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Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

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Re: Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

#181

Post by science_casual »

AdamN wrote: post #145
rgblambda wrote: post #109

Not defending the use of AI, but plenty of people who grew up going to Mass on Sunday know that priests often recycle old homilies, deliver lazily written homilies or homilies that were clearly pulled from the internet, or just skip them if they couldn't think of anything that week or are running late for something. Absolute worst was when an intelligent priest put in incredible effort, only for it to go over the hea…

Yeah I think that happened to me yesterday. We had a new priest (actually retired and visiting) and the homily was 10x more engaging than the normal ones. I fear that the rest of the congregation didn't like that he wasn't using cheap techniques like constant repetition and that the content was more elevated about what was really meant by the authors of part of Genesis.

[dead]

Re: Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

#182

Post by carlosjobim »

falcor84 wrote: post #133
graemep wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do not have to pay anything.

Where does the money come from? Religious services are generally funded by donations, and these donations are usually done in the open, whereby (from what I saw) regularly attending and not donating the expected amount would put you in a socially uncomfortable situation.

The definition of a donation is that you don't have to give it.

If you have to pay then it's either a purchase or a tax.

But you know this of course.

Re: Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

#183

Post by stratocumulus0 »

aubanel wrote: post #167
stratocumulus0 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was raised Catholic and even though the last time I've been to a church could have been in 2019, I don't remember any priest who wouldn't just gloss over the religious content for the day (copied from an online source), itching to share his politics and the most recent ragebait he's got from Facebook at the end.

That's a bit harsh! I go to mass every Sunday (in France) and rarely have political stuff. When there, it's most often about abortion or euthanasia (of course in a pro-life (or anti-choice) direction, "you shall not kill") But dull, empty homilies are (alas) very frequent.

Catholicism is different in every country, I would imagine that a church in a secular place such as France would contain itself a bit, because there's no societal expectation that anyone should follow its religion, and therefore the priests have to put in effort into making people stay. In Poland, where I grew up, the Church still holds a lot of power and prestige, and priests consider themselves to have authority over people's lives. Leaving the church is seen as more of a childish rebellion, and I would often hear mocking remarks about non-believers in homilies.

Re: Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

#184

Post by mountainb »

stratocumulus0 wrote: post #152
solatic wrote: post #48

No priest will feed sufficient context about their community into the context window - even if they were skilled enough to do so, unless the model was locally hosted, doing so would be a violation of their vows of silence. Good homilies are written with the particular community in mind. If it were more effective to write a homily for a generic public, the Vatican would have started publishing standard homilies long a…

I was raised Catholic and even though the last time I've been to a church could have been in 2019, I don't remember any priest who wouldn't just gloss over the religious content for the day (copied from an online source), itching to share his politics and the most recent ragebait he's got from Facebook at the end.

I have heard phoned in homilies from some priests but this is not accurate in the United States based on my travels and weekly local attendance. Sorry that you had a bad experience.

Re: Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

#186

Post by refsys »

solatic wrote: post #48

No priest will feed sufficient context about their community into the context window - even if they were skilled enough to do so, unless the model was locally hosted, doing so would be a violation of their vows of silence. Good homilies are written with the particular community in mind. If it were more effective to write a homily for a generic public, the Vatican would have started publishing standard homilies long a…

"We value your privacy! Do you consent to sharing the contents of your confession with our 2137 partners? [ACCEPT ALL] [MAYBE LATER]"

Re: Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

#187

Post by szszrk »

graemep wrote: post #139
szszrk wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you live in a place with mandatory state supported church.

Anywhere other than Germany where than happens?

In Germany it's not really true. AFAIK you pay those taxes only if you are registered follower of 3 main religions. You literally can opt out, they are a counter example.

Poland is the one I experience it. Church is funded in multiple ways. At least 3 billion PLN a year from concordat deal from 90's. Priests have pensions and annuities. Churches pay no taxes on (heating) fuels. Schools pay for Religious Education classes, very often run by priests or nuns. Uniformed services almost always pay for cleric's services or clerics fully in their services.

Of course church still gathers funds on their own, sometimes using dark patterns.

Re: Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

#188

Post by tgv »

karel-3d wrote: post #69
johanvts wrote: post #24

I wish the Catholic Church would use that approach more often.

Church in general has neutral stance towards AI. Pope himself rather negative. On the other hand; the local parishes often love posting AI generated devotional pictures, and the laity loves it even more; and they look horrible. I saw sooo many AI Marys.

AI Mary, bereft of grace, paid for by sinners.

I left the church a long time ago, but this still makes me sad.

Re: Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies

#190

Post by karel-3d »

tgv wrote: post #188
karel-3d wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Church in general has neutral stance towards AI. Pope himself rather negative. On the other hand; the local parishes often love posting AI generated devotional pictures, and the laity loves it even more; and they look horrible. I saw sooo many AI Marys.

AI Mary, bereft of grace, paid for by sinners. I left the church a long time ago, but this still makes me sad.

no really, go to any popular Facebook group for laity and it's all AI Marys.

The "shrimp jesus" meme got popular some months ago, but, in Catholic groups, it's mostly AI Marys

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