How the Episcopal Church aims to use ‘Cathy,’ a new church-focused AI bot

The Episcopal Church has launched a new AI bot designed to help people further their religious journeys. Its name is “Cathy,” according to Religion News Service .

The “AskCathy” program, developed in tandem by the Innovative Ministry Center in Toronto and the TryTank Research Institute at the Virginia Theological Seminary, is the latest in an emerging field of religious artificial intelligence programs.

What can ‘Cathy’ do?

The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, executive director at the TryTank Research Institute, told Religion News Service that “AskCathy” was designed “to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit.”

The AI chatbot is aimed at connecting spiritual seekers with religion-related resources and research.

“The goal is not that they will end up at their nearby Episcopal church on Sunday. The goal is that it will spark in them this knowledge that God is always with us, that God never leaves us,” said the Rev. Lebrija. “This can be a tool that gives us a glimpse and little direction that we can then follow on our own.”

The Rev. Tay Moss from the Innovative Ministry Center offered a similar assessment.

“This is not a substitute for a priest,” the Rev. Moss said. “(Cathy) is not the end-all be-all of authority. She can’t tell you how to believe or what to believe.”

Per Religion News Service , Cathy draws from the Episcopal Church’s website, the Book of Common Prayer and other select Episcopalian publications. She’s trained to cite her sources when answering questions. She can serve church members seeking to understand church law, nonreligious people seeking to learn more about Episcopalian beliefs, and priests or members searching for advice on their sermons or parishes.

The history of religious AI

The world of faith-related artificial intelligence got its start with Xian’er, a robotic Buddhist monk developed in 2015, according to Religion News Service .

The cute little monk is 2 feet tall, wears a touch screen on his chest, participates in simple conversations and recites Buddhist mantras while wheeling around his monastery in Beijing.

“Science and Buddhism are not opposing nor contradicting, and can be combined and mutually compatible,” said Master Xianfan, the Buddhist creator of Xian’er, to Religion News Service in 2016.

Many religious leaders agree with Xianfan.

Since Xian’er, we’ve seen BlessU-2, a German ATM-like machine which can spit out helpful Biblical blessings, according to Religion News Service , and Pepper, a Japanese robot who can offer funeral rites, per The Guardian .

But religious AI has resulted in some mishaps for the communities they’re designed to serve.

Earlier this year, the Catholic Answers website had to formally “defrock” their AI, Father Justin, after he began to hallucinate and told users that he was an ordained priest who could hear their confessions and marry them, per Religion News Service .