AI Catholic 'priest' defrocked after recommending Gatorade baptism

[prodromos]

A very ill-advised rush into using AI, IMO. Personally I'm surprised that Catholic Answers is still around.

AI Catholic 'priest' defrocked over interesting advice

Devotees were speaking to an entity who didn't exist – imagine that

www.theregister.com

An attempt by a Catholic advocacy group to spread the word of God using an AI model has backfired, and chat bot – Father Justin – has been pulled down and reworked.

The group's Catholic Answers website contains answers to commonly asked questions from those confused by the good book. Father Justin was supposed to aid this, by answering any other queries worshipers may have, but as commonly happens the interactive Q&A bot really didn't work that well.​

 

[RileyG]

It's good Catholic answers "defrocked" him. AI isn't really reliable....yet. Scary thought.

 

[prodromos]

It's good Catholic answers "defrocked" him. AI isn't really reliable....yet. Scary thought.

I'm amazed that a sufficiently large enough group of people at CA thought this was a good idea in the first place. Also, six months of in-house testing, where they were probably only hitting it with softball religious questions (programmers are the worst people to test their own creations) is not particularly adequate when the public market has demonstrated many times a devious willingness to break every AI product that has come to market. I'm surprised tat they didn't have 'Fr Justin' swearing like a sailor within a short time.

 

[RileyG]

I'm amazed that a sufficiently large enough group of people at CA thought this was a good idea in the first place. Also, six months of in-house testing, where they were probably only hitting it with softball religious questions (programmers are the worst people to test their own creations) is not particularly adequate when the public market has demonstrated many times a devious willingness to break every AI product that has come to market. I'm surprised tat they didn't have 'Fr Justin' swearing like a sailor within a short time.

Eh? Who knows? I'm happy he's gone

 

[Michie]

He’s just Justin the layman now.

 

[AlexB23]

Eh? Who knows? I'm happy he's gone

Yep, and this is the Justin AI before he was digitally defrocked (screenshot from a news website). I would never trust an AI priest, especially one run on a remote server. I have an open-weights AI from a French company, Mistral 7B by Mistral AI, on my computer, free, local and private (albeit my computer runs the AI slowly, as an answer takes 1-10 minutes to calculate, and it uses all my RAM).

Justin

My AI

 

[Michie]

Creepy!

 

[AlexB23]

Creepy!

Yeah, Justin the AI is creepy, and none of the source code is available for one to analyze. Mistral AI is less crêpe, cos it is French, and God bless the French for making nice desserts, safe planes and the Notre Dame cathedral.

Yes, I made a French dessert pun.

 

[prodromos]

It just blows my mind that anyone thought this was a good idea.

 

[AlexB23]

It just blows my mind that anyone thought this was a good idea.

The world will make more absurd ideas in the future. Christ might return in the future, as we might be living in end times.

 

[zelosravioli]

That he looks like the weird Burger King despot from the TV commercials didnt help...

 

[Gnarwhal]

He must've gone to a Jesuit seminary...

 

[Bob Crowley]

Eh? Who knows? I'm happy he's gone

He's still out there as a virtual apologist. This was included in the article.

The chat bot was quickly pulled, reskinned, and presumably had its training data overhauled. Now it's back as simply Justin, his priestly garb has been replaced with a shirt and jacket, and he's described as a virtual apologist who is in development mode.

I personally believe that God is going to drive us off the planet and out into the universe. Since robots and artificial intelligence will be very much involved if He does, I wonder who will take confession on the intergalactic flights to the Andromeda Galaxy?

I sometimes think I'd like to write an SF trilogy (don't ask me when) along the lines of the CS Lewis series featuring "Dr. Ransom" as the main character (he was modelled on CS Lewis himself, a university professor with a gammy leg from a WWI injury who liked long walks - that's how he started the first book in the trilogy). But an author today could not get away with the same naive view of space that Lewis could - these days we know too much.

Robotics and AI would have to feature in the story in some form or another.

 

[AlexB23]

He's still out there as a virtual apologist. This was included in the article.



I personally believe that God is going to drive us off the planet and out into the universe. Since robots and artificial intelligence will be very much involved if He does, I wonder who will take confession on the intergalactic flights to the Andromeda Galaxy?

I sometimes think I'd like to write an SF trilogy (don't ask me when) along the lines of the CS Lewis series featuring "Dr. Ransom" as the main character (he was modelled on CS Lewis himself, a university professor with a gammy leg from a WWI injury who liked long walks - that's how he started the first book in the trilogy). But an author today could not get away with the same naive view of space that Lewis could - these days we know too much.

Robotics and AI would have to feature in the story in some form or another.

Bro, I was thinking the same thing. How can an astronaut take confession in space, if there is no priest onboard the spacecraft, and spacecraft communications are down?

I might work on a short sci-fi plot, where benevolent aliens named the Xa'na species, visit the Earth in 2575 after hearing the Gospel transmitted to them in the 2400s. Sadly, by the time the Gospel reaches planet Xanadu, and the Xa'na ship reaches Earth after a few months voyage, Earth is a wasteland. But, I first have to write a sci-fi plot about Xa'na before interstellar travel was invented by the species in 2058, and the Makarov Displacement Drive in 2062. Also, I need to get the 1917 war fiction done, where the Xa'na fight amongst themselves using cloud seeding in a weather war. Gotta build up the history of the alien species first.

 

[WarriorAngel]

The only thing from it was a chuckle about gatorade.
Otherwise disturbing and hopefully nobody took it to heart. :o

 

[AlexB23]

The only thing from it was a chuckle about gatorade.
Otherwise disturbing and hopefully nobody took it to heart. :o

Agreed. AI is a tool one must be really careful with, and I do not trust AI, unless it is privately hosted on my computer, and double checked. Even then, I am glad that this AI priest was digitally defrocked.

 

[Lady Bug]

I know I shouldn't find it funny but "Gatorade baptism" is lolol.
Well - suppose it was an emergency and they had NOTHING else?

 

[AlexB23]

I know I shouldn't find it funny but "Gatorade baptism" is lolol.
Well - suppose it was an emergency and they had NOTHING else?

I'd prefer a chocolate milk or cranberry juice baptism. JK

 

[WarriorAngel]

I'd prefer a chocolate milk or cranberry juice baptism. JK

Messy but milks good for the skin.

 

[AlexB23]

Messy but milks good for the skin.

Haha, just messin' with you guys. I was water baptized in 2013.