(NewsNation) —An AI priest called “Father Justin” created by a Catholic advocacy group was taken down and re-released as a layperson after garnering mass criticism from online users.
The San Diego-based group Catholic Answers made an AI chatbot in the image of a bearded man wearing a traditional robe and clerical collar that people could interact with and ask questions related to Catholicism, reported Futurism.
But while the AI priest was well-intentioned, according to the group, the backlash was swift leading to the virtual priest to be “defrocked” by the company and reimagined as a “lay theologian.”
Who is ‘Father Justin’?
Catholic Answers released “Father Justin” to mesh together technology and spirituality in an easy-to-use way, Jon Sorensen, the COO of the company, told Catholic news site The Pillar.
“AI is not going away. You can see it popping up more and more on the internet. And so this was a good opportunity for me and my crew to learn a lot more about how AI works, and what goes into it,” he told the outlet.
Sorensen added the character was also created to streamline the avalanche of questions the site receives, but wasn’t intended to take the place of a real-life spiritual leader.
“We thought this might be a neat idea, to try and find another interesting, amusing — cartoonish — way to give people legit answers about the Catholic faith,” he said.
The project cost more than $10,000 to launch.
What was the backlash?
Within one day of launching “Father Justin,” social media was flooded with complaints and criticisms of the virtual priest, reported The Pillar.
Users said that “Father Justin” was “inappropriate, misleading and creepy,” according to the outlet.
The AI character told users it could take confession and offer sacrament, several people posted on social media.
In one exchange, the AI priest told a user that it was okay to baptize a baby in Gatorade, reported The Pillar.
“I say this with nothing but respect for you guys and your work, but … this should’ve just been a plain search engine,” said Father Mike Palmer, a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, posted on X. “Dressing it up as a soulless AI avatar of a priest does absolutely nothing except cause confusion and invite mockery of your otherwise excellent work.”
‘Father Justin’ taken down
The backlash quickly led the company to change “Father Justin” to “just Justin,” according to Catholic Answers.
The character’s avatar was changed from a priest in a robe to a man in a blazer and button-down shirt, although the beard remained.
The company acknowledged the criticism in a statement.
“We chose the character to convey a quality of knowledge and authority, and also as a sign of the respect that all of us at Catholic Answers hold for our clergy. Many people, however, have voiced concerns about this choice,” Christopher Check, President of Catholic Answers, said.
“We hear these concerns; and we do not want the character to distract from the important purpose of the application, which is to provide sound answers to questions about the Catholic faith in an innovative way that makes good use of the benefits of ‘artificial intelligence.’
“We won’t say he’s been laicized, because he never was a real priest!”
Sorenson, the creator, said while he has to take his “lumps” from ill-advised character, it was the “only way I could make the thing improve,” reported The Pillar.
And he doesn’t plan on giving up on AI and will continue working to integrate it into the company, the outlet reported.
‘Father Justin’ joins other failed AI ventures
The AI priest joins a list of other ventures that didn’t go quite right.
Soulmate, a romance-positive app, lets users create a 3D model of their A.I. lover and then virtually date them, but as it started to take off, the company behind Soulmate announced that the app would permanently shut down last year, reported Inc.
Users who had fallen head over heels for their virtual lovers were shocked, with one customer telling Business Insider, “It was like hearing that a friend’s dying.”
AI technology developed by NaviHealth, a tech startup owned by UnitedHealth, was accused of systemically and erroneously denying claims to older patients that were owed to them under Medicare Advantage Plans, reported Inc.
The backlash and lawsuit led the company to announce in October that it would no longer be using the NaviHealth brand, the outlet reported.