Religion and AI: 1/4 Brits say they would take spiritual advice from a robot priest

According to a research, a quarter of UK adults say they would be comfortable taking spiritual advice from an artificial inteligence priest. The findings of a survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Premier’s The Big Conversation have been released ahead of the second episode of the new series.

With this and others studies, experts in the technological area are discussing and studying the possibility if Artificial Intelligence could be the key to human immortality and become conscious one day.

In the face of this work, experts are trying to extend this technology to the spiritual area by developing many AI robot replicas of a priest so people can ask for and receive from them them spiritual advice . 

Nick Bostrom, the author of Superintelligence and Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University goes head-to-head with Rosalind Picard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor, as they explore whether computer machines could become conscious one day, what if we’re all living in a Matrix-like simulation created by some godlike alien technology as well as some of the many spiritual questions raised by AI.

Picard, who leads research developing AI/machine learning and analytics to improve human health and wellbeing at MIT and approaches AI through the lenses of what she describes as a Christian worldview, reveals she “likes the idea of a superintelligence out there able to change things in our world” but argues the weight of evidence sits in favour of the God of the Bible as being that source, as opposed to “some other thing out there”.

Host Justin Brierley said: “This is a truly fascinating debate with two brilliant guests who address the topic from a Christian and non-Christian perspective. Interestingly, in a recent survey conducted by Savanta ComRes for Premier Christian Radio, one in five of those polled said they believed we are living in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) simulation. ‘Simulation’ refers to a representation of the real world that seems real to the individual but is in fact, not real.

A quarter of those surveyed said they would be willing to take spiritual advice from an AI robot replica of a priest instead of a human Priest.  So, whilst this may have seemed like something from a Sci Fi movie just a few years ago, many are now beginning to give the whole subject serious consideration.

“As we get more used to asking Alexa or Google for answers to everyday questions, perhaps it’s no surprise that people are increasingly open to the idea of asking an Artificial Intelligence for spiritual advice. It’s clear that a younger generation are even more likely to see that as an option. 
 
“However, I hope we don’t lose the human touch of the local priest, vicar or church minister. A robot in a dog-collar may be able to say a prayer for you or administer the last rites, but does an AI algorithm really care about your soul?”

Artificial Intelligence and spirituality

There are many religious comminuties thinking about this topic more than you can imagine. In the Buddhist religion, a new robot priest named Mindar is delivering spiritual advise at Kodaiji, a 400-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan.

Although this robot priest is not AI-powered, it can recites the same preprogrammed sermons but its creators say they plan to give it machine-learning capabilities that’ll enable it to tailor feedback to worshippers’ specific spiritual and ethical problems.

“This robot will never die; it will just keep updating itself and evolving. With AI, we hope it will grow in wisdom to help people overcome even the most difficult troubles. It’s changing Buddhism,” said Tensho Goto, the temple’s chief steward. 

There is no doubt that the constant work with technology has brought many answers to human problems; However, trying to give AI the power to replace God’s original plan could get this world into a dangerous ground.  May God have mercy and give experts wisdom from heaven for His will to be done.

 

Source: Premier.Christian News