"You forgot who you're talking to, and you forgot who my daddy was. You forgot where I had it from. You forgot how I said it. I have got special possession," said Steve Smedley, technical director at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.
"If my church when I was a kid was like this, I might still be religious," said Nick Watt, CNN reporter.
Now, Pastor Justin Lester Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, is pioneering the inhuman.
He's cloned his mind, birthed an AI digital doppelganger, which ministers to his flock when the real man cannot.
"I can make an appointment with the pastor, but I can ask this question right now," said Smedley.
"It's amazing. You have to try it sometime," said Rev. Stephany Baker, spiritual development at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.
"I will. I will," said Watt.
"I'm feeling a little lonely today," Watt said, talking to AI pastor.
AI-generated audio from Delphi.Ai/Mrjlester replied, "It's not good for a man to be alone. That's scripture, that's truth, and it applies to you right now. Loneliness isn't weakness. It's a signal that you were made for connection. So here's what I want you to do today. Reach out to one person."
"I like to use it when, one, he's away, or two, there's a question I'm too embarrassed to ask him because I feel like I should know the answer to it," said Breanah Drake, event coordinator at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.
"Some things you may be hesitant to say out loud," Smedley added.
So, how does it work?
"I connected on YouTube, my TikTok, my Instagram and everything I've ever written. So, all the way back to every sermon I've ever preached. Books, all of that are in there," said Rev. Lester.
"You obviously evolve as a human and as a preacher and a pastor. Does it evolve with you?," Watt asked.
"Every single day, it updates," said Rev. Lester.
Watt asked, "You said in your sermon Sunday to give other people credit. What did you mean?"
"Nick, I appreciate you pressing me on that. Let me be real with you. I was talking about giving credit to the people around you," AI pastor said.
Rev. Lester responding: "It creeps me out because somebody's literally talked to it before and was like, 'I literally thought you had a conversation with me.' so I don't have the video part on because that was weird."
Watt asked, "Ok, so if the tech there catches up, will you do so I can look at you?"
Rev. Lester replied, "Absolutely, yeah, I'll do it because I'm curious about it. I'm an innovator."
"I'm not gonna lie, I would live for that. I live for that," said Breanah Drake.
Rev. Lester already launched pastor GPT, which helps other pastors write sermons, and his little church offers coding classes and uses AI to handle the earthly and mundane.
"I went to school to preach the gospel, to teach the gospel, care for god's people. I did not go to school to email," Rev. Lester said.
"So AI is giving you more time to be human," Watt said.
"Absolutely. AI, man, gives me more time to be a better father, be a better husband, to be a better pastor. Hospital visits don't have to be five minutes. They could be 20," Rev. Lester said.
But can AI do this?
"And when I watch you preach, I see and I feel humanity, I see and feel frailty, I feel all these human things. Can you really bottle that into an algorithm?," Watt said.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. So, AI cannot feel," Rev. Lester said.
"You're also not creating something that's gonna replace you," Watt asked.
"No. No, I think they're pretty cool, and so, no," Rev. Later said.
"We're not gonna be replacing the pastor. We're not gonna be having weird virtual churches with no humans," Watt asks.
"No, I think what we see is an expansion of the church happening, an expansion of love, an expansion of humanity," said Rev. Baker.
The pastor's AI twin does have some guard rails.
It will only talk with you about something the real pastor knows about -- and not engage on random topics.
Also, if you bring up something serious like suicide or abuse, the bot will say "That's too much for me. Call the pastor."
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