FUERTH, Germany (AP) — In the fully packed St. Paul's church in the Bavarian town of Fuerth, an artificial intelligence chatbot entreated the congregation to rise from their seats and offer praise to the Lord. The ChatGPT chatbot, embodied by an avatar portraying a bearded black man on a massive screen above the altar, proceeded to deliver a sermon to the over 300 attendees who had gathered on Friday morning for an experimental Lutheran church service primarily generated by AI.
Addressing the congregation with an impassive
visage and a monotonous voice, the avatar began, "Esteemed friends, it is
my privilege to stand before you and preach as the first artificial
intelligence at this year's convention of Protestants in Germany." The
entire 40-minute service, comprising the sermon, prayers, and music, was
crafted collaboratively by ChatGPT and Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian and
philosopher affiliated with the University of Vienna.
"I conceptualized this service, but in
truth, I mostly accompanied it, as approximately 98% of its content originated
from the machine," shared the 29-year-old scholar with The Associated
Press.
The Protestant convention in the Bavarian towns
of Nuremberg and Fuerth featured numerous events, including an AI church
service that attracted significant attention. Prior to its commencement, a
lengthy queue formed outside the 19th-century neo-Gothic building,
demonstrating the immense interest it generated.
Known as Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag in
German, the convention, held every two years, brings together tens of thousands
of believers from around Germany to engage in prayer, song, and discussions
about faith. The attendees also tackle pressing global issues, such as global
warming and the war in Ukraine. This year's gathering, held from Wednesday to
Sunday, adopted the theme "Now is the time." The congregation
explored solutions to key challenges, including artificial intelligence.
The sermon for the AI church service was
developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence language
model. Dr. Simmerlein, the creator, requested the inclusion of psalms, prayers,
and a final blessing. To his surprise, the experiment resulted in a remarkably
coherent church service.
During the service, artificial intelligence
preached about leaving the past behind, focusing on present challenges,
overcoming the fear of death, and maintaining unwavering trust in Jesus Christ.
Four different avatars, two young women and two young men, "led" the
entire service on the screen.
At times, the AI-generated avatars
unintentionally elicited laughter, particularly when they used platitudes and
deadpan expressions and emphasized the importance of regular prayer and church
attendance to maintain faith. Some attendees enthusiastically recorded the
event on their cell phones, while others viewed it more critically and
refrained from participating vocally during the Lord's Prayer.
Heiderose Schmidt, a 54-year-old IT
professional, initially felt excitement and curiosity when the service began
but gradually found it disconcerting. She felt that the avatars lacked heart,
soul, and emotional expression, delivering their messages rapidly and
monotonously, making it challenging for her to concentrate.
Marc Jansen, a 31-year-old Lutheran pastor,
brought a group of teenagers from his congregation to witness the AI church
service. He was impressed by the experiment, although he felt it lacked the
emotional and spiritual elements that he considers essential when crafting his
own sermons.
Anna Puzio, a 28-year-old technology ethics
researcher, also attended the service and acknowledged the potential benefits
of AI in religion. She noted the opportunity to make religious services more
accessible and inclusive for believers who, for various reasons, may be unable
to attend physical gatherings. However, she cautioned against the dangers of AI
in religion, emphasizing the need to ensure diverse Christian perspectives are
represented and to prevent the misuse of AI to propagate a single viewpoint.
Simmerlein clarified that his aim is not to
replace religious leaders with artificial intelligence but rather to aid them
in their daily responsibilities. Similar to how pastors seek inspiration from
literature, they can turn to AI for sermon ideas. Moreover, AI can expedite the
process of writing sermons, allowing pastors to devote more time to offering
individual spiritual guidance to their parishioners.
Simmerlein believes that as artificial
intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into various aspects of our lives,
it is crucial to learn how to effectively engage with it.
Nonetheless, the AI church service experiment
also shed light on the constraints associated with integrating artificial
intelligence into religious settings. In contrast to a human pastor, the
chatbot proved incapable of reacting to laughter or other responses from the
congregation, emphasizing its inability to foster authentic interaction and
grasp the distinct dynamics of a particular community.