The church where in the confessional there is a hologram of Christ created by AI (VIDEO)

Theological questions are now added to the many ethical and philosophical dilemmas that already animate the debate on artificial intelligence. Anyone who goes to the Church of St. Peter in Lucerne, the oldest Catholic place of worship in the Swiss city, would be welcomed in the confessional by a hologram of Jesus himself created by Artificial Intelligence. The installation is the result of the collaboration between Marco Schmid, theologian of the parish, and Philipp Haslbauer and Aljosa Smolic, members of the Research Laboratory on Immersive Realities of the local university, and aims to stimulate a debate on the opportunities and risks associated with the use of AI in pastoral work.

The hologram welcomes the faithful with “peace be upon you”, say the Swiss media, and encourages him to discuss “whatever troubles your heart today”. “The title of the installation – ‘Deus in Machina’ – suggests divine omniscience and wisdom. It is deliberately provocative,” Schmid told the Swissinfo portal, “the curious who are furthest from the church are particularly likely to show great interest in exchanging ideas with an artificial intelligence Jesus”.

AI JESUS TAKES CONFESSIONS IN SWISS CHURCH

St. Peter’s Church in Lucerne introduced an AI-powered Jesus hologram for confessions.

Developed by theologians and computer scientists, the AI is trained on the New Testament and responds to questions in 100 languages.… pic.twitter.com/yFRu5zw0Vc

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal)
November 20, 2024

The program, explains a note, intends to encourage people “to think critically about the limits of technology in the religious sphere and taking advantage of the intimacy of a context such as the confessional”. There is therefore no penitential value in the confessions made to the virtual Christ, capable of speaking a hundred different languages.

The algorithm, Schmid said, was trained using sacred scriptures and theological texts found on the internet, leaving open the possibility that the biblical interpretations or spiritual advice offered are in conflict with the teachings of Jesus. In any case, he assured , “in all previous tests his answers respected the theological views of the Church of St. Peter.” Many Internet users have received the innovation badly, finding it offensive or grotesque, and the online debate is quite heated. But already Luce, the manga-style mascot of the Jubilee, which immediately became a meme reinterpreted by young Catholics in the most disparate guises, has demonstrated how the Church often knows how to look much further ahead than some of the faithful.