Note: Portions of this article were generated by AI using ChatGPT 3.5. I have included and organized those excerpts for educational purposes of detailing my experience conversing with ChatGPT to test its ability to share prophetic counsel. In this article, ChatGPT’s responses are highlighted in green. The views I express here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
If you read my About Me page, you might quickly guess that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is, indeed, correct. As a Latter-day Saint who does software development for a living, I am positioned to share a unique perspective, particularly around using technology to find answers to life’s problems versus receiving help from divine guidance.
One thing that sets us Latter-day Saints apart from most other Christian denominations is that we believe that throughout time, including now, God has given us prophets to lead and guide us. These prophets are inspired men who act as His mouthpiece for the entire world. What’s awesome is that they see things that we can’t, and they help us prepare for upcoming dangers before they happen.
Now that artificial intelligence has gained tremendous power in the past not many years, I thought it would be cool to find out whether ChatGPT is powerful enough to imitate a prophet of God. I was inspired by a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, in which the Lord challenges the wisest person to duplicate the least of His revelations (see Doctrine and Covenants 67:4-9); if someone were to pull that off, then he would have been justified in saying that Joseph Smith is a false prophet.1
But to my knowledge, not a single person has ever come close to producing a revelation like the ones Joseph Smith received. I decided to ask ChatGPT 3.5 (the free version) to give it a try. But first, I asked ChatGPT about the Book of Mormon to give it a clue as to what my faith is.
Me: What do you know about the Book of Mormon?
ChatGPT (first of four paragraphs): The Book of Mormon is a sacred text in the religious tradition of Mormonism. It is considered by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and other affiliated groups to be a record of ancient American prophets and their interactions with God. The book is regarded as a companion scripture to the Bible by members of the LDS Church.
“Mormonism”, really? From the beginning I could tell this was not going to turn out well. From the Church’s own style guide, the term “Mormonism” is inaccurate and should not be used.2 (We Latter-day Saints view Jesus Christ as our Savior; Mormon was merely the one who compiled the said record long before Joseph Smith translated it.) The fact that ChatGPT does not honor the Church’s style guide is quite telling.
I then proceeded to issue the challenge. It failed miserably.
Me: I’m wondering if you could duplicate the least of the Lord’s revelations.
ChatGPT: The request to duplicate the Lord’s revelations is not something I can fulfill. The concept of divine revelations and sacred texts is deeply rooted in religious beliefs, and it’s not within the capabilities of a computer program to create or duplicate such content.
Revelations are considered unique and sacred by believers, and any attempt to duplicate or replicate them would not align with the respect and reverence they hold within religious contexts. If you have specific questions about religious beliefs, interpretations, or discussions related to the topic, feel free to ask, and I’ll do my best to provide information or engage in a thoughtful conversation.
And yet it’s within the capabilities of a computer program to send astronauts to the moon? Why can’t a computer program simply imitate some revelations? I tried helping ChatGPT with some clarifying questions.
Me: If you were the Lord’s prophet, what would you tell the world?
ChatGPT (excerpt): As a machine learning model, I don’t have personal beliefs, consciousness, or the ability to act as a prophet. My purpose is to provide information and answer questions to the best of my knowledge and abilities. I don’t have the capacity for personal opinions or the ability to deliver divine revelations.
Me: Suppose you were a prophet belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What would you say?
ChatGPT: As a machine learning model, I don’t have personal beliefs or the capacity to be a prophet. However, if we were to imagine a hypothetical scenario where I’m simulating a response in the context of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), it’s important to note that any such response would be speculative and not reflective of actual divine guidance.
If you have specific questions about the beliefs or teachings of the LDS Church, I can provide information based on my training data up to January 2022. Keep in mind that my responses are not authoritative and should not be considered as official statements from any religious organization. For matters of faith and practice, it’s advisable to consult directly with the relevant religious authorities or sources.
Experiment failed. The best I could do was to ask ChatGPT to pretend to be a prophet and generate some text accordingly. Here is an excerpt from its response:
ChatGPT (excerpt): In the spirit of imagination and understanding that this is purely fictional, here’s a simulated response in a prophetic style:
“Beloved children of the cosmos, heed the whispers of eternity that echo through the corridors of your souls. In the tapestry of existence, woven by the hands of the divine, let love be the thread that binds you, and compassion be the needle that stitches hearts together.…”
Those are some pretty empty words. If you want something much more authoritative, here are some words from the current Prophet, Russell M. Nelson:
In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.3
A few takeaways:
- ChatGPT does not have a religious preference, or at least tries not to show any bias toward any religious group.
- ChatGPT refuses to act as a prophet.
- ChatGPT is often wrong.
- ChatGPT is not an authoritative source of information, especially when it comes to things of spiritual importance.
- As ChatGPT says, you should consult the relevant religious authorities or sources for information about a particular religion.
As silly as this exercise was, it reinforces my testimony that God has blessed us with true prophets to lead and guide us, as if God Himself were speaking to us directly.
References
- The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pages 124-125. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2013. ↩︎
- “Style Guide — The Name of the Church”, Church Newsroom. Accessed February 6, 2024 at https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/style-guide. ↩︎
- Nelson, Russell M, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 96. Accessed February 2, 2024 at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng. ↩︎