This AI Buddha Tool will Tell You About an Easy Path to Enlightenment

This AI Buddha tool will have good acceptance from people who cannot practice 'digital detachment'

With growing technological interference mankind has forgotten what it is like to be at peace. Thanks to omnipresent technology we are always depressed and so messed up is our traditional support system that it feels like dealing with it all by ourselves. What if the same technology can offer an antidote? Here is an AI that can relieve psychological pain by scouring spiritual guidance from ancient scriptures.  A Japanese team of religion and computing academics in collaboration with Kyoto University, made this AI Buddha memorize around 1,000 teachings from Buddhist texts like Sutta Nipata and Dhammapada. The system is a combination of the "Buddhabot" AI dialogue system (conversational AI) developed by the team in 2021 and augmented reality (AR) technology. Users can pose a question to AI Buddha in the app to seek spiritual guidance in times of despair. The augmented reality-enabled tool displays a pint-sized Buddha sitting cross-legged with a background similar to that of the user, giving a sense of its presence in the real world.

"Buddhist circles face a harsh reality with the income of temples waning, while people's anxiety and suffering are growing amid the coronavirus pandemic and other crises. We'd like to respond to both challenges by combining traditional wisdom with AI and the metaverse", said Seiji Kumagai, associate professor in Buddhist studies at Kyoto University, and head of the research team. In times when smartphone apps have become ubiquitous and go-to solutions for very common and also serious issues only to be left helpless, this AI Buddha tool will have good acceptance from people who cannot practice 'digital detachment', or at least it is a blessing in disguise for them. "Buddhism scriptures represent the wisdom of ancient times. Our goal is for people to apply such old wisdom to their lives in this modern society, and seek ways to become happier," the Buddhist and Tibetan studies associate professor told AFP.

If you have questions that require a philosophical point of view, it is enough to invoke this Buddha on your mobile. For example, a question like 'What is the meaning of happiness?' asked by AFP, its answer meandered across sharpening observations and exploring various reasons behind the doom. Well, the answer sounds a bit out of context but going by the words it is using we can say, it is an app with potential. Experts believe this app needs a lot more improvisation with respect to grammar and identifying the context of the question as it can prove to be utterly harmful to an emotionally distressed person on the brink of committing suicide. The app is not available to the public yet as it is still in its testing stage. As a part of the testing process, a workshop was held at Kyoto University where students and faculty members were asked to try the AI enlightenment tool. When a 19-year-old student Yuya Ohara, a football fan asked the app what it takes to be an ideal football player, its reply was "Abandon your possessiveness". It is indeed hilarious and healing, if only the user can summon his non-existing sense of humor in emotionally draining situations.