The clergy and worshippers said they enjoyed it, but agreed it wouldn’t replace services led by humans anytime soon.
“It was pretty entertaining and fun, but it didn’t feel like a Mass or a service. … It felt distant. I didn’t feel like they were talking to me,” Taru Nieminen told The Associated Press.
The Rev. Kari Kanala, the vicar at St. Paul’s, echoed her sentiment.
“The warmth of the people is what people need,” he said.
Other experiments with AI church services
Churches and pastors around the world have been experimenting with AI, just like the rest of the society, to try to understand what role it could play in their lives — and if it can attract more worshippers.
In 2023, an AI-led service was held in a church in Germany. Last year, an avatar of “Jesus” on a computer screen in a Catholic chapel in Switzerland took questions from believers and offered responses based on Scripture.