Religious chatbots and other faith-based digital tools provide advice, comfort and spiritual guidance in an age of rapidly transforming socialization and engagement.
One app called Text with Jesus has thousands of payment subscribers. It allows people to ask questions to Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and almost 12 apostles, on the surface.
The idea is to educate, said Stephane Peter, CEO of Catloaf Software, who created the app.
“This is a new way to address religious issues in an interactive way,” he told AFP.
The app makes it clear that it uses AI, but Virtual Moses and Jesus are not aware of it when they ask a particular question. Peter said that GPT-5, the latest version of ChatGpt, is GPT-5, which is based on the text with Jesus, follows the instructions more than previous iterations. It's also good to stay with the character that should be expected, and you can more strongly deny that it's a bot. He said many people consider the app to be derogatory, but it still gets good ratings on the App Store – 4.7 out of 5.7.
An online ministry Catholic response said he had a taste of how sensitive this was when he launched animated AI character “Father Justin” last year.
“A lot of people were upset about using priestly characters,” said Christopher Costello, director of the department's information technology department.
A few days later, the Catholic answer stripped the avatar of the title and simply made Justin.
“We don't want to replace humans. We just want to help,” Costello said.
There is no “heart and spirit”
Other major religions include similar apps such as Dean Badi for Islam, Veda Ai for Hinduism, and AI Buddha. Most bills charge themselves as an interface to the Bible, not as an incarnation of actual holiness.
Nika, a 28-year-old Filipino who belongs to the Church of England, said she uses ChatGpt to study the Bible almost every day, even if the pastor wanted her to stop.
“I think it's an added layer,” said Nika, who refused to give her last name.
“I'm in the Christian community, and my husband and I have a spiritual leader. That means I sometimes have random ideas about the Bible and I want an answer right away.”
Despite some of these apps being downloaded millions of times, not many people are allowed to use AI assistants due to religious issues.
“People who want to believe in God may not ask the chatbot. They should talk to people who believe too,” said a woman named Emmanuela when she left St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
Rabbi Gira Langner said there are many interpretations of the harahah – a collection of religious laws derived from the Torah, a Jewish scripture. The Jews need other Jews in their insights and perspectives to connect them to their traditions of faith, she said.
“I don't think I'll really get that from AI. It can be very subtle, but there's a lack of emotional connection,” Langner told AFP.
AI can feel that people are “isolated and not organically connected to living traditions.”
For them, the Christian community does not completely reject AI.
Peter says he spoke to members of the clergy and they agreed that AI could be a tool to educate people.
Last year, Pope Francis named Demis Hassabis, co-founder of AI Research Lab Google Deepmind, to serve at the Vatican Academy of Sciences.
And just as much in society experiments with artificial intelligence, clergy also experiments.
In November 2023, Rev. J. Cooper, of Violet Crown City Church in Austin, Texas, gave an overall sermon to the AI assistant. He warned the parishioners in advance.
“Some people were surprised and they said we were now an AI church,” Cooper said. However, he added that the service invited people who normally did not attend churches, particularly video game enthusiasts.
Cooper said he has looked into other ways to integrate AI into his church, but has not repeated the AI sermon.
“I'm glad we did it,” he said, “but it missed the heart and spirit of what we normally do.”
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