Scientists at Kyoto University in Japan have unveiled Buddharoid, a humanoid robot trained on Buddhist scriptures. The robot attended a temple event, performing hand gestures and answering questions like a spiritual priest.
Buddharoid is equipped with “BuddhaBot-Plus,” an AI chatbot built on the base of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The initiative is headed by Seiji Kumagai at Kyoto University’s Institute for the Future of Human Society. By combining advanced language models with an off-the-shelf humanoid platform, the robot can speak, gesture, move, and perform traditional prayer postures within temple environments.
More on the demo
In the demo, the grey-robed robot, a Unitree G1 humanoid, addressed the attendees with human-like gestures, such as bowing in respect and joining hands in prayer. Drawing on Buddhist scriptures, it responds to questions spanning personal concerns to broader social issues.
When asked by Professor Seiji Kumagai, a member of the research group who also serves as a monk, for advice on personal relationships, the robot replied, “It will improve if you reflect on your closeness with them and maintain an inner balance.”
“Buddhism teaches that it is important not to blindly follow one’s thoughts or rush headlong into things,” it said in a soothing baritone to the journalist from national broadcaster NHK.
Robotics in spirituality
Apparently, Buddharoid isn’t the first of its kind to function as a robot in the field of religion.
Mindar, a priest robot built in 2019, works on similar lines to the Buddharoid. Stationed at the 400-year-old Kodai-ji Temple in Kyoto, it delivers sermons, answers spiritual and personal questions using Buddhist scriptures, and performs similar rituals to its counterpart.
Mindar also has a human-like face and is constructed from aluminum and silicone on a commercially available robotic platform. It is trained with advanced LLMs to simulate the behavior and communication style of a human monk.
The use of AI in spirituality was confined to chatbots, such as AI simulations of Jesus Christ or GPT-3 answering questions on spirituality.
Solving a problem
Japan’s aging population and rural decline are leaving temples without followers, funding, or new monks, while priests juggle outside jobs that limit traditional services.
Robotics has emerged as a stopgap, with humanoid priests like Buddharoid and Mindar showing how automation can deliver sermons, guide rituals, and maintain engagement with shrinking communities.
The introduction of robotics is also helping preserve religious practices and temple operations despite demographic pressures and resource shortages worldwide today.
What does the future look like
The entry of humanoids adds a more physical dimension to this industry, opening the debate over how far humanoids can go in serving this field.
“In the future, AI humanoid robots are expected to be utilised in the religious field, such as assisting with or performing some of the religious rituals traditionally conducted by human priests. This is anticipated to bring about a paradigm shift in religious culture,” the university said.