AI Monk Dispenses Spiritual Advice at Japanese Temple

Japanese researchers have unveiled a robot monk powered by artificial intelligence that can dispense spiritual advice and may one day ease shortages of human clergy.

Created by Professor Seiji Kumagai at the University of Kyoto’s Institute for the Future of Human Society, “Buddharoid” is a two-legged humanoid trained on Buddhist scriptures, including the most esoteric texts.

Mounted on a Chinese-made Unitree G1 robot and using AI models from OpenAI, it can answer sensitive questions people might hesitate to share with humans.

In a temple demonstration, the faceless robot, wearing a simple grey garment, held its gloved hands in prayer, walked, and advised a worried journalist to “calm your mind and let go of the thought itself.”

The university says such robots may eventually assist with or perform religious rituals traditionally done by human monks, especially as Japan’s aging population creates labor shortages.

Ethical discussions continue, but researchers believe AI humanoids could bring a “paradigm shift in religious culture.”