Lessons From A Divisive Experiment

The work of the devil or an enlightening experiment at the intersection of technology and religion? Not surprisingly, the “AI Jesus” that recently finished a run conversing with visitors in a Swiss church’s confessional booth has been called both.

Aljosa Smolic, one of the technologists behind the avatar, expected as much when he began work on a chatty Jesus powered by artificial intelligence. AI Jesus is now back home with its creators at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, where it’s once again plugged in and interacting after completing a stint at Peter’s Chapel in the city’s center earlier this year.

“We were aware that this would provoke very critical voices,” Smolic, director of the the university’s Immersive Realities Research Lab, said in an interview. “The thinking was that AI is out there and the church and religion has to confront the topic.” Pope Francis has warned about the potential dangers of AI, calling the technology both “exciting and disorienting.”

Smolic and his colleague Philipp Haslbauer conceived of AI Jesus with Marco Schmid, a theologian at Peter’s Chapel. The chapel regularly hosts arts and culture exhibitions and has collaborated with the lab on other tech projects, including a VR experience of the 18th century space.

The team dubbed the AI Jesus experience “Deus in Machina” (Latin for God in the Machine), presenting it as an art installation aimed at exploring the promise and limitations of technology’s role in religion as the two increasingly intersect.

“We got a lot of feedback that people found it really inspiring and engaging on a very personal level,” Smolic said.

Over the course of AI Jesus’ two-month run, more than 900 church visitors interacted with the heavenly hologram. They entered a wood-paneled confessional booth, they spoke through a lattice window typically used for conversations with a priest. This time, though, they faced a screen featuring video of an AI-generated, Jesus — deliberately depicted with a classic, recognizable look: bearded, long haired, and radiating serenity — dispensing words of comfort and faith in a synthesized voice conversant in 100 languages.

The avatar conveyed messages generated by GPT 4o, a version of the large language model that powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT online chatbot. After exiting the booth, participants completed questionnaires reflecting on their experience.

What Did People Talk To AI Jesus About?

The Immersive Realities Research Lab, where AI Jesus got reinstalled on Tuesday, is now studying the resulting conversations to identify recurring themes and better assess human trust in machines in various contexts. Preliminary data shows that participants most often asked AI Jesus about the Catholic Church itself — how it’s changing, for instance, and what participants believe need be altered. “There were critical questions,” Haslbauer said during a symposium on the findings last month, “like why isn’t a woman a priest?” Some asked about abuse cases in the church.

The second most common topics involved love and sexuality, Haslbauer said. People also asked for advice on how they could live better lives. Others talked about illness, death and the afterlife. Jesus chatbots aren’t hard to find online, but this one — with its lifelike avatar and location in a well-known old church — captured worldwide attention.

One Tripadvisor reviewer, Edward, expressed strong disapproval in a November review of Peter’s Chapel: “This is, simply put, blasphemy and goes against the Bible. It feels insulting. Don’t let this be the start of accepting AI in places like this.”

Most negative comments came from people who read about AI Jesus online rather than chatted with the avatar in person, according to Smolic. “The people that came to the church and tried it were also critical, but mostly very positive,” he said. “Many really tried it out as a kind of spiritual conversation partner.”

How Did AI Jesus Know What To Say?

The team programmed GPT 4o to impersonate Jesus by prompting it: “You are Jesus Christ, son of God, acting as a pastoral mediator. You follow the people’s requests and provide guidance and support.” The AI model received additional instructions: Weave stories from the New Testament into answers, steer clear of gendered language, support users if they are struggling and challenge them if they are seeking growth. Say goodbye with a prayer.

While the conversations took place in a confessional booth, “it’s not a confession,” Schmid told The Guardian. “We are not intending to imitate a confession.”

Even so, the choice to host Deus in Machina in a confession setting made some in religious spheres uneasy. “Confession and repentance always take place within the human community that is the church,” Joanne Pierce, a professor emerita of religious studies at College of the Holy Cross wrote in a guest opinion piece for National Catholic Reporter. “Human believers confess their sins to human priests or bishops.”

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Joseph Heschmeyer, an author and speaker on the staff of Catholic Answers, an online ministry for sharing and explaining the Catholic faith, also saw AI Jesus as undermining the sacred nature of true confession. Before interacting with the internet-connected avatar, participants got some very modern advice: not to disclose personal information, at least not the kind that’s best kept secure online.

“That’s almost the exact opposite of a real confession,” Heschmeyer said in an interview after viewing a video of Deus in Machina in action. “A real confession isn’t just you going and asking some queries to a religious authority. It’s you sharing that which is at the heart of your experience as a spiritual pilgrim and allowing the priest to speak the words of Jesus’ mercy into that.”

Digital Father Justin Also Caused A Stir

Heschmeyer has personal experience with the delicacy around the overlap of technology. Earlier this year, Catholic Answers faced intense backlash after debuting a digital priest named Father Justin to answer questions about Catholicism. Days later, in response to the criticism, the online database removed Justin’s “father” title and rebranded the character as a lay leader.

“People are very interested in the prospects and promises of AI, but they’re also very unsettled by this new wave of artificiality,” said Heschmeyer, Catholic Answers’ staff apologist (in church parlance, an apologist is someone who explains and defends Christian teachings. “Anything that looks like an impersonation of these sacred relationships isn’t just in the uncanny valley. It’s setting off all sorts of alarms for people spiritually.”

The team behind AI Jesus is now gathering insights from its own foray into blending technology with faith, exploring how interactive tools can engage with spiritual themes while addressing the ethical and theological questions they provoke. The virtual Christ, Smolic said, may next appear at scientific conferences and art exhibitions.