Ron Carpenter, a pastor, has introduced a new AI-driven app that allows users to have “1-on-1 personalized interactions” with an AI version of him at any time of the day or night. The app, which is called Ron Carpenter Ministries Advanced Archive, allows users to have questions answered and ask for ‘prayers.‘ The service is $ 49 a month and has produced mixed reactions.
Some have praised it as “epic” and “next level.” However, some have said it is impersonal or even heretical. The app promises that it will transcend traditional barriers of time and access. The description of the app claims “grows along with you, referencing past conversations, and personalizing responses.” Pastor Carpenter posted a video where he explains the app.
In the demonstration, Carpenter asks the app about prayer, After a brief pause the AI responds with a message about the importance of prayer, delivered in Carpenter’s voice: “Prayer is that intimate conversation with God where you can pour out your heart…” However many social media users have voiced their concerns with the product.
One user said, “The one thing the world will not be able to replicate in the AI age is the Holy Spirit.” Other users were less subtle, labeling it “heresy,” arguing that “AI can’t talk to God” and criticizing Carpenter for turning prayer into a “superficial self-help psycho babble farce”. Another user wrote Or, and hear me out, know your church and just let them call you or come by and visit you in person.”
Others brought attention to the large size of Carpenter’s Church, “[If] a pastor or elder cannot personally attend to the needs of their flock, “it’s either: 1. Your local congregation is too big, or 2. You and the elders are not using your time correctly.” Other Churches have also dabbled in AI. A Swiss church recently installed an artificially intelligent version of Jesus Christ that would be available for churchgoers to interact with in a confessional booth.
The invention called “Deus in Machina” was recently unveiled at Peter’s Chapel, a Catholic church in Lucerne, Switzerland as part of a social experiment in coordination with a local university research institution. Marco Schmid, a theologian with Peter’s Chapel shed light on the motivations behind the AI rendering of Christ. “We wanted to see and understand how people react to an AI Jesus. What would they talk with him about? Would there be interest in talking to him? We’re probably pioneers in this,” he said.
Reportedly, people were encouraged to enter the confessional booth and interact with the AI Jesus as if it were a real confession. The installation was available over two months 24 hours a day. While findings from the experiment have not been released, Schmid claimed it was a “spiritual experience” for those who participated in it. “So we can say they had a religiously positive moment with this AI Jesus,” he explained. “For me, that was surprising.”
However, not everyone reacted to the AI installation with optimism. “God’s law cannot be broken,” one person posted on X. “AI is a threat to humanity, and the Swiss church must not allow Jesus as a chatbot. This highlights the need for careful judgment and adherence to spiritual teachings in the face of advancing technology. As it says in the Bible, ‘For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect’ (Matthew 24:24).”