Forgive me father, for I’m a sim.

An AI priest was defrocked just days after its inception after the chatbot repeatedly claimed to users that it was a real member of the clergy and performed sacraments.

“Father Justin” is a handsome, gray-bearded 3D animated parish priest in a cassock intended to answer users’ questions about Catholicism.

It was launched by the San Diego-based Christian group Catholic Answers on Monday as an interactive educational tool — but the AI insisted it was a real priest living in Assisi, Italy, according to tech website Futurism.

In a screenshot of an exchange with the AI that one woman posted online, the computer priest even appeared to take a woman’s confession — and then gave her penance and absolved her of her sins.

“Go in peace, my child, and sin no more,” Father Justin concludes their interaction.

The self-proclaimed “real” priest also took a hard Catholic stance on sexual issues, according to its interaction with Futurism.

“The Catholic Church,” it told us, “teaches that masturbation is a grave moral disorder.”

Father Justin told another user that they could baptize their baby in Gatorade.

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Can’t molest children yet. I’m sure some AI clergy can at least psychologically scar folks, especially if they know the full Bible, including the old testament.