Artificial Intelligence Leads Church Service In Germany
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BERLIN (Worthy News) – Hundreds of Protestant Christians in southeastern Germany have attended a church service that was nearly entirely generated by artificial intelligence (AI) despite warnings the invention could destroy humanity.
Friday’s AI church service was among hundreds of events at the convention of Protestants in the towns of Nuremberg and neighboring Fuerth in the German state of Bavaria.
Witnesses said it drew such immense interest that people formed a long queue outside the 19th-century, neo-Gothic St. Paul Church in Fuerth an hour before it began.
The ChatGPT chatbot led more than 300 people through 45 minutes of prayer, music, sermons, and blessings.
Instead of a human pastor, worshipers saw avatars, artificially generated persons in human form, projected onto a screen.
Female and man avatars, including those personified by a black-bearded black man and a white woman, preached and led the congregation in worship and prayer. Some worshipers appeared uncomfortable when the “Our Father” prayer was said.
AI MUSIC
Even the music between the individual elements was composed by artificial intelligence.
Without being prompted, the participants stood up for the confession of faith and the blessing. “They also said prayers and psalms as far as they could follow the speaking speed of the AI,” organizers noticed.
However, some Christians could be heard saying about the avatar: “I would have expected her to raise her hands in blessing,” which were instead waist-deep on the screen and arms down at all times.
The gathering came shortly after last month, hundreds of well-known people in the world of artificial intelligence signed an open letter warning that AI could one day destroy humanity.
“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks, such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the one-sentence statement said.
Christian leaders have also expressed concerns saying pastors should be inspired and led by the Holy Spirit rather than AI.
MORE CONCERNS
Earlier, more than 1,000 technologists and researchers signed another open letter calling for a six-month pause on developing the largest AI.
They cited concerns about “an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds.”
That letter, organized by the AI-focused nonprofit group the Future of Life Institute, was signed by Elon Musk and other well-known tech leaders.
It did not have many signatures from leading AI laboratories.
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