ChatGPT Delivers First AI Church Sermon

PLUS: AI Chatbot Khanmigo Enters the Classroom

Author

Adides Williams
June 16, 2023

Welcome to the 13th issue of the AstroFeather AI newsletter!

So... this week was an interesting one! ChatGPT just delivered its first church sermon, AI tutors are being used in classrooms, Google launched a virtual try-on platform, the EU is one step closer to passing the world's most comprehensive AI legislation, and the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that generative AI will eventually add trillions in global economic value. You’ll find these and other trending headlines and updates in this week’s issue.

I hope you enjoy reading this week’s updates and if you have any helpful feedback, feel free to respond to this email or contact me directly on LinkedIn [@adideswilliams]

Thanks - Adides Williams, Founder @ AstroFeather

In this week’s recap (12 - 15 min read):

  • ChatGPT Delivers First AI Church Sermon.

  • US Schools Experiment With AI Chatbot Tutors In The Classroom.

  • Product Previews and Launches.

  • Company Announcements and News Throughout the Industry.

Must-Read News Articles and Updates

Image credit: Daniel Vogl / Getty Images

Update #1. ChatGPT Delivers First AI Church Sermon.

The latest: More than 300 Protestant worshippers recently gathered at St. Paul's Church in the Bavarian town of Fürth, Germany, to attend a service written - and delivered - by ChatGPT. The chatbot was embodied by several photorealistic human-looking avatars, each of whom led a portion of the 40-minute service, which included music, prayers, and a sermon on the theme "Now is the Time”.

The experimental ChatGPT-led service was held as part of the German Evangelical Church Congress, a biennial event in Germany that often attracts tens of thousands of attendees and features faith, cultural, and political events.

How it works: Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian and philosopher at the University of Vienna, designed the AI-generated service to test ChatGPT's ability to generate and deliver a credible church sermon. While Simmerlein's collection of ChatGPT prompts has not been made public, his recent interview with the Associated Press (AP) highlights some of the prompt engineering techniques he used.

Here, prompt engineering refers to a relatively new discipline that focuses on understanding and developing the most effective ways to communicate with AI systems like ChatGPT to ensure that they consistently produce a desired output. In Simmerlein's case, the desired output included a sermon and prayers.

In response to questions about ChatGPT’s output, Simmerlein said the following: “I told the artificial intelligence we are at the Kirchentag [church congress], you are a preacher, and the motto is ‘Now is the Time’. What would a service look like?” After ChatGPT generated its outline for the service, Simmerlein mentioned that he would follow up by asking it to provide specific output, such as an introduction for a sermon.

In reviewing Simmerlein's prompt, we can identify some common prompting techniques that he used to "guide" or persuade ChatGPT to produce the desired output, including role assignment, giving instructions, and chained prompting.

  • Role assignment: This is a technique for communicating with an AI in which you ask it to assume a particular role, also called an identity, before performing a particular task. In this step, Simmerlein tells ChatGPT, "You are a preacher..." to give it context and encourage it to generate responses from a preacher's perspective.

  • Giving instructions: This technique involves giving an AI as much information as possible to help it understand how to engage a target audience. In this case, Simmerlein defines the audience as churchgoers by writing "...we are at the church congress...". He also helps ChatGPT understand the desired text output by asking it "What would a church service look like?"

  • Chained prompting: This technique focuses on breaking complex tasks into several intermediate steps. Here, Simmerlein first asked ChatGPT for the structure (or outline) of a service that included a sermon. Once ChatGPT generated an outline, Simmerlein immediately followed up with requests for the sermon introduction and related bullet points.

What about the avatars and voices? While I didn't find any information on how Simmerlein generated the avatars or voices for his ChatGPT service, there are several startups that specialize in these areas, such as Synthesia and ElevenLabs.

  • AI Avatars: Synthesia is perhaps the best-known platform for generating photorealistic AI avatars that can easily be used in videos and is reportedly used by 35% of Fortune 100 companies for training and marketing purposes.

  • AI Voices: ElevenLabs is likely the best-known platform for synthetic voice generation. Interestingly, however, it has been in the news frequently because its Prime Voice AI platform has been used by malicious actors to illegally copy and sell the voices of famous voice actors and other celebrities.

What the attendees thought of the service: The service elicited a wide range of reactions from attendees - some were fascinated, others were unimpressed. In general, attendees appreciated the novelty of the ChatGPT-led service, but felt that the sermon was monotonous, lacked emotion, and needed a "human touch".

  • One attendee, Heiderose Schmidt, mentioned that "the avatars displayed no emotions, had no body language, and spoke so quickly and monotonously that it was difficult for me to concentrate on what they said.”

  • Another attendee, a Lutheran pastor named Marc Jansen, told the AP that he "actually imagined it to be worse," also noting that the AI avatars showed no emotion or spirituality.

  • Even Simmerlein (the creator of the AI service) acknowledged the limitations of his creation when he said, "The pastor is in the congregation, she lives with them, she knows them from the beginning. Artificial intelligence cannot do that. It does not know the congregation."

Behind the news: While ChatGPT may not be ready to replace human ministers (and other clergy), there are several examples of people of different faiths and religions experimenting with conversational chatbots and pre-programmed robots to provide a range of services, including religion-specific life advice and leading prayer events.

  • Religion-themed chatbots: ChatGPT and GPT-4 have been trained on various religious and philosophical texts to create chatbots that provide religion-specific advice and guidance. Examples include Gita GPT, which provides answers based on the Bhagavad Gita lectures; "Buddha GPT" (Hotoke AI), which addresses users' concerns based on Buddha's Dharma teachings; and an "AI Rabbi" that answers questions about Judaism and Jewish texts.

  • Robots used to perform services: Throughout Asia and Europe, robots have been used to deliver sermons and perform funeral rites. Japan is home to humanoid robots that have made headlines for their use in conducting various religious services. For example, Mindar delivers pre-programmed 25-minute sermons to worshippers at the Kodaiji Buddhist Temple in Kyoto, Japan, and Pepper was designed to conduct Buddhist funeral services with the assistance of a human monk. India has also introduced a robot that performs the Hindu aarti ritual. Meanwhile, in Poland, the 17-inch-tall (43 centimeters) SanTO robots have been used to provide spiritual support to those with limited access to church services.

  • “AI Jesus”: Most recently, a project by The Singularity Group (TSG) called Ask_jesus ("AI Jesus") made headlines after its launch on the popular online streaming platform Twitch.tv. AI Jesus is based on GPT-4, trained on biblical texts, personified by a digital avatar, and responds to questions from Twitch chat users in real time.

Why it matters:

  • Experiments with AI in the church are underway: For many, religion, faith, and worship are deeply personal (and sensitive) topics. As such, the idea of AI replacing key elements of one's faith is an understandably eyebrow-raising (and possibly offensive) proposition. While the exact role of AI (and robotics) in religion has yet to be determined, it is clear from the examples provided that various groups around the world are experimenting with these technologies to deliver sermons, perform rituals, and provide religion-specific advice.

  • Conversational chatbots could be used to reduce the administrative burden on the church: Given that many ministers (and other church leaders) must balance staff management, sermon preparation (including outlining and research), and other administrative tasks (such as responding to emails), I believe there is an opportunity to use finely tuned language models to assist in the creation of documents of various kinds. Chatbots trained on volumes of religious texts or church-specific documents would also allow members to use natural language text prompts to query (and analyze) thousands of documents at once.

Additional Links for “ChatGPT Delivers First AI Church Sermon”:

Image credit: Khan Labs

Update #2. US Schools Experiment With AI Chatbot Tutors In The Classroom.

The latest: Khan Academy is a popular education and learning nonprofit that is piloting an experimental AI chatbot tutor, called Khanmigo, in elementary and middle schools across the United States. Khan Academy's pilot program includes about 1,000 teachers, students, and school district administrators at public schools in New Jersey and Indiana, as well as private schools like Khan Lab School (founded in Silicon Valley by Khan Academy founder Sal Kahn).

How it works: The core of Khanmigo is GPT-4 (OpenAI's successor to ChatGPT), which allows it to engage in a back-and-forth dialogue with students. Interestingly, the Khanmigo system helps students develop critical thinking skills by guiding them through the problem-solving process rather than providing immediate answers to questions.

  • Personalized guidance and mentoring: Khanmigo can guide students through math problems, offer vocabulary practice, help debug code, and provide story writing assistance.

  • Challenge critical thinking and discussion skills: Khanmigo's simulation platform is noteworthy. The chatbot can serve as a debate partner for primary and secondary school students on a range of debate topics (e.g., "Is homework necessary or should it be banned?"), as well as allow students to chat with simulated historical figures such as Plato or fictional characters such as Hamlet.

  • Reduce the administrative burden on teachers: The platform reportedly also has a teacher mode to help teachers create lesson plans, generate progress reports, and write classroom exercises.

  • Provide safety and security: In an interview with Fast Company, Khanmigo co-founder Sal Kahn mentioned that there's a "second AI" that monitors students' conversations and interactions with Khanmigo, ending any conversations that become inappropriate and notifying teachers (and parents) of the interaction.

Behind the news: Although some schools are beginning to embrace the use of conversational chatbots like GPT-4 in the classroom (through the Khan Lab pilot program), it's worth noting that ChatGPT has had a contentious relationship with the education sector since its release in late 2022.

  • Several school systems in the US have banned ChatGPT from their networks and devices, citing growing concerns from educators that students are using the chatbot to cheat on assignments. These systems include Seattle Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, New York City Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, and Montgomery County in Alabama.

  • The ability of ChatGPT to generate detailed answers to both simple and complex questions, combined with the increased use of ChatGPT by students to complete their homework, has also led many educators to adjust their approach to both written and take-home assignments.

Driving the news: While educators, school administrators, and education technology (EdTech) startups continue to debate the role of conversational chatbots in the classroom and potential avenues for integration, the impact of ChatGPT (and by extension, GPT-4) is being felt throughout the online and private tutoring industries.

  • Chegg's stock plummets: Chegg is a well-known online education support company that maintains a group of tutors and instructors who help students with homework and test preparation as part of a subscription plan. In early May, however, Chegg's stock value dropped nearly 50% after the CEO reported that "a significant spike in student interest in ChatGPT" was negatively impacting the company's new customer growth rate, leading the company to suspend its full-year outlook (forecast of financial performance over the course of an entire fiscal year).

  • Pearson is affected by the Chegg contagion: Chegg's UK-based competitor, Pearson, provides similar services to Chegg, including student tutoring and homework help. News that ChatGPT was negatively impacting tutoring services caused some investors to sell Pearson's stock, sending its shares down more than 15%.

  • Students and parents replaced tutors with ChatGPT: In May, Intelligent.com surveyed approximately 3,000 students (ages 16-24) and approximately 3,200 parents of younger students to better understand the study habits of the group following the release of ChatGPT. Among the students who used both a tutor and ChatGPT, Intelligent.com found that nearly all had replaced some of their tutoring sessions with ChatGPT, 95% said their grades improved because of ChatGPT, and 90% preferred studying with ChatGPT to studying with a tutor. Parents of younger students also preferred ChatGPT over tutors, with 95% saying that studying with ChatGPT was more effective.

Why it matters: 

From these examples, there are at least two major concerns regarding the role of conversational chatbots (like ChatGPT) in education, including their impact on: 1) traditional teaching methods and 2) existing educational technology (EdTech) platforms that provide services such as tutoring, homework help, and test prep.

  • Impact on traditional teaching methods: As chatbots infiltrate the world of education, some educators have begun to replace traditional written assignments with more interactive methods such as group work and oral exams. Some professors are also redesigning their writing assignments, requiring students to write a first draft in class and explain later revisions, while others are eliminating take-home and open-book assignments altogether.

  • Impact on EdTech tutoring platforms: Chegg's difficulty in attracting new users due to the increasing use (and popularity) of ChatGPT may be a signal that current tutoring service models need to adapt or risk being replaced entirely by the cheaper, on-demand service that ChatGPT (and other large language models) can provide.

Additional Links for “US Schools Experiment With AI Chatbot Tutors In The Classroom”:

Update #3. Product Previews and Launches.

Google announces virtual try-on feature: Google is launching a feature that lets you virtually try on clothes from popular brands. The new feature uses AI models of different body types and will initially be available for women's tops, with men's tops to be added later.

Image credit: Google

Adobe launches Generative Recolor: Adobe launched Generative Recolor for Adobe Illustrator. The new feature enables designers and marketers to change colors, themes, and fonts of graphics in Illustrator using text prompts. Under the hood, Generative Recolor uses Adobe Firefly, a collection of generative AI tools.

Image credit: Adobe

Canva launches developer tools: Canva launched an app development platform consisting of several APIs and access to JavaScript libraries, documentation, and sample apps. Canva also launched a $50 million developer innovation fund for the development of apps for the Canva App Marketplace.

Image credit: Canva

Mercdes-Benz upgrades its voice assistant with AI: Mercedes-Benz is integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT into its vehicles with the MBUX infotainment system. The existing voice command capabilities of Mercedes vehicles, triggered by the phrase "Hey, Mercedes," will be able to remember context, engage in back-and-forth dialogue with the driver or passengers, and respond to a wider range of requests.

Image credit: Mercedes-Benz

Additional Links for “Product Previews and Launches”:

Update #4. Company Announcements and News Throughout the Industry.

EU passes draft AI regulation: The European Parliament has passed a draft law called the AI Act, potentially becoming the world's first comprehensive AI legislation. The AI Act takes a “risk-based” approach, focusing on applications and advanced AI systems with the greatest potential for harm. It also requires developers of AI systems to be transparent about the development process, such as disclosing more about the data contained in model training sets.

McKinsey’s comprehensive report on AI: Generative AI (GenAI) could add between $2.6 trillion and $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute. The report also suggests that 50% of today's jobs could be automated between 2030 and 2060. According to the report, the majority of GenAI's economic value is expected to come from automating tasks in customer operations, sales, software engineering, and research and development.

Synthesia secures $90 million in funding: Synthesia just raised $90 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its valuation to $1 billion. Synthesia specializes in AI-generated photorealistic human-looking avatars for training and personalized marketing videos. With more than 50,000 customers, including Tiffany's and Moody's Analytics, Synthesia is used by 35% of the Fortune 100 for training and marketing purposes.

Mistral AI’s record breaking seed round: Just one month after its founding, Paris-based startup Mistral AI announced that it has raised €105 million ($113 million) in funding, reportedly Europe's largest seed round ever. The company, co-founded by former Google DeepMind and Meta employees, aims to compete with OpenAI in the development of large language models (LLMs) and GenAI.

GitHub survey – 92% of programmers use AI: A new GitHub survey of 500 programmers found that 92% of respondents are using AI tools, with 70% reporting benefits from using them. The survey results suggest that developers are using AI tools to improve code quality, increase speed, and reduce production-level issues. GitHub's survey is not the only evidence that programmers are relying on AI to improve their code, as Stack Overflow (a popular online site for sharing programming knowledge) recently confirmed that a decline in its web traffic was due to programmers migrating to ChatGPT.

Leaked Amazon documents: A leaked internal Amazon document (obtained by Business Insider) reveals that Amazon is embracing ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. The document reportedly lists nearly 70 ways to use ChatGPT (and other chatbots) in the workplace, including automatically generating software code, summarizing user reviews, and quickly answering questions about Amazon Web Services

Paul McCartney uses AI to create “final” Beatles song: Paul McCartney has revealed that he used AI to create a "final" Beatles song to be released later this year. The song will feature the late John Lennon's vocals from an old demo recording. McCartney explained that the inspiration for the project came from Peter Jackson's documentary "Get Back," which used a custom AI system to separate the vocals of the various Beatles members.

Additional Links for “Company Announcements and News Throughout the Industry”:

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