ChatGPT as a German priest – First service held by KI

ChatGPT does not stop at religion either. (Image: AdobeStock – Paul)

At first glance, technology and faith do not have much in common in everyday life. Nevertheless, it happens that the two areas intersect. For example at the German Church Day.

Last Friday, over 300 people gathered for an experimental service at St. Paul’s Church in Fürth, Bavaria, to witness an unusual premiere:

Because the AI-based chatbot ChatGPT wrote and presented the service there. According to the Kirchentag’s website, the sermon was around 45 minutes long and was delivered by avatars on a screen. Allegedly, only 2 percent of the texts were not generated by the AI.

Monotonous in the future of faith

The service was performed as part of the German Evangelical Church Congress – a biennial event in Germany that draws tens of thousands of participants.

The church was filled to capacity. (Image: AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

The idea for this extraordinary service came from Jonas Simmerlein, theologian and philosopher at the University of Vienna. He commissioned ChatGPT to write the service and oversaw the entire process.

The service focused on themes such as letting go of the past and overcoming the fear of death.

Opinions are divided

Reactions to the AI-led service were mixed. One or the other preacher avatar had to put up with the occasional laughter. This was probably mainly due to the emotionless presentation and the monotonous voice.

Jonas SIMmerlein, theologian and philosopher from the University of Vienna. He started the project. (Image: AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

The experimental, AI-controlled service drew so much interest that a long line formed outside the church an hour before it began.

Some community members, such as 54-year-old IT professional Heiderose Schmidt, found the avatar’s lack of emotion and fast, monotonous speech off-putting (via apknews):

Others, like 31-year-old Lutheran pastor Marc Jansen, had a more positive view:

The Dutch Anna Puzio, who also attended the service, thinks that artificial intelligence can benefit religion. But she also warns of danger:

What was the intention behind the experiment?

Simmerlein emphasizes that his intention was not to replace religious leaders. Instead, he wants to use AI as a tool that could help them.

For example, AI could provide ideas for upcoming sermons or speed up the sermon-writing process to give ministers more time for individual spiritual direction.

The danger: As future clergy use language models to guide their sermon writing, parishioners may unintentionally hear novel interpretations of religious teachings, as AIs are far from flawless.

Meanwhile, James Vincent, senior editor at tech magazine The Verge, draws attention to possible problems that AI church services could cause in the future:

link to Twitter content

Simmerlein is aware of the danger. Nevertheless, he is convinced that you should learn how to use artificial intelligence early on:

How would you feel if your preacher or other people in your life were replaced by AI? For example, teachers and professors. Or just the boss? Write us your opinions in the comments!