Hundreds of German Protestant church members gathered in Bavaria for a service that was almost completely made up of artificial intelligence. The ChatGPT bot apparently guided more than 300 attendees through 40 minutes of music, prayer, blessings, and sermons, according to The Journal.
The service was put together by ChatGPT and Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian and philosopher from the University of Vienna. “I conceived this service – but actually I rather accompanied it, because I would say about 98% comes from the machine,” he explained.
The bot reportedly had an expressionless display and monotonous voice as it announced: “Dear friends, it is an honour for me to stand here and preach to you as the first artificial intelligence at this year’s convention of Protestants in Germany.” But there were many people who were excited to see the development, as The Journal reported that there was a long line of people waiting outside the neo-Gothic building before the service began.
The service was apparently part of a convention, called Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag, which happens every two years in the summer. The convention moves around Germany and generally draws “tens of thousands of believers,” per the report. The convention also touched on sensitive issues, including the war in Ukraine, global warming, and artificial intelligence.
The AI-led service had the attention of its congregation, as the message preached was about leaving the past behind, focusing on the new challenges that are ahead, and never losing trust in Jesus Christ. The service was apparently led by four different avatars on the screen: two men and two women.
The Journal reported that the service was not without laughter, as the AI used platitudes and told the attendees in a deadpan expression that they must keep the faith, and that “we must pray and go to church regularly.”
While some were enthusiastic about the event, there were others who were not too keen on the AI’s leading of the service. Heiderose Schmidt, a 54-year-old who works in IT, said that she was initially intrigued by the idea, but quickly discovered that it was not for her.
“There was no heart and no soul. The avatars showed no emotions at all, had no body language and were talking so fast and monotonously that it was very hard for me to concentrate on what they said.”
She added, “But maybe it is different for the younger generation who grew up with all of this.”
