Machine Hierology
Robotic clergy

Changelog

Article history

Previous publications

These preserved publications retain their original wording, assessments and citation meanings.

Article history

DateVersionChange
1.0Published a source-limited cross-tradition concept article anchored by Mindar, with Xian’er, BlessU-2, SanTO, and Pepper retained as bounded comparison cases and explicit separation of performed role, technical capability, institutional authorization, formal clergy status, ritual validity, autonomy, belief, and consciousness.
1.1Removed internal project-workflow narration from the English article body while preserving subject boundaries, evidence limits, source distinctions, and classification rationale in metadata.
1.2Expanded bibliographic details and added six source records, and corrected translations distinguishing robot demonstrations, study findings and religious status.
1.3Added Buddharoid and Gabi, distinguishing prototypes, demonstrations and lay or honorary religious roles from routine ritual use and full monastic ordination.
1.3Corrected translations of this entry’s topic tags.
1.4Corrected article wording, source attribution and translated explanatory metadata.
1.5Corrected article language and source attribution across editions.
1.6Expanded the Gabi case with corroborating ceremony reporting and the attributed use of language models to prepare robot-adapted precepts.
1.7Linked the Emi Jido novice-ordination case, distinguishing its virtual persona from embodied robotic clergy.
1.7.1Added related-entry navigation to Masahiro Mori and Buddhist robotics.
1.8Developed the comparison of embodied religious roles, technical functions and institutional settings across documented robots.

Review metadata

Published on or before
20 July 2026
Last revision
18 October 2026
Last substantive review
18 October 2026
Current version
1.8