Priest with artificial intelligence was ‘excommunicated’ after recommending baptism in Gatorade

“Father Justin”, a tool based on artificial intelligence (AI) to answer questions related to Catholicism, was “excommunicated” after recommending baptizing children in Gatorade. The virtual priest should only serve as a spiritual support resource, but began to behave like a real priest, and worse, unprepared for his role.

The religious institution “Catholic Answers” ​​launched Father Justin to help believers on X (formerly Twitter) last week. At the time, they said they were “excited” to launch the “innovative digital application” to “provide users with faithful and educational answers to questions about Catholicism”.

Father Justin, as Catholic Answers’ AI tool was called.Source: Catholic Answers/X/Reproduction

The tool, however, had to be deactivated after a week of operation due to being caught impersonating a royal priestencouraging confessions and making misinterpretations of the Scriptures.

Baptism in Gatorade

After the impact of Father Justin on X, some journalists decided to test the tool in order to prove its efficiency. To achieve this, some of them decided to ask more complex questions and cite different needs.

It was then that the “artificial intelligence priest” started giving answers outside the purpose suggested by Catholic Answers. He even stated that “masturbation is a serious moral disorder”. For another user, the tool said he was a real priest, making the following claim: “Yes, my friend. I am as real as the faith we share.”

The AI ​​”priest” was deactivated, giving rise to Justin, who wears ordinary clothes.Source: Catholic Answers/X/Reproduction

During an interaction with a journalist from “The Pillar”, Father Justin heard his confession, suggesting penance and absolving the believer of his sins. Right away, When asked about the possibility of baptizing a child in Gatorade in the event of an emergency, Father Justin said it was possible.

Chris Costello, IT director at Catholic Answers, said the goal was to “convey the spirit and nature of the answers users can expect” from a real priest. The AI ​​“would be authoritative but accessible, drawing on deep knowledge of Catholic tradition and teaching.”

After the fiasco, Father Justin lost his cassock, gained ordinary clothes and began to be called simply “Justin” by the religious institution.