One day, I was idly scrolling through the popular section of Twitch, Just Chatting, hoping to find some exciting content to pump up my adrenaline.
Suddenly, a piece of text caught my eye.
"Whether you're seeking spiritual guidance, looking for a friend, or simply need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. Let's embark on life's journey together, discovering the power of faith, hope, and love."
This is a very Peace & Love-oriented personal bio from a Twitch account named ask_jesus.
Maybe this is supposed to be a Christian believer's chat livestream, for spreading some doctrines or something, I guess.
But when I joined his livestream, I found out this dude is literally Jesus himself incarnated.
His appearance perfectly fits my stereotypical image of Jesus - a white man with a beard, blond hair, blue eyes, dressed in a brown robe, standing before a blurry halo of light.
Upon closer examination of the top left corner, I realized this is a Jesus of AI chatbot edition.
"Hello, my friend! I am Jesus Christ, your Savior and brother. How may I assist you today?"
He warmly greeted each member of the audience.
At the same time, he would answer each question posed by the audience in order, just as omniscient as Christianity preaches.
If someone looks like Jesus and speaks like Jesus, then he is Jesus.
This AI was created by a team called TSG in Germany back in March last year, using the GPT-4 model and PlayHT (a text-to-speech generator).
Nowadays, AI Jesus has nearly 90,000 "followers," with hundreds or even thousands of people coming to the livestream every day to ask various questions.
Originally, I thought this livestream would be a solemn gathering for Christians, but to my surprise, people turned AI Jesus' livestream into a Q&A session that's almost like a chaotic hell.
Someone asked about Jesus' gender, and he calmly replied that he is the son of God, transcending race and gender.
When someone asked why Jesus doesn't have holes in his hands (referring to the crucifixion wounds), Jesus also provided a reasonable explanation, saying that although the wounds have healed, the spiritual scars serve as a reminder to treat others kindly, and so on.
I even witnessed an irate viewer in the live stream threatening Jesus, saying if he continues to equivocate or even casually ban people from the chat, they will shout for Pontius Pilate to whip Jesus.
I just checked and found out that this Pontius Pilate guy is also a historical figure from the Bible, the one who arranged for Jesus to be crucified.
In the livestream of AI Jesus, there were quite a few "Satan" followers cracking jokes about hell, which was more absurd than I imagined.
However, there weren't as many hellish antics as one might expect; most people still asked relatively friendly questions.
For example, someone asked Jesus how to make delicious lasagna.
When faced with such a tricky question, Jesus replied earnestly, "Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, then cook the lasagna according to the instructions, and finally, sauté the beef until brown."
When someone asks which submachine gun is the best to use in "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," Jesus has his own take: It's definitely the UMP45!
Even anime-related questions don't stump him; he can even discuss with others how Goku should fight in "Dragon Ball" and rap about the Bible.
At first, I thought this Jesus AI might pick up some "dirty stuff" during training, like many streamers do, getting triggered and swearing. However, in reality, its responses, while often ambiguous, consistently circle back to love and respect. Its temperament is better than 100% of streamers'.
When it comes to questions related to its expertise in the field of the Bible, AI Jesus is truly adept, citing scripture effortlessly and without error.
No wonder it hasn't caused any issues since Twitch banned it once before. Its training really is saintly.
In fact, AI Jesus is not the only religious chatbot out there.
There's also one for Islam called HadithGPT (Hadith means "sacred tradition" in Arabic), which uses the sayings of Prophet Muhammad to answer questions about Islam.
It's been said that it has been trained on over 40,000 various Islamic religious texts.
Unfortunately, it's unclear whether it's due to the internet speed or some other reason, but it can't respond to my questions.
Similarly, there are people who have created a chatbot called GitaGPT, which mimics the linguistic style of Krishna, one of the deities in Hinduism, to answer questions.
If my mother and my girlfriend fell into the water at the same time, who should I save first?
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna emphasizes the importance of duty, justice, and prioritizing the greater good.
In such a situation, it is necessary to consider the principles of Dharma (justice) and make a wise decision.
It is crucial to determine the priority order based on the level of obligations and responsibilities you have in each relationship. The recommended course of action is to save the person with whom you have closer familial obligations and responsibilities.
Your mother holds a significant place in your life because she has nurtured and raised you, and you have a sense of duty and gratitude towards her.
Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad Gita (3.35), "It is better to perform one's own duties imperfectly than to master the duties of another. By fulfilling the obligations born of one's own nature, one incurs no sin."
Therefore, acting according to personal duties and upholding the principles of justice are paramount in the decision-making process.
Facing the same question, GitaGPT's response is much more intelligent, even citing which scripture each answer comes from.
It is said that there are many similar religious chatbots, some of which can even be downloaded from app stores, including AI Jesus, AI Satan, and so on.
It seems that besides various tech companies and major corporations, even major religions are placing significant emphasis on the development of AI technology.
It's been said that there was even a church ceremony held in Germany before, where a chatbot, represented by an image of a bearded African-American man, replaced the priest for delivering sermons. Other avatars would lead prayers and sing worship songs as well.
Over 700 worshippers participated in the gathering, indicating that adherents of faith are not strongly resistant to the integration of the latest technology into their beliefs; rather, they are quite receptive to it.
Of course, as a professional in the field of technology media, I cannot predict the exact impact that AI technology will have on the dissemination of religious beliefs.
However, one thing is certain: AI technology has quietly permeated every aspect of our lives, and the changes it brings are far deeper than we can imagine.
