Chatbot Faith

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Imelda Diouf is a South African educator and Katarzyna Lewucha is a Polish social worker. This is the fifth in a twelve-part series in which they will unpack the theme of family relations, using multicultural and multidisciplinary perspectives.
Technology changes lives. Technology has become so much more pervasive; even in our spiritual lives.
In December 2022, Rabbi Joshua Franklin gave an interesting sermon on reconciliation between brothers. To all intents and purposes, the theme was well received — and then he dropped a bombshell. The sermon has been prepared by ChatGPT with the use of computer software. A chatbot and artificial intelligence had thrown out a set of ideas about reconciliation between siblings. What was the response of the congregants? They clapped.
For many, our responses might very well vacillate between, “Hey that’s cool”, to shock and horror that “Robots are taking over!”
Shock and horror, technology can now generate faith ideas? Yet, technologies have always changed lives: the wheel, mechanical clock, plough, windmill, X-rays, CT scanners, electricity, cement, computers and so on. The list of technologies that have changed human lives is unending. Every age deals with new technologies. In fact, the very production of the Bible and other religious texts has been made possible and accessible because of paper, writing and then the printing press.
The development of technology underlines and highlights the most unique ability of human beings, that of creativity. Humans are “imago Dei”, made in the image of God, someone who is the same as the Creator, and carrying the ability to create. Being creative does not place human beings on the same level with God, but it expresses God’s perfection in creation.
The Biblical order to “Subdue the Earth” (Genesis 1:28) places an obligation of progressing and advancing human civilisation. Pope John Paul II however, cautions in his encyclical Laborem exercens (1981) that the progress of technological development must serve to be a blessing, not a curse, for the human nations.
The technological boom has changed the lives of contemporary people. Social and relational meetings that used to take place in homes, community centres, churches and other religious centres now take place via a variety of devices.
Families now have to deal with social media, education platforms, online shopping, banking apps and artificial intelligence. One can literally smell the roses through augmented reality. The element of the “human touch” has been replaced with message forwarding, colourful emojis and memes.
Technology certainly makes information more accessible for everyone, regardless of status, age and place. Sadly however, there is still a distinction between the availability of information and accessibility to technical and technological instruments for different people. The haves and the have-nots. A blessing or a curse?
The Covid pandemic disrupted and forced new practice of faith alongside the new technologies. It is no longer uncommon to hear of online Mass, e-wallet tithing, digitally projected songbooks, daily prayer through an app, and now even sermons via ChatGPT. For Christians and other faith groups, the homily has always been an important method of sharing the meaning of faith and religious text. Technology now allows new pathways to express faith and to share teachings on faith.
The Sermon on the Mount, for example, has Jesus preaching on a range of issues, including faith, daily living, compassion, morality and preparing for the after-life. These teachings are not only as relevant today as they were then, but also relevant across a range of belief systems. The messages remain the same, though the means of conveying information is in keeping with the changing times. When Jesus walked the earth, faith-messaging was enigmatic. Because there was no broad means of sharing knowledge, the lips of people and faith was the sharing vehicle.
Still, spirituality and faith is about more than the meaning or the vehicle for conveying the meaning — it is about how messages are understood and acted upon. For families the issues of pervasive technologies that arise needs to be debated and actioned in terms of the needs and wellbeing of family and the broader community. The blessing rather than the curse of technology can deepen faith and spirituality.
As written by St. Thomas Aquinas in Tantum Ergo: “Praested fides supplementum sensum defectui”, which means, “Faith, our outward sense befriending, makes the inward vision clear”.
Faith does not need to decrease with increased technology and discovering truths about religion. Indeed, it assists understanding, shares experiences and unites the faith-family world-wide. And ultimately, bring us closer to God.
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