Japanese create the “buddhabot”, an AI capable of giving spiritual advice

What does happiness mean? This is a question that will soon be asked of the “Budabot”, a artificial intelligence created by Japanese researchers to bring spiritual advice from ancient scriptures to the public.

The software has been developed by a team of scholars specializing in religion and computing from Kyoto University. It was programmed to memorize some 1,000 teachings of Buddhist texts, although it is still in the testing phase.

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Through artificial intelligence, an image of Buddha sitting in the lotus position in augmented reality will appear on users’ cell phones and answer their questions.

“Sharpen your observations and explore the various reasons behind the fatality. Only then can you experience happiness.”was the answer an AFP reporter received to the question about happiness.

According to Seiji Kumagai, one of the leading developers of the software at Kyoto University, the artificial intelligence buddha is also meant to be a therapeutic distraction in “an increasingly stressful real world”.

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“The scriptures of Buddhism represent the wisdom of ancient times”explains to AFP the professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies.

“Our goal is for people to apply this ancient wisdom to their lives in this modern society and to find ways to be happier”he adds.

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According to Kumagai, this tool could be the previous stage of a virtual spiritual worldwhich he sees as a possible alternative to the shrinking of Japanese temples due to depopulation.

But before the number buddha can be used, the team still needs to improve grammar and context errors, which can lead to maladaptive and dangerous responses, Kumagai says.

“What would happen, for example, if people with suicidal thoughts consult the Buddha avatar?”he wonders.

Source: Elcomercio

James

I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years and have written for various news outlets. I currently work as an author at 24 News Recorder, mostly covering entertainment news. I have a keen interest in the industry and enjoy writing about the latest news and gossip. I am also a member of the National Association of Journalists.