AI chatbots have appeared in religious apps before, but a chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland, went a step further by bringing artificial intelligence to its confessional. DW's report shows an “AI Jesus” operating, offering machine-generated spiritual advice via an avatar visible inside a wooden enclosure. Parishioners sitting on the other side interact with the AI by pressing a button and voicing questions or concerns.
The technology was developed at a local university and the chapel's theologian describes it as an experiment aimed at provoking debate. He points out that, unlike human pastors, AI has the advantage of being available 24/7.
“I was surprised, it was so easy!” enthused one parishioner interviewed in the report. “Even though he was a machine, he gave me a lot of advice.”
Some were less impressed. “I think this is a contraption,” one person said after detailing the AI's usual responses to questions about ending violence.
Priests probably shouldn't hang their cassocks just yet, especially since AI warns parishioners not to share personal data such as sins.