From Gutenberg and his printing press to The Salvation Army and the primary movie, the Church has a protracted tradition of using latest technology to spread the Gospel. Now, a congregation in Finland has taken the subsequent step on this journey, using AI tools to organise and conduct a worship service.
St Paul’s Church, situated within the Vallila neighbourhood of Helsinki, saw over 120 people attend its experimental service, which had been heavily advertised. Many worshippers got here from out of town, including several foreigners who didn’t speak Finnish, but desired to be a part of this latest experience.
The church is understood for its willingness to make use of novel approaches in its services, having incorporated screenings of soccer and ice hockey matches, in addition to holding dance and film festivals. After attending a conference on AI and religion, Rev Petja Kopperoinen was inspired to suggest using AI to conduct a service, receiving support from Rev Kari Kanala, the vicar at St Paul’s, and Bishop Teemu Laajasalo of Helsinki.
“Usually when people discuss AI, they’re talking about what AI can do in the long run. But the long run is now … AI can do all those things that folks think that it might probably possibly do in 10 years or so,” he said.
As well as using AI tools to compose the songs used, and write the sermon, it was also used to create avatars who took part within the service. Alongside the 2 pastors, AI created an avatar of former Finnish President Urho Kekkonen to read from the Old Testament, in addition to producing an exchange between Satan and Jesus. According to Kopperoinen, seeing himself onscreen speaking words he had never actually said felt “eerie”, The Associated Press reports.
Clergy and worshippers were still involved, singing hymns with live organ music between the AI elements. The response to the experiment from congregation members was generally positive, nevertheless, many appeared to feel that there was something lacking.
“It was pretty entertaining and fun, however it didn’t feel like a Mass or a service…It felt distant. I didn’t feel like they were talking to me,” Taru Nieminen told The Associated Press.
Rev Kanala agreed, saying, “The warmth of the people is what people need.”
While calling the service “interesting” and “different”, many worshippers found it confusing at times, with the AI’s speech patterns hard to follow. They also noted an absence of the spiritual depth that comes from human interaction.
“I did just like the songs. They were really catchy, although they lacked the form of soul the humans have,” student Jeera Pulkkinen said.
This need for the human elements makes it unlikely that AI will ever replace real people in carrying out worship, Kopperoinen says.
“It can’t be empathetic towards people. AI can’t really answer your questions in a spiritual way,” he said.
While Kopperoinen put clear guidelines in place, equivalent to not involving AI within the forgiveness of sins or performing the Eucharist on the Helsinki, he acknowledged that there are ethical and moral concerns around AI that must be explored.
He also said that any content created by AI must be fact-checked and edited by a human being to make sure it doesn’t contain anything false or harmful. Members of the church have also expressed concerns over the morality of using AI for entertainment considering its impact on the environment because of its intensive energy and water consumption.
Tom Stoneham, a University of York philosophy professor and an ethicist with the Center for Doctoral Training in Safe AI Systems within the UK, said that he believes that AI can only replace humans “where the function of the human is solely instrumental” equivalent to “in customer support situations”.
Stoneham said this is very true in a spiritual setting: “It’s that humanity that’s adding value to the situation.”
However, Anna Puzio, a researcher on ethics of technology on the University of Twente within the Netherlands, said that it’s vital for the Church to be involved in the event of AI.
That way, she says, it might probably help “shape these AI processes and develop AI and design it in a responsible way.”
