ChatGPT became a parish priest and left a very good feeling in this German church.
The AI was trained by a theologian and philosopher to include various psalms, prayers and a final blessing in the mass. Image: Bing
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The possibilities it offers ChatGPT they are countless, and every week we are discovering new ways in which AI can help us in our daily lives. With this idea in mind, Jonas Simmerleintheologian and philosopher of the University of Vienna, started with a curious project to transfer AI to the religious world. The experiment has gone incredibly well.
Simmerlein was one of the assistants of a massive event in Germany known as the “Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag” (Congress of the German Evangelical Church). These are conferences that are held every two years in which dozens of Protestant churches They organize masses for thousands of parishioners, and this year they have had the presence of a very special parish priest: ChatGPT. The St Paul’s Churchin the city of Fürth, has gone down in history for being the first to organize a sermon and a mass officiated by an artificial intelligenceand the results have been better than many people expected.
⛪️ An AI-led church service took place in Germany, drawing hundreds of attendees.
ChatGPT led the unique service, which included prayers, music, and sermons. pic.twitter.com/qh1oVv2jAk
— Adept (@AdeptoAI) June 11, 2023
the sermon lasted about 40 minutes and included text generated with ChatGPT and narrated by two different AI-generated avatars, two men and two women. During the mass, the AI talked about the importance of leaving the past behind and forgiving, in addition to reflecting on the fear of death. The chatbot was previously trained by Simmerlein, who was in charge of organize the different topics with which the AI would preach. The theologian indicated that he wanted psalms, prayers and a final blessing in the sermon, and the AI passed with flying colors.
ChatGPT is my shepherd, I lack nothing
AP News picked up on the story and collected the testimonies of some parishioners who had come to mass. Many of the attendees were surprised with the fluidity and cadence with which the AI was able to conduct the mass, and even the members of the ecclesiastical community themselves praised the performance of ChatGPT. This is how he told his experience Marc Jansena young Lutheran pastor from Troisdorf:
“I had imagined much worse. However, I was positively surprised at how well it worked. Also, the AI language was very consistent, although there was still a bit of a hitch at times.”
There was also the other side of the coin, and there were people who I didn’t end up too happy when he left the church. A group of parishioners claimed that the sermon had been irregular, run over and “devoid of soul”.
Jonas Simmerlein was very happy with the results obtained, but he is clear that AI can never replace a priest. The theologian says that ChatGPT can be a fantastic tool for parish priests to get ideas for new sermons, but that can never take the place of a person in front of a community of faithful.
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