First ‘Catholic ChatGPT’ launched in response to radical religious content
The Flemish Catholic youth organisation Kamino has launched a Catholic chatbot called Via, to provide answers to young people struggling with questions about the Catholic faith and meaning in life. Kamino calls the AI application a world first.
The international study Digital Youth Faith Formation in 2023 showed that young people with questions about faith and life often turn to the internet, where, according to Kamino, radical groups often interpret Christian teachings in an extreme way.
“The problem is that radical opinions about the Christian faith are much more prevalent online today than the voice of the nuanced middle ground,” said Sofi Van Ussel, director of Kamino. “What's more, the algorithms of TikTok and YouTube can draw you into a one-sided view.”
"The algorithms of TikTok and YouTube can draw you into a one-sided view"
Via, on the other hand, is designed to provide well-founded support in a personal spiritual quest. According to Van Ussel, young people can decide for themselves what they want to talk about.
The bot's developers also trained Via not to express opinions or judgements on sensitive topics such as sexuality or abortion. It regularly refers users to professional help, theologians or youth pastors. Although Via's answers always start from a Christian perspective, Kamino does not want to attract only Catholic young people.
The “Catholic ChatGPT” was created by a team of AI experts, youth pastors and theologians. They trained the system based on Catholic sources, Bible stories and official church texts. So far, the chatbot is only available in Dutch, but Kamino wants to work on versions in other languages in the future and says there is already interest from abroad.
“Many Christians in Flanders are newcomers,” added Van Ussel. According to her, Via should also help with integration and connection between communities.
The chatbot is available via the Kamino website.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration © PHOTO IMAGEBROKER
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