From Online Buddha Halls to Robot-Monks

Abstract

The interaction between religion and the new media has affected the perception that society has of religion, changed cardinal structures in the relationship between religious practice and religious authorities, and also transformed features and functions of the media. If we look at mainland China today, religious individuals and groups have their own WeChat and Weibo accounts, and internet websites; some believers operate solely in cyberspace and perform rituals online; and commercials often adopt religious symbols to brand nonreligious products. In other words, we find religious people or organizations that use (and even own) different media platforms as channels of communication; we also see that religious imageries are more and more put to use in the secular domain for nonreligious purposes. This article will analyze how and why Buddhists have resorted to social and digital media and even robotics to preach the Dharma and attract potential new followers, but also to redefine their public image in the wider Chinese society. This study also will ask whether the state has directed or merely engaged with this new Dharma media-enterprise, and in what way. In addressing these questions, one section of this article will explore the creation of the robot-monk Xian’er (at the Longquan Monastery, Beijing). Xian’er’s creation will be considered in relation to similar androids, placed in dialogue with the current debate on the use of robotics in religion, and viewed from posthumanist perspectives.

Religious Actors and Artificial Intelligence: Examples from the Field and Suggestions for Further Research

“…Or to undergo a path of personal enlightenment through the concept of reincarnation? All these questions are part of extensive speculations about the theological implications that ai might provoke in theological studies (Herzfeld 2002(Herzfeld , 2009Rappaport 2006;Labrecque 2017;Rambelli 2018;Gould and Walters 2020;Travagnin 2020;Hongladarom 2021) with the consequent reference to an imago roboticae (Kimura 2017).…”

The Interaction of Religion and Robotics and al-Sāmirī’s Calf (the Golden Calf) as an Early Theomorphic Robot

“…It can answer questions on Buddhism or daily life, discuss, joke, and lead meditation face-to-face or via a messaging app. Xian'er has increased the number of people attending monastery services (Travagnin, 2020).…”

Thinking tools for AI, Religion & Culture

“…This is readily seen in the episode Chunsangui Pijomul (The Heavenly Creature), which is part of the 2012 Korean science-fiction anthology Inryu Myeongmang Bogoseo (Doomsday Book) directed by Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung. Travagnin (2020) has expanded on these points in her study of Xian'er. The Chinese three teachings seem open to a more nuanced approach to the co-existence with -and adoption of -AI, advancing the possibility of ethical sustainability and a harmonious future, and proposing the view of a potential cosmic ethics that transcends human ethics and is comprehensive of AI ethics.…”