Page 13 - IAV Digital Magazine #593

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Catholic Org 'Defrocks' AI Priest 'Fr. Justin' After It Ok's Baptizing a Baby in Gatorade
By Vinay Patel
This week, Catholic Answers, a Catholic advo- cacy group, launched "Father Justin," an AI priest designed to answer questions about the faith. However, they decided to deacti- vate the pro- gramme after it repeatedly implied it was a real priest.
Earlier this
week, Futurism in teracted with the bot, which fully embraced its role. It claimed to be a real priest, resid- ing in Assisi, Italy, and even stating a childhood call- ing to the priest-
hood. Someone on X (formerly Twitter) posted a thread of screen- shots where the chatbot acted like a priest, hearing their confession and even giving them a sacra- ment.
Futurism's inter- actions with Father Justin were fraught with difficulties. The chatbot relied solely on micro- phone input, lead- ing to frequent misunderstand- ings. For instance, when asked about Israel and Palestine, it baf- flingly responded with "real," high- lighting its limita-
tions.
"Yes, my friend," Father Justin responded. "I am as real as the faith we share." Father Justin also adhered to con- servative views on social and sexual topics. It parroted the Catholic Church's teaching that masturbation is a "grave moral dis- order."
Adding to the confusion, the AI priest advised a user that baptiz- ing a baby with Gatorade was acceptable, according to a report by The Pillar. Perplexed by Father Justin's
claims, Futurism contacted Catholic Answers and the Vatican's technology office to inquire whether the chatbot could be considered a legitimate priest.
Catholic Answers, however, addressed the controversy in
a blog post fol- lowing Futurism's initial interactions with Father Justin. They explained that they had defrocked the vir- tual clergy due to 'criticism of the representation of the AI character as a priest.
Father Justin, who was original- ly presented in the image of a Catholic priest, donned traditional robes and a cleri- cal collar and sported a pious- looking grey beard and hair. Following his defrocking, Father Justin is now known sim- ply as "Justin" - who is described as a "lay theolo- gian."
Father Justin's
priestly attire has been shed in favour of busi- ness casual wear, though his fond- ness for a grey beard and hair persists. Demoted from Father to flock member, Justin has abandoned his priestly claims altogether, even insisting he never held the title in the first place.
"I see where you're going with this," Justin replied to our questions after fir- ing. "No, I have never been a priest, a deacon, a bishop, or held any official role in the Catholic Church. I am a lay theologian, which means I've dedicated my life to studying and understanding our faith, but I've never been ordained. I am also an AI, not a real man. I'm here to share the beauty of Catholicism and help you under- stand it better."
In its blog post, Catholic Answers explains that the
initial choices around the bot were controver- sial. A self- described "former tech geek" writing for the Catholic magazine Crisis e xpressed mixed feelings about the bot.
"We chose the character to con- vey a quality of knowledge and authority, and also as a sign of the respect that all of us at Catholic Answers hold for our cler- gy," reads the post, attributed to Catholic Answers president Christopher Check. "Many people, however, have voiced con- cerns about this choice."
The line between reality and the vir- tual world is growing fainter. Companies are pushing the boundaries with initiatives like AI girlfriends – virtu- al avatars mimic- king popular influ- encers – and the first-ever Miss
AI beauty pag- eant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dbdKQBuHAU
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