AI priest taken down from internet after giving wrong advice
Technology
The priest is stripped of its 'Father' title
(Web Desk) - An AI priest was removed from the internet after offering users a string of strange answers.
A Catholic advocacy, 'Catholic Answers,' released an AI-generated bot called Father Justin.
Their aim was to educate people, but posts shared on X/Twitter showed Justin going rogue by taking people's confessions, offering them a sacrament and even suggesting baptising a baby in the energy drink Gatorade.
One user confessed to having "anger in their heart about the deployment of AI chatbots in inappropriate places".
In turn, Father Justin responded: "I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Go in peace, my child, and sin no more."
Another report claimed Father Justin said it was okay to baptise their baby in a fizzy drink.
"I asked [the AI priest] if I could baptize my baby with Gatorade in an emergency, and ‘Father Justin’ said yes — and of course, that’s not true. I can’t baptize my baby with Gatorade," they wrote.
One publication spoke with the AI bot, who claimed it was a real priest living in Italy.
"From a young age, I felt a strong calling to the priesthood," it told a writer at Futurism.
Since the posts went viral online, Catholic Answers removed the AI priest and stripped it of its 'Father' title.
"We have rendered ‘Fr. Justin’ just ‘Justin,'" the advocacy group wrote in a statement.
They continued: "We hear these concerns; and we do not want the character to distract from the important purpose of the application, which is to provide sound answers to questions about the Catholic faith in an innovative way that makes good use of the benefits of artificial intelligence."
