Robot Priest Unveiled in Wittenberg

[Rev. Rye]

I wasn't sure where to put this one, but since the robot is the big selling point, I decided to put it in Technology.

Five hundred years after revolutionary printing presses spread news of Martin Luther’s radical call for church reform across Europe, technology is again challenging religious tradition in the small German town of Wittenberg.

A robot priest that delivers blessings in five languages and beams light from its hands has been unveiled as part of an exhibition to mark the anniversary of the start of the Reformation, a Europe-wide religious, political and cultural upheaval sparked when Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door in the town.

Half a millennium later, the robot, called BlessU-2, is intended to trigger debate about the future of the church and the potential of artificial intelligence.

Full article is here:

And, just for the records, the church in question is, in fact, Protestant, so I doubt they're going to program it to molest children.





Any thoughts?