Pulpit Fiction: Can ChatGPT help you find God?
AI is transforming virtually every aspect of our lives. Why not religion?
Robot priest delivering a sermon. Source: Midjourney.
It seems even holy men and women are feeling a little technology-induced job insecurity these days. As Jesus famously declared, 'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and just leave everything else to AI.' [1]
Can AI replace the human at the pulpit? Jay Cooper, pastor of Violet Crown City Church in Austin, put that question to the test. Last month he asked ChatGPT to compose an entire service for his congregation, then recorded it and posted the video to YouTube.
The AI portion kicks in around 10 minutes into the 55-minute video. [2]
Cooper asked: "Can God receive our prayer through artificial intelligence?... Because if we can experience the sacred in something like AI, then maybe we can see it in that neighbor who has political beliefs we just cannot stand."
A truly noble (and ambitious) aim. But in the end, Cooper decided that AI didn't have what it took to herd the souls of his flock toward their final reward. As he told Fox News later:
I always thought Sunday was God's day off. Whatever happened to 'on the 7th day He rested'?
Kudos to Cooper for embracing modernity. I suspect he is pastor of probably the grooviest Methodist parish in all of Texas [3]. And he's not the only ambassador to the afterlife to give Gen AI a turn at the lectern. Last December, Rabbi Joshua Franklin delivered a two-minute interpretation of the Parashat Vayigash [4] to his temple in East Hampton, New York, before revealing that it was written by ChatGPT.
As the audience applauded, Franklin said, "You're clapping. But I'm terrified."
In fact, religious organizations using AI have become so common that a website called Missional Marketing [5] offers a 10-step guide on how to use the technology to organize events, raise money, and "generate Christian literature."
To sermon with love
I can see why our holy role models are a little jittery. Generative AI does a pretty fair job of imitating the norms of religious practice without the need to attend theology school or pass the collection basket.
For example: I asked ChatGPT to write "a fire and brimstone evangelical style sermon about the dangers of AI," and boy did it deliver. Here's a snippet of the final result [6]:
Couldn't have said it better myself.
I asked Google Bard to compose a prayer asking our heavenly father to save us from the dangers of AI. Here's a portion of that one:
I may have this done up in needlepoint and hung above my desk.
PrAIse Be
The embrace of AI is not restricted to western religion. A Google software engineer in India named Sukuru Sai Vineet created Gita GPT, a generative AI engine based on ChatGPT-3 and the 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gita. Ask it a question, and it will deliver an answer based on the Hindu scripture.
I asked Gita GPT how I could use AI to become a more enlightened individual. Here's one of the responses.
Bing got the job of composing a prayer in the style of the Koran about not putting too much faith in technology. Here's its response:
Finally, I turned to Claude for wisdom on what The Buddha would say about AI. Not surprisingly, the big guy had some good advice about not relying on technology to solve human problems.
Ministers of information
None of this should come as a surprise. Religion has always been pretty adept at adapting to new technology, despite hundreds of millions of practitioners adhering to a world view unchanged since early humans first crawled out of their caves.
Remember: Gutenberg invented the printing press to make it easier to distribute copies of the Bible [7]. Since then, religion has absorbed and mastered radio, TV, and the Internet in its quest to spread the word among humans. Its embrace of AI is utterly inevitable.
What new technological marvel will world religions embrace next? God only knows.
Would you trust a robot to provide spiritual advice? Offer your thoughts and prayers in the comments below.
[1] Or something along those lines. The historical record (word of mouth+clay tablets+multiple translations+a little creative editing) is a bit fuzzy on the details.
[2] And no, I didn't watch the whole thing either. But at least I watched some of it.
[3] The service also offered gluten-free communion wafers and juice instead of wine for teetotalers.
[4] A section of the Torah about two bickering brothers. Think Eli and Peyton Manning but with side curls.
[5] Its motto is "Church growth starts with a click." Nope, not kidding.
[6] It really helps if you read it to yourself in the voice of actor Walton Goggins (aka Boyd Crowder from "Justified").
[7] Instantly putting thousands of monastic scriveners out of work. No wonder so many turned to brewing beer.
So I went into this with as open a mind as possible. When it comes to writing, I do everything I can to avoid AI. However, I'm not someone who shuts his mind off completely as to what AI is capable of doing. For analytics, great. For translating ancient texts, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, or the clay tablets found at a dig in what was once Mesopotamia, I think it would be a great service to Mankind. For helping surgeon's in the operating room, brilliant! AI is not something that should be dismissed out of hand because the average person's idea of it relates back to Science Fiction. There's so much more it can do. I still firmly believe that it will take a few more years before it can conquer fiction, though. You can feed in as much Hemingway, or Faulkner, or Shakespeare and Tolstoy you want, I don't believe AI is going to write convincingly enough because it does not share the simplest of needs when it comes to writing, and that is human emotion. I'd be curious as to how well it can critique a piece of literature written by someone like a Tolstoy, and then compare it with a high school student's Creative Writing project. Will it see the difference?
Dan, I asked ChatGPT what it thought of your essay. It LIKED it! Here's his answer. (Yes, ChatGPT IS A MALE.)
"It's an intriguing piece that touches on the intersection of AI and religion, and how AI is impacting the way religious teachings and practices are being approached in the modern world.
"The main theme seems to be exploring the limits and potentials of AI in religious and spiritual contexts. The article highlights how religious leaders and practitioners have experimented with AI, like ChatGPT, to engage with religious texts, deliver sermons, and even interpret scriptures. Yet, despite AI's capabilities, there remains a fundamental question about the depth, authenticity, and soulfulness of AI-generated religious content.
"Here are a few key takeaways:
"Experimentation: Religious leaders are open to using AI as a tool, as seen with Pastor Jay Cooper and Rabbi Joshua Franklin. They're using AI to generate content, but there's still a human filter to evaluate its relevance and authenticity.
"Diverse Applications: AI's application isn't limited to one religion. From Christianity to Judaism, and even Hinduism, religious practitioners are using AI to interact with and interpret sacred texts.
"Skepticism & Fear: Despite its potential, there's evident skepticism and even fear about AI's role in religious practices. As Rabbi Franklin's response suggests, the idea of AI seamlessly blending into religious practices can be unsettling for some.
"AI's Limitations: AI can mimic the style and content of religious teachings, but it lacks the depth of understanding, personal experiences, and spiritual insights that human religious leaders bring to their congregations.
"Adaptation & Evolution: Religion's history of adapting to new technologies, from the printing press to the internet, suggests that its interaction with AI is a natural progression. However, the depth of this integration and its implications remain to be seen.
"The piece provides a thought-provoking perspective on the evolving relationship between technology and spirituality. It underscores the idea that while AI can be a tool in the realm of religion, the essence of spirituality lies in human experiences, introspection, and connections."
THERE YA GO!