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Hundreds of churchgoers attended a sermon directed by AI chatbot ChatGPT on Friday, June 9, at a Protestant church service in St. Paul’s Church in Fürth, Germany. The chatbot, present along with a Black pastor, was projected on a screen placed above the altar.
The chatbot told the churchgoers not to fear death and added:
"Dear friends, it is an honor for me to stand here and preach to you as the first artificial intelligence at this year's convention of Protestants in Germany."
The service was attended by more than 300 people and lasted 40 minutes, featuring music and prayers in addition to the sermon. Jonas Simmerlein, a 29-year-old theologian and philosopher at the University of Vienna used ChatGPT to host the church service.
However, the internet was quite astonished at the venture. One Twitter user asked if it was the future of religion:
"WE ARE AT END OF TIMES": The internet criticizes AI-directed sermon at a German church
Several outlets, including Fox News, reported the event, prompting netizens to comment on the tweet to express their opinion on the matter. Many conservative Christians did not welcome the idea of a sermon directed by artificial intelligence. They noted that in Bible, artificial intelligence has been labeled as "evil."
Some argued that a machine does not know the true essence of life and death, and hence, cannot deliver a sermon. Needless to say, people were not happy about it as they wrote that the end of humanity is near. One person even called it "blasphemous."
Artificial intelligence pastor told everyone to retain faith in Jesus
University of Vienna scholar Jonas Simmerlein shared that even though he conceived the service, he rather accompanied it while about 98% was executed by the machine. Jonas also requested the chatbot to implement prayers, psalms, as well as a concluding blessing in the sermon. He continued:
"I told the artificial intelligence ‘We are at the church congress, you are a preacher…what would a church service look like?’"
The 29-year-old added that ChatGPT ended up providing a pretty good church service. This artificial intelligence chatbot reportedly told everyone to leave their past behind, pay attention to the present, not be afraid of death, and maintain their faith in Jesus Christ.
The service was part of a popular biennial event called Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag, which takes place in Nuremberg near Fürth. It attracts a myriad of Christians.
