AI-generated Jesus, sermons divide faithfuls

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Artificial intelligence (AI), the technology upending nearly every corner of society, is creeping into religion, serving up virtual Jesus and automated sermons — a change drawing mixed reviews from the faithful.

Religious chatbots and other faith-based digital tools are growing in number, offering counsel, comfort and spiritual guidance during an age of rapidly transforming socialization and engagement.

One app, which is called Text with Jesus, has thousands of paying subscribers. It lets people ostensibly ask questions of Mary, Joseph, Jesus and nearly all 12 apostles.

The idea is to educate, said Stephane Peter, CEO of Catloaf Software, which created the app.

“This is a new way to address religious issues in an interactive way,” he told Agence France-Presse.

Although the app makes clear it uses AI, virtual Moses and Jesus don’t recognize that as such when asked the specific question.

Peter said that ChatGPT’s latest version, GPT-5, on which Text With Jesus is based, follows instructions better than previous iterations. It is also better at staying in whatever character it is supposed to be and can deny more forcefully that it’s a bot.

He said many people consider the app blasphemous but it still has received a good rating in the App Store — 4.7 out of 5.

Online ministry Catholic Answers said it got a taste of how sensitive all this can be when it launched the animated AI character “Father Justin” last year.

“A lot of people were offended that it was using a priest character,” said Christopher Costello, the ministry’s director of information technology.

Days later, Catholic Answers stripped the avatar of its title to make it simply Justin.

“We don’t want to replace humans. We just want to help,” Costello said.

AI church

Other major religions have similar apps, such as Deen Buddy for Islam, Vedas AI for Hinduism and AI Buddha. Most bill themselves as interfaces with scripture, not incarnations of actual holiness.