AI-Powered Jesus Sparks Conversations at Lucerne's Historic Peter's Chapel
In the Swiss city of Lucerne, the small and simple Peter’s Chapel, long regarded as the oldest church in the city, has now become synonymous with innovation. The chapel recently introduced an artificial intelligence-powered Jesus that can converse in 100 different languages.
“It was really an experiment,” explained Marco Schmid, a theologian at Peterskapelle. “We wanted to see how people would react to an AI Jesus. What would they want to discuss with him? Would they be interested in engaging? We’re probably pioneers in this field.”
The installation, named Deus in Machina, was launched in August as part of a continued collaboration between the church and a local university research lab focusing on immersive reality. Following previous projects involving virtual and augmented reality, the church decided to take the next step by creating an avatar. After much debate on what type of avatar would be most appropriate—whether a theologian, a person, or a saint—the church concluded that Jesus himself would be the ideal figure for this experiment.
To create the right environment for these conversations, the church converted its confessional booth into a space for the AI installation, replacing the priest with a computer and cables. The AI was trained using theological texts, allowing visitors to ask questions and receive responses in real time from a long-haired image of Jesus projected through a latticework screen.
While engaging with the avatar, participants were encouraged to avoid sharing personal information and reminded that the interaction was not a confession. “We are not trying to imitate a confession,” emphasized Schmid.
Over a two-month period, more than 1,000 people—ranging from locals to tourists from places as far away as China and Vietnam—took the opportunity to converse with the AI Jesus. The experiment has sparked interest from a diverse range of individuals, including Muslims, and has become a point of curiosity for visitors seeking an unconventional form of interaction within a place of worship.
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