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What one Finnish church learned from creating a service almost entirely with AI

Mar 08, 2025 - financialpost.com
A Finnish church, St. Paul’s Lutheran in Helsinki, conducted its first service largely created by AI, drawing over 120 attendees. The service featured AI-generated sermons, music, and visuals, including avatars of church pastors and a former Finnish president. While attendees found the service entertaining and innovative, they noted it lacked the personal touch and warmth of traditional services. The experiment highlighted AI's potential in religious settings but also underscored its limitations, such as the inability to provide spiritual empathy or perform sacraments.

The church's clergy, including Rev. Petja Kopperoinen and Rev. Kari Kanala, emphasized that AI is not poised to replace human-led services but could assist with tasks like sermon research. The experiment reflects broader global efforts by religious institutions to explore AI's role while acknowledging the importance of maintaining human elements in worship. Critics raised environmental concerns about AI's resource usage, and experts stressed the need for responsible AI development in religious contexts.

Key takeaways:

  • A Finnish church conducted its first service primarily created by AI, featuring AI-generated sermons, music, and visuals.
  • The service attracted over 120 attendees, significantly more than a typical weeknight, but attendees felt it lacked the personal touch of a human-led service.
  • AI tools used included ChatGPT-4o for writing, Suno for music composition, and Synthesia for creating video avatars.
  • While AI can assist in certain tasks, it cannot replace the empathy and spiritual connection provided by human pastors.
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