As the technology behind generative artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance, the use of AI has increased across a variety of societal sectors—including in the church. A Swiss church has even gone as far as to introduce worshippers to an AI Jesus.
At Peter’s Chapel, a Catholic church in Lucerne, Switzerland, worshippers were given the opportunity to step into a confession-style booth to have a conversation with Christ, or at least an artificial replication of him.
Dubbed “Deus in machina,” the installation was part of a social experiment.
Marco Schmid, a theologian with Peter’s Chapel, told The Guardian, “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.”
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The project was launched in August in partnership with a local university research lab, which was studying artificial and augmented reality experiences. After the concept of a confession booth emerged, the church deliberated about who should sit on the other side of the latticed window.
Eventually, they landed on Jesus.
The installation was made available 24 hours a day, and the AI Jesus spoke 100 different languages. Over the course of two months, worshippers were invited to step into the booth to ask the AI Jesus questions, although they were warned that the experience was not meant to be an actual confession and that they should avoid divulging personal information.
While the data from the experiment has not yet been made public, Schmid said that many of the people who interacted with the AI Jesus said it was a “spiritual experience.”
“So we can say they had a religiously positive moment with this AI Jesus,” Schmid said. “For me, that was surprising.”
Not everybody had positive feelings toward the experiment, though.
