Avatar leads cult in Germany using ChatGPT
During the summer, we invite you to find articles distributed this year on the site. Today an article originally published on 14/06/2023.
"I said to the artificial intelligence 'We're at the church convention, you're a preacher...what would a church service be like?'."
In St. Paul's Church, Fürth, Germany, the Protestant convention worship was led by an avatar, in front of more than 300 people.
At a church in Fuerth, Germany, a ChatGPT AI minister preached to more than 300 people who packed St. Paul's church for a service which included an AI-generated sermon, prayers and music. pic.twitter.com/fy6F5skre8
— Marie_AvgerSTEIN (@avgerstein) June 13, 2023
Jonas Simmerlein, theologian and philosopher from the University of Vienna created the 40 minutes of worship, consisting of a sermon, prayers and music, thanks to artificial intelligence.
"I designed this service - but in fact I rather accompanied it, because I would say that around 98% comes from the machine", he explains to Associated Press.
"I said to the artificial intelligence 'We're at the church convention, you're a preacher...what would a church service be like?'."
And the theologian believes that the religious service is "pretty solid". Others have a less positive feeling. This is the case of Heiderose Schmidt, who, curious beforehand, is finally disappointed.
"There was no heart or soul. The avatars showed no emotion, had no body language, and spoke so quickly and monotonously that it was very difficult for me to concentrate on what they were saying. But maybe it's different for the younger generation who grew up with it all."
Marc Jansen, a Lutheran pastor, is "positively surprised".
"In fact, I had imagined it would be worse. But I was positively surprised to see how well it worked," he admits.
MC
