advancement in technology will make our lives easier, but as of late, the utilization of artificial intelligence has seemed to only cause uproars.
To be transparent, there are plenty of examples of good, commendable AI usage. The tech was able to help Randy Travis release new music in 2024, and it even allowed for The Beatles to complete a song that had been considered a “lost recording” for decades.
However, there’s also a number of questionable AI utilizations. Just recently, Coca-Cola opted to replace their beloved “The Holidays Are Coming” ad spots with artificial-intelligence-generated commercials. It certainly seems like there is a right way and a wrong way to use AI, and the internet isn’t shy letting people know when its use is problematic.
After a church in Switzerland revealed that they have implemented an “AI Jesus” into their place of worship, they’ve understandably faced some backlash from the church-going community. St Peter’s Church in Lucerne, Switzerland currently offers a confessional – powered by an AI Jesus (that was trained using information from the Bible’s New Testament).
Swiss church has an "AI Jesus" hologram taking "confession"! pic.twitter.com/LKc6dzHX5t
— Jesse Lee Peterson (@JLPtalk) November 21, 2024
The hologram gives visitors advice in real time, and as you might imagine, its existence has caused some ethical and religious concerns. As you can see in the video below, the AI Jesus takes in information and questions from people of faith and uses its artificial intelligence technology to respond as if it were actually Jesus Christ.
Take a look:
🚨🇨🇭AI JESUS TAKES CONFESSIONS IN SWISS CHURCH
St. Peter’s Church in Lucerne introduced an AI-powered Jesus hologram for confessions.
Developed by theologians and computer scientists, the AI is trained on the New Testament and responds to questions in 100 languages.… pic.twitter.com/yFRu5zw0Vc
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 20, 2024
Seems like the definition of sacrilegious to me
As a fellow believer myself, is there a small part of me that thinks this opportunity could be beneficial? Possibly. From a teaching aspect, I could see how some that are on the fence about religion could benefit from being able to speak and ask questions to a program that’s incredibly knowledge on the Bible and Jesus’ teachings.
Though that’s kind of what pastors are for.
On the flip side, there just seems to be something very awry about AI Jesus, particularly in a confessional? There’s a lot in the Bible about staying away from false prophets. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount touched on it specifically. But then again, if this hologram is powered by Jesus’ very teachings… see how it all gets very murky? Regardless, I think AI Jesus completely misses the point of the Gospel… we have direct access to God, through the death of Jesus… it’s a cornerstone of the Christian faith. This just seems more confusing, more idolatrous, and in some ways, a hurdle to actually knowing Jesus.
And if you asked social media about it, the issue is clear as day:
Nope, this is wrong
— Thomad Lund🇺🇸 (@LundThomad) November 20, 2024
This is an abomination
— Matthew Weber (@k4fk4tr4p) November 20, 2024
— Jeff Halm (@jeffhalm) November 20, 2024
This is weird and people should condemn it omg
— Brandon (@Brando_G2) November 20, 2024
definitely raises some interesting questions about faith and tech
— Jack (@Cryptojack444) November 20, 2024
