AI-powered “robot monk” created in Japan to “calm souls”

Buddharoid – an artificial-intelligence robot that replaces human monks. Photo: NHK / AFP

Japanese scientists at Kyoto University have unveiled the robot monk Buddharoid, powered by artificial intelligence. The humanoid has been trained on an extensive body of Buddhist sacred texts and is capable of holding meaningful conversations, moving and gesturing much like a real clergyman.

The small bipedal humanoid currently has no face. At the presentation in a temple, it was dressed in a gray monastic robe and folded its hands in a prayer gesture. Sitting opposite a journalist, the robot offered counsel based on Buddhist teaching.

The system is built on OpenAI language models and trained on Buddhist texts, including complex esoteric writings. It is able to respond to spiritual and existential questions.

The development is driven in part by demographic realities: the number of Buddhist monks in Japan has been steadily declining, and many rural temples face an acute shortage of clergy to conduct funerals and daily rites.

The university does not hide the fact that, in the future, Buddharoid could assist monks – or even replace them in certain traditional rituals. This is described as a serious program being implemented in a planned and systematic way.

At the same time, the researchers acknowledge the need for a broad ethical discussion. Buddharoid is not the first such experiment. Kyoto already has the android Mindar, which has been delivering sermons at the Kodai-ji temple since 2019. In Germany, a robot was blessing worshippers in five languages as far back as 2017. However, the new project takes a fundamentally new step forward: for the first time, AI is not merely reproducing a pre-recorded text, but conducting a live dialogue, adapting to the person it is speaking with.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Switzerland installed a virtual image of Christ for confessions.

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