ChatGPT even writes sermons

"Today, we are reminiscing about our beloved father. The Bible says, 'It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.' Our father is now facing death and judgment, but we can think of his eternal life. The Bible also says, ‘the dead does not die anymore, and the life does not come out of the death' (John's Letter 11:26). Father, we will always love you."

Although it may sound like a prayer given by a priest at a funeral, it was generated by ChatGPT, an AI language model, in response to a request for a prayer that quotes the Bible in memory of a deceased father. Is ChatGPT capable of writing not only poems and novels but also sermons?

"Ｒegardless of errors that may be in the content, the structure of the text resembles that of a prayer," a person from the religious community said. ”Although it may not be as well-crafted as a prayer delivered by a priest, it could be helpful for ordinary believers who encounter unexpected circumstances." The text adopts the form of a prayer and a sermon, with the main message at its core and some concluding thoughts.

There were errors in the citation of the Bible books quoted. ChatGPT stated the quoted verse as 'John's Letter 11:26,' but similar content is found in John's Gospel Chapter 11, verse 26. Additionally, due to the various translations of the Bible both domestically and internationally, there are differences in translations between the commonly used Revised Korean Version and the one used by Protestant churches in Korea. In the Revised Korean Version, John's Gospel Chapter 11, verse 26 is translated as ‘And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?'

"Unlike a sermon or prayer written by a human, the ChatGPT generated response is simply an automatic string of sentences based on the input material, without any philosophical or religious beliefs or purposes," ChatGPT said to a question about the potential issues. "Therefore, it is important to note that the sermons generated by ChatGPT do not include any foundations of belief, which could potentially propagate incorrect beliefs."


Chin-Ku Lee sys1201@donga.com