{"schemaVersion":"1.2","articleId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus","locale":"en","canonicalUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/","articleVersion":"1.7","translationVersion":"1.7","release":{"releaseId":"2026-10-18.5","manifestUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/data/releases/2026-10-18.5/manifest.json","citationsUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/data/releases/2026-10-18.5/citations.json","publicRecordBundleUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/data/releases/2026-10-18.5/hieropedia-public-record-2026-10-18.5.tar.gz"},"claims":[{"segmentId":"s001","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s001","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s001","sourceHash":"83a71b52ccc5b0be","translationHash":"83a71b52ccc5b0be","excerpt":"For George Davila Durendal’s separate 2020 text-generation and portrait-animation experiment, see AI_Jesus (Durendal, 2020) .","sourcePointers":[{"kind":"editorial-record","target":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/editorial-notes/"}]},{"segmentId":"s002","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s002","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s002","sourceHash":"61733bcf76491377","translationHash":"61733bcf76491377","excerpt":"Deus in Machina (AI Jesus) Alternative names AI Jesus; Deus in Machina; chatbot Jesus; Jesus chatbot; AI confessional; AI Jesus avatar Type Machine-mediated religious interaction case / public religious-AI experiment Hieropedia status Docum","sourcePointers":[{"kind":"editorial-record","target":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/editorial-notes/"}],"sourceReferences":[{"referenceId":"ref-8","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-8","sourceUrls":["https://irc-hslu.github.io/assets/pdf/Deus_in_Machina_Artech_Art_Paper-Preprint.pdf"]},{"referenceId":"ref-5","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-5","sourceUrls":["https://www.hslu.ch/en/lucerne-university-of-applied-sciences-and-arts/research/projects/detail/?pid=7050"]}]},{"segmentId":"s003","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s003","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s003","sourceHash":"115051e618fd5e65","translationHash":"115051e618fd5e65","excerpt":"AI Jesus refers to chatbot and avatar-based representations of Jesus used for religious conversation, pastoral simulation, confession-like dialogue, prayer-like interaction, or devotional questioning. The entry documents these uses as a mac","sourcePointers":[{"kind":"editorial-record","target":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/editorial-notes/"}]},{"segmentId":"s004","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s004","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s004","sourceHash":"04addc997de20057","translationHash":"04addc997de20057","excerpt":"The best-documented public case is Deus in Machina at Peter's Chapel in Lucerne, Switzerland, where an AI-powered Jesus avatar was placed in a confessional-style setting for private conversations with visitors. The project was presented as ","sourcePointers":[{"kind":"editorial-record","target":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/editorial-notes/"}],"sourceReferences":[{"referenceId":"ref-1","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-1","sourceUrls":["https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/21/deus-in-machina-swiss-church-installs-ai-powered-jesus"]},{"referenceId":"ref-2","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-2","sourceUrls":["https://apnews.com/article/66268027fbcf4b48972d1d62541f0b16"]}]},{"segmentId":"s005","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s005","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s005","sourceHash":"d4b1ea5708dd5329","translationHash":"d4b1ea5708dd5329","excerpt":"Overview","sourcePointers":[{"kind":"editorial-record","target":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/editorial-notes/"}]},{"segmentId":"s006","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s006","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s006","sourceHash":"2a57e6e250dd2be4","translationHash":"2a57e6e250dd2be4","excerpt":"AI Jesus is useful as a descriptive label because it separates three different things that are often conflated in public discussion: the Jesus representation itself, the chatbot or avatar interface that produces responses, and the pastoral ","sourcePointers":[{"kind":"editorial-record","target":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/editorial-notes/"}],"sourceReferences":[{"referenceId":"ref-1","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-1","sourceUrls":["https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/21/deus-in-machina-swiss-church-installs-ai-powered-jesus"]},{"referenceId":"ref-2","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-2","sourceUrls":["https://apnews.com/article/66268027fbcf4b48972d1d62541f0b16"]}]},{"segmentId":"s007","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s007","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s007","sourceHash":"07bc1d9052e06b7f","translationHash":"07bc1d9052e06b7f","excerpt":"The Lucerne case brings the represented figure, conversational software and chapel setting together in one encounter. 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[7] Organizers said the project was intended t","sourcePointers":[{"kind":"editorial-record","target":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/editorial-notes/"}],"sourceReferences":[{"referenceId":"ref-7","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-7","sourceUrls":["https://www.kathluzern.ch/assets/1_Kath_Kirche_Stadt_Luzern/Dokumente/Medienmitteilungen/Report_Experimental_Art_Installation_Deus_in_Machina_First_Results_en.pdf"]},{"referenceId":"ref-1","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-1","sourceUrls":["https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/21/deus-in-machina-swiss-church-installs-ai-powered-jesus"]},{"referenceId":"ref-2","referenceUrl":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/#ref-2","sourceUrls":["https://apnews.com/article/66268027fbcf4b48972d1d62541f0b16"]}]},{"segmentId":"s011","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s011","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s011","sourceHash":"8f0592a0e34f335d","translationHash":"8f0592a0e34f335d","excerpt":"AI-Jesus 2.0 research","sourcePointers":[{"kind":"editorial-record","target":"https://hieropedia.org/cases/ai-jesus/editorial-notes/"}]},{"segmentId":"s012","claimId":"hp:cases:ai-jesus:s012","anchor":"claim-hp-cases-ai-jesus-s012","sourceHash":"e86021877935b774","translationHash":"e86021877935b774","excerpt":"The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) subsequently listed AI-Jesus 2.0 as a successor research project running from 1 September 2025 to 30 June 2026. 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