Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian from the University of Vienna wanted to see whether he could produce an artificial worship service. According to news reports, “the believers in the church listened attentively as the artificial intelligence preached about leaving the past behind, focusing on the challenges of the present, overcoming fear of death, and never losing trust in Jesus Christ.” A bunch of platitudes similar to those heard at Christian churches every week.
So, yes, okay, it finally happened. An artificial intelligence (AI) with four or so avatars delivered a sermon on a general Christian topic. The IT specialist/programmer/theologian gave the AI a few prompts and let it rip. (There wasn’t just a sermon; apparently there were also AI hymns, testimonies, and whatnot.) The artificial sermon sort of worked. People laughed only occasionally. Is that because technology is grand? Or is it because people expect little from their sermons, and thus are hard to disappoint? I suspect that the latter is the genuine answer. The AI succeeded, to a degree, because human preachers aren’t consistently setting a high bar. Let’s look at that.
Another Lutheran pastor who attended the event commented that, “I had actually imagined it to be worse. But I was positively surprised how well it worked. Also the language of the AI worked well, even though it was still a bit bumpy at times.”
To no one’s surprise, the worshippers complained that the avatars spoke with no feeling or emotion. I’m sure that a vocal variety plug-in could correct that.
The fact that this experiment worked at all represents, not only a triumph of artificial intelligence, but also a condemnation of the inconsistent state of Christian preaching. Too much of what Christian worshippers typically hear on Sunday morning (or Saturday evening) is a collection of recycled platitudes, often only tangentially related to holy scripture or ancient traditions, which simply repeat trite words that previous generations of pastors have droned on about. “Overcome fear of death?” “Never lose trust in Jesus Christ?” Although that message is fine, as far as it goes, it is no wonder that an AI could do the job.
Now, I don’t mean to denigrate the thousands of enthusiastic Christian ministers who take the time to learn their subject and to speak about it with sincerity and interest. The fact remains, however, that there has long been a hidden underbelly of lazy approaches to preaching.
For one thing, religious bookstores have long carried entire volumes of pre-written sermons. Ministers, elders, or priests can simply go to the bookstore, spend a few hundred dollars on books, and be ready to preach for the rest of their career. Each Sabbath, all you need to do is photocopy the day’s sermon and read it word for word. Of course, this has become easier and cheaper in the Internet age. Today, any number of websites provide sermons ready for ministers and priests to print up and read aloud to their congregations. An old trick is for the preacher to start with, “As John Wesley once said, and I quote, …” and let their congregation assume that the quotation ends after the first sentence rather than after the first hour.
No, I’m not going to give links or citations to any of those sources. I have no wish to give lazy or dishonest preachers any help whatsoever.
Is there an alternative? Surely there is! Allow me, a public speaking teacher, to offer some suggestions for giving good, truly human sermons. These are general comments that can be adapted to various religious traditions. Indeed, different religious traditions call for sermons that might be conversational or energetic, loud or quiet, personal or intellectual. All of those options are fine. What is important is to educate and exhort the congregation in their religious tradition and faith.
First, the true preacher’s usual method is to ponder the day’s Bible lesson, do in-depth research, explain what the text means, and give historical context.
This is why ultra-conservative Bible scholar Henry Halley, author of Halley’s Bible Handbook, is absolutely right that Christian congregations never tire of learning about the Bible. Why do so many pastors forget that? Of course, long and careful study, regardless of whether it is in seminary or the library, is the necessary and sometimes tedious prerequisite. The preacher should certainly know the subject, and the congregation has every right to expect to learn something new and important every time the preacher speaks. Instead of just repeating what the congregation has heard before, the preacher can dig into the day’s subject anew, endowing the lesson with historical and theological context. The AI presented boring platitudes. A real speaker can and should do better.
Second, congregations often expect the preacher to apply the daily lesson to everyday life or current events. Most people attend religious services because they hope to improve themselves. Accordingly, the preacher should give them a boost. It is, however, a mistake to use the sermon as an excuse to impose one’s own personal political prejudices or bigotry on people. If a preacher uses a captive audience as an opportunity to claim divine inspiration for his or her ridiculous political opinions, well, that’s worse than an AI.
Finally, a preacher must prepare sermons with care. Dr. Rev. Jack B. North, the inspiring minister who married my wife and me 45 years ago, routinely spent three days preparing each week’s sermon. That was not overkill. Good results require hard work. Indeed, no matter how confident a speaker is, the preacher should rehearse the sermon three or four times, out loud, with feeling. Silent practice is no practice at all. Indeed, to override artificial intelligence, the preacher must speak with enthusiasm, compassion, and a caring attitude. Follow those simple steps, and then no one will mistake the preacher for a computer.
Yes, many preachers already do those things. To those who don’t, perhaps an AI computer can remind us that we need a change.
How can you detect a human preacher who is not better than an AI? It’s not often hard. If your minister, priest, or elder reads sermons word for word, droning along, stumbling over big words that he or she has never seen before (because he or she didn’t write them), you might be tempted to engage in uncharitable and unworthy suspicion of the preacher’s level of preparation.
We have not reached the point where an AI can duplicate the thoughts and feelings of a speaker who has sincere religious faith. The AI in Bavaria could, however, easily duplicate the platitudes of a typical Sunday morning presentation. That is sad, not because technology should scare us, but because many congregations have come to expect trite, banal sermons.
Let me wish peace and blessings for all my readers, regardless of whatever religious views you do or do not hold. Thanks for reading!
_________________________
By the way, here are blog posts that I’ve written about sermons that I think were admirable.
“Somebody Must Have Sense Enough to Dim the Lights:” Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Sermon about the Power of Love
Pope Francis’ Sermon for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees
Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana’s Sermon about the Summer of Love: Is Love the Answer to Nazism?
_________________________
Also, by the way, I am always looking for worthy sermons to analyze on this website. The preacher does not need to be famous. I would need an accurate transcript. If applicable, a video link would also be appreciated. You can post it in the comments below, e-mail me at wdharpine@hotmail.com, or tag me on Twitter at @WHarpine.
So, yes, okay, it finally happened. An artificial intelligence (AI) with four or so avatars delivered a sermon on a general Christian topic. The IT specialist/programmer/theologian gave the AI a few prompts and let it rip. (There wasn’t just a sermon; apparently there were also AI hymns, testimonies, and whatnot.) The artificial sermon sort of worked. People laughed only occasionally. Is that because technology is grand? Or is it because people expect little from their sermons, and thus are hard to disappoint? I suspect that the latter is the genuine answer. The AI succeeded, to a degree, because human preachers aren’t consistently setting a high bar. Let’s look at that.
Another Lutheran pastor who attended the event commented that, “I had actually imagined it to be worse. But I was positively surprised how well it worked. Also the language of the AI worked well, even though it was still a bit bumpy at times.”
To no one’s surprise, the worshippers complained that the avatars spoke with no feeling or emotion. I’m sure that a vocal variety plug-in could correct that.
The fact that this experiment worked at all represents, not only a triumph of artificial intelligence, but also a condemnation of the inconsistent state of Christian preaching. Too much of what Christian worshippers typically hear on Sunday morning (or Saturday evening) is a collection of recycled platitudes, often only tangentially related to holy scripture or ancient traditions, which simply repeat trite words that previous generations of pastors have droned on about. “Overcome fear of death?” “Never lose trust in Jesus Christ?” Although that message is fine, as far as it goes, it is no wonder that an AI could do the job.
Now, I don’t mean to denigrate the thousands of enthusiastic Christian ministers who take the time to learn their subject and to speak about it with sincerity and interest. The fact remains, however, that there has long been a hidden underbelly of lazy approaches to preaching.
For one thing, religious bookstores have long carried entire volumes of pre-written sermons. Ministers, elders, or priests can simply go to the bookstore, spend a few hundred dollars on books, and be ready to preach for the rest of their career. Each Sabbath, all you need to do is photocopy the day’s sermon and read it word for word. Of course, this has become easier and cheaper in the Internet age. Today, any number of websites provide sermons ready for ministers and priests to print up and read aloud to their congregations. An old trick is for the preacher to start with, “As John Wesley once said, and I quote, …” and let their congregation assume that the quotation ends after the first sentence rather than after the first hour.
No, I’m not going to give links or citations to any of those sources. I have no wish to give lazy or dishonest preachers any help whatsoever.
Is there an alternative? Surely there is! Allow me, a public speaking teacher, to offer some suggestions for giving good, truly human sermons. These are general comments that can be adapted to various religious traditions. Indeed, different religious traditions call for sermons that might be conversational or energetic, loud or quiet, personal or intellectual. All of those options are fine. What is important is to educate and exhort the congregation in their religious tradition and faith.
First, the true preacher’s usual method is to ponder the day’s Bible lesson, do in-depth research, explain what the text means, and give historical context.
This is why ultra-conservative Bible scholar Henry Halley, author of Halley’s Bible Handbook, is absolutely right that Christian congregations never tire of learning about the Bible. Why do so many pastors forget that? Of course, long and careful study, regardless of whether it is in seminary or the library, is the necessary and sometimes tedious prerequisite. The preacher should certainly know the subject, and the congregation has every right to expect to learn something new and important every time the preacher speaks. Instead of just repeating what the congregation has heard before, the preacher can dig into the day’s subject anew, endowing the lesson with historical and theological context. The AI presented boring platitudes. A real speaker can and should do better.
Second, congregations often expect the preacher to apply the daily lesson to everyday life or current events. Most people attend religious services because they hope to improve themselves. Accordingly, the preacher should give them a boost. It is, however, a mistake to use the sermon as an excuse to impose one’s own personal political prejudices or bigotry on people. If a preacher uses a captive audience as an opportunity to claim divine inspiration for his or her ridiculous political opinions, well, that’s worse than an AI.
Finally, a preacher must prepare sermons with care. Dr. Rev. Jack B. North, the inspiring minister who married my wife and me 45 years ago, routinely spent three days preparing each week’s sermon. That was not overkill. Good results require hard work. Indeed, no matter how confident a speaker is, the preacher should rehearse the sermon three or four times, out loud, with feeling. Silent practice is no practice at all. Indeed, to override artificial intelligence, the preacher must speak with enthusiasm, compassion, and a caring attitude. Follow those simple steps, and then no one will mistake the preacher for a computer.
Yes, many preachers already do those things. To those who don’t, perhaps an AI computer can remind us that we need a change.
How can you detect a human preacher who is not better than an AI? It’s not often hard. If your minister, priest, or elder reads sermons word for word, droning along, stumbling over big words that he or she has never seen before (because he or she didn’t write them), you might be tempted to engage in uncharitable and unworthy suspicion of the preacher’s level of preparation.
We have not reached the point where an AI can duplicate the thoughts and feelings of a speaker who has sincere religious faith. The AI in Bavaria could, however, easily duplicate the platitudes of a typical Sunday morning presentation. That is sad, not because technology should scare us, but because many congregations have come to expect trite, banal sermons.
Let me wish peace and blessings for all my readers, regardless of whatever religious views you do or do not hold. Thanks for reading!
_________________________
By the way, here are blog posts that I’ve written about sermons that I think were admirable.
“Somebody Must Have Sense Enough to Dim the Lights:” Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Sermon about the Power of Love
Pope Francis’ Sermon for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees
Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana’s Sermon about the Summer of Love: Is Love the Answer to Nazism?
_________________________
Also, by the way, I am always looking for worthy sermons to analyze on this website. The preacher does not need to be famous. I would need an accurate transcript. If applicable, a video link would also be appreciated. You can post it in the comments below, e-mail me at wdharpine@hotmail.com, or tag me on Twitter at @WHarpine.
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