I’m also troubled by all the others. What gets me in this case, aside from the fact that it’s more “personal,” is that there’s a sacramental nature to the priesthood that feels almost mocked by the notion of a gimmick like this. Also, as others have pointed out, this is a continued slap in the face to women who’ve long struggled for ordination in the Roman Catholic Church only to see that their church would rather call an advanced algorithm a “priest” before it would do so for them.
As an actual, honest-to-God (Episcopal) priest myself, the idea of an “AI priest” is very troubling.
The church will make an AI priest before making a woman a “priest”
Why? The high bar is AI doctors and their jobs are already under threat. AI Priests are much simpler and less risky to implement.
I’m also troubled by all the others. What gets me in this case, aside from the fact that it’s more “personal,” is that there’s a sacramental nature to the priesthood that feels almost mocked by the notion of a gimmick like this. Also, as others have pointed out, this is a continued slap in the face to women who’ve long struggled for ordination in the Roman Catholic Church only to see that their church would rather call an advanced algorithm a “priest” before it would do so for them.