A Catholic media organization called Catholic Answers got itself in a bit of hot water on social media last week when it debuted an app it was calling "Father Justin, your AI Catholic answers advisor," which featured an artificial intelligence-based animation of a Catholic priest who could answer questions about the faith.
Catholic Answers hoped that the AI animation could serve as a sort of "search engine" to help people get answers to questions they might have about Catholicism and to help guide people to become Catholics.
Chris Costello, director of I.T. at Catholic Answers, went on to speak to their goals with this new AI app.
"Our goal with the Father Justin app is to leverage the power of large language models—or ‘LLMs’—to create an engaging and informative experience for those exploring the Catholic faith," Costello said in a Catholic Answers news release. "Although this is not a substitute for human interaction with a priest, teacher, or spiritual advisor, we believe it can be a valuable tool to help our users better understand and articulate the teachings of the Catholic faith."
The AI animation was presented as a common parish priest complete with a white tab collar. That specific detail, however, drew enough of a backlash that the organization has changed course.
The decision to use a parish priest character was purposeful, the news release stated.
"We wanted to convey the spirit and nature of the responses users can expect—authoritative yet approachable, drawing from the deep well of Catholic tradition and teaching. We believe that the presentation of Father Justin honors real-life priests and the role they play in people’s lives, yet we are confident that our users will not mistake the AI for a human being," Costello said in the release.
Introducing Father Justin, the New Interactive AI from Catholic Answers
Catholic Answers, the number-one lay Catholic apostolate of apologetics and evangelization, is excited to announce the release of our new “Father Justin” interactive AI app. This innovative digital… pic.twitter.com/GDs2KKx216
— Catholic Answers (@catholiccom) April 23, 2024
In very short order, though, Catholic Answers, an apostolate in the Diocese of San Diego, found itself in the middle of a firestorm of protest from the faithful and the non-faithful alike over the online tool.
People began flooding the group with complaints because it had imbued a cartoon creation with the vestments of a Catholic priest. Giving an electronic program a tab collar and priestly vestments seemed to outrage many Catholics who worried awarding a computer program such habiliments made the authentic ones bestowed on real priests less meaningful.
