A church in Switzerland has stirred up controversy with an art installation in its confessional booth featuring an AI-powered avatar of Jesus.
According to a report from the Associated Press, Peter's Chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland, released the findings from a two-month study in which an avatar of Jesus on a computer screen sat in a confessional booth, fielding questions on morality, faith, and other topics. It offered responses based on scripture.
"What was really interesting (was) to see that the people really talked with him in a serious way. They didn't come to make jokes," said chapel theologian and project leader Marco Schmid. Schmid also noted that the installation was intended to get people thinking about "the intersection between the digital and the divine," per the AP, and not meant to substitute for actual human interaction or confession with a priest.
"For the people it was clear that it was a computer. ... It was clear it was not a confession," Schmid said. "He wasn't programmed to give absolutions or prayers. At the end, it was more summary of the conversation."
Philipp Haslbauer of the University of Lucerne handled the technical side of the project, using a GPT-4o engine from OpenAI.
Not everyone was thrilled with the project, however.
"If you read comments on the internet about it, some are very negative — which is scary," Haslbauer said.
AI remains a controversial topic for a number of reasons. On the surface level, engines like Google's Gemini have a habit of coming up with responses that range from terrifying to just plain wrong on a pretty frequent basis.
But even moving beyond the incorrect answers, AI engines and algorithms use a profound amount of power, which very often comes from dirty energy sources like coal, oil, or gas, thus contributing to the overheating of our planet.
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For Schmid, the results of the Catholic chapel's project were fascinating, and he noted the technology could make a return at some point.
"For us, it was also clear it was just a limited time that we will expose this Jesus," he said. "We are discussing ... how we could revive him again."
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