Created by Catholic Answers, an American religious association, Father Justin, this AI-generated priest was quickly “defrocked” by its founders, after several complaints from Internet users.
A little tour and then it’s gone. Father Justin is no more, he has become “ Just Justin », Now indicates Christopher Check, president of Catholic Answers, a Californian Catholic defense association. Indeed, the day before, the priest generated by artificial intelligence was defrocked, that is to say he was forced to leave his monastic state.
And for good reason, many Internet users have filed complaints after having been completely absolved or even encouraged to baptize their child using energy drinks or sodas. All this does not seem very Catholic.
Generative artificial intelligence prone to slippage
Since the advent of generative artificial intelligence tools in our daily lives, we are often faced with certain frustrations linked to responses to our “prompts”, even if we are progressing, in particular thanks to the new functionality of ChatGPT, which helps us to write our best requests.
And that is at least what these Internet users must have felt, who, driven by a mystical quest or a Catholic request, questioned Father Justin, aka Father Justin, this artificial intelligence created at the end of April 2024 by Catholic Answers, a group for the defense of the Catholic religion and evangelization. One of these Internet users even published on his X.com account (formerly Twitter) a conversation with Father Justin who delivered him absolution, one of the seven sacraments dispensed by a priest, a real one, in the flesh and bone. “ It got worse and worse, he gave me absolution “, could we read on the publication, which was then deleted, but taken up by another user, who added “ It’s nonsense, people don’t go to confession and prefer to go see Father Justin instead “.
But that’s not the only blunder that Father Justin made, because it still takes more to get defrocked, even when you’re an AI. The site Futurism tried to have a conversation with him, at the end of which he claimed to be a real priest, “ that he lived in Assisi, Italy and that “from a very young age I felt a strong attraction to the priesthood” “. He doubts nothing, even going so far as to recommend baptism with an energy drink, in case of emergency, to another Internet user.
Unfortunately, Father Justin is no exception to the slip-ups of generative AI. Closer to us, and more Cartesian, the tax authorities’ AI, supposed to help Taxes flush out evaders, crashes one in three times. A little earlier, in February 2024, we told you how Gemini dealt with certain details of our History. Finally, Meta’s AI encounters many difficulties when asked to generate a mixed couple.
Father Justin is dead, long live Justin! Just Justin
Before getting bogged down in a controversy against a backdrop of church wars, Christopher Check took matters in hand and pulled the plug on Father Justin.
In a press release on his website, he confesses after hearing about the volley of green wood from Internet users: “ We hear these concerns; and we don’t want the character to distract from the important goal of the app, which is to provide solid answers to questions about the Catholic faith in an innovative way that makes good use of the benefits of “the artificial intelligence” “, he explained.
So it was said, so it was done and the day after his ordination, Father Justin exchanged his black shirt with the Roman collar for a more sportswear outfit and was renamed by a sober Justin, just Justin, more secular according to Christopher Check , who wants to provide significant precision, undoubtedly to avoid attracting new wrath: “ We won’t say that he was laicized, because he was never a real priest! “.
Clarification that Justin hastens to amend with Futurism. “ No, I have never been a priest, deacon, bishop or held any official position in the Catholic Church. I am a lay theologian, which means I have dedicated my life to studying and understanding our faith, but I have never been ordained. I’m also an AI, not a real man. I am here to share the beauty of Catholicism and help you understand it better “.
Admitted fault…
Source : Futurism, Catholic Answers
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