A scholar of digital religion explains why the use of AI isn’t necessarily displacing religious leadership: It is the clergy who are helping with the programming, critical for its deployment.
An android called 'Kannon Mindar,' which preaches Buddhist sermons. Richard Atrero de Guzman/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesEarly in the summer of 2023, robots projected on a screen delivered sermons to about 300 congregants at St. Paul’s Church in Bavaria, Germany. Created by ChatGPT and Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian and philosopher from the University of Vienna, the experimental church service drew immense interest. The deadpan sermon delivery prompted many to doubt whether AI can really displace p