Church installs AI Jesus and attracts thousands of visitors

The Swiss Church established artificial intelligence (AI) represent Jesus, Guardian reported on Thursday.

The church unveiled an artificial intelligence installation in collaboration with a local university’s immersive reality research lab.

“It was a real experiment,” said Marco Schmid, the church’s theologian. “We wanted to see and understand how people react to the artificial intelligence Jesus. What will they talk to him about? Would it be interesting to talk to him? We are probably pioneers in this.”

The artificial intelligence, known as Deus in Machina, launched in August and is capable of speaking more than 100 different languages. Guardian reported.

To accommodate the AI, the church set up a confessional where instead of visitors confessing their sins to a priest, they now talked in confession. Artificial Intelligence Image of Jesus.

Generative AI shows a realistic image of Jesus of Nazareth. (credit: Midjourney)

Guardian wrote that, like ChatGPT, the AI has the ability to answer questions and conversations in real time.

The church said more than 1,000 people had spoken to the AI, reporting both positive and negative experiences, with some finding it difficult to talk to the machine.

What’s next for AI?

With the advent of AI taking over professional positions such as that of a priest in a Swiss church, many are wondering what will happen next?

In 2023, a researcher from University of Chicago Business School booth considered the question of whether the rabbi could one day be replaced by AI?

“I doubt religious leaders will ever be fully automated because they need authority and robots are not trustworthy,” said professor Joshua Conrad Jackson, who led the study.

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Jackson stated that while such a display of authority may not be important in many other professions outsourced to robots, it may be critical for professions in the religious field.

As a result, exposure to robot and human preachers may decrease perceptions of credibility, and this decrease in credibility should lead to decreased religious adherence.

“Robots and artificial intelligence programs cannot truly espouse any religious beliefs, so religious organizations may see a decline in the commitment of their congregations if they rely more on technology than on human leaders who can demonstrate their faith,” Jackson concluded.