by By Chris Schang
In another clear sign of the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) there are reports that a new app for your phone will let you have the opportunity to “text with Jesus” so that he can answer all your questions and address your concerns.
The Washington Post has an article on the situation, and they report:
If you ever wondered how Jonah felt while he was trapped inside the whale’s stomach for three days, why Solomon had so many wives or why Judas betrayed Jesus, an app called Text With Jesus is your chance to ask for yourself.
Text With Jesus, launched in July, was created by Catloaf Software, an app-development company in Los Angeles. The app replicates an instant messaging platform, with biblical figures impersonated by the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT.
Characters available on the app include the Holy Family, the apostles, the prophets, Ruth, Job and Abraham’s nephew, Lot.
Further…
“We stir the AI and tell it: You are Jesus, or you are Moses, or whoever, and knowing what you already have in your database, you respond to the questions based on their characters,” said Stéphane Peter, the app’s developer and the company’s CEO.
Peter, who founded Catloaf Software in 2011, had built numerous more static applications with historical figures — including Text From the Founding Fathers, Text From Oscar Wilde and, more recently, Text From Jesus — in which users received quotes from the figures in question but couldn’t interact.
The developer of the app said that he got positive feedback from pastors who tried it. The developer says that it is just another way to experience scripture. The app also lets you have “conversations” with other people in the Bible. In fact, you can even have a conversation with Satan.
According to the app:
“Chat With Satan” can be activated if the user chooses. The character signs all his texts with a “smiling face with horns” emoji.
While many will see this as simply fun and games, this development can be concerning as some people may become so involved in this app that they fail to have a real situation with Jesus Christ. The app developer reports that he tried to stay tight with scripture in developing the app, but it is easy to see how manipulating the AI can result in very unsound responses.
In my honest opinion, sometimes technology is not the answer in our lives. When we communicate with Jesus, we need to stick to using good old-fashioned prayer. It’s worked for this long and it will work until Jesus calls us home before the rapture.
Keep looking up!