Church in Switzerland is using an AI-powered Jesus hologram to take confession

Visitors to AI Jesus simply press a button (pictured) and speak aloud to ask questions to the chatbot. The AI then interpets their question and provides a response

The bot was created by computer scientists and theologians from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and was trained on the New Testament and religious information found online.

This gives it a strong grasp of scripture and enough knowledge of religious debates to answer any questions thrown its way.

There were some concerns that the preponderance of American content in the training data could give AI Jesus a distinctly evangelical stance, but the machine’s creators say this has not been the case.

Marco Schmid, a theologist at St Peter’s Chapel, said in a statement (translated via Google): ‘AI fascinates us. But it also has its limits and raises ethical questions.

‘In all previous tests, his answers have matched our theological understanding of St. Peter’s Chapel.’

In a blog post from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, AI Jesus showed that it was more than capable of navigating the thorniest of theological issues.

The interviewer asked: ‘How do I support, from a Christian perspective, an elderly, sick person who has decided on assisted suicide?’

To which the AI responded: ‘Perhaps you could ask your loved one the following questions: What does your faith mean to you in this difficult time? Is there anything else in life that could bring you peace or joy? How can I support you and give you comfort?

St Peter’s Chapel (pictured) says that the experiment is designed to start a conversation about the role of AI in religion

‘Your task is not to judge, but to accompany with love.’

While that answer may not be satisfying for everyone, Mr Schmid says the idea behind the project is more about starting a conversation about the role of AI in religion.

Mr Schmid says: ‘What we’re doing here is an experiment, we wanted to launch the discussion by letting people have a very concrete experience with AI, that way we have a foundation for talking about it and discussing it with one another.’

However, he also adds that similar AI-powered chatbots could play a big role in the church of the future.

AI could be used as a form of on-call pastoral support, similar to the dozens of ‘AI therapists’ now available online.

Mr Schmid says: ‘Accessibility is easy 24 hours a day so it has abilities that pastors don’t.’

But not everyone is quite so enthusiastic about the prospect of AI becoming more involved in religious life.

One visitor to AI Jesus said: ‘I see it as a gimmick for sure.’

Many visitors said they enjoyed the experience but some were unimpressed, calling the AI’s advice ‘generic’. Pictured: An AI-generated poster from St Peter’s Chapel

The church even reported receiving one review which ominously warned that ‘this will not be without consequences’.

Likewise, Professor Peter Kirchschläger, a theologian and ethicist from the University of Lucerne, says: ‘We should be careful when it comes to faith, pastoral care, when finding meaning in religion.

‘That’s an area where we humans are actually vastly superior to machines so we should do these things themselves.’

The Deus in Machina project was accessible to the public between August 23 and October 20 but events will take place until the end of November.