Seoul's Jogye Temple unveiled this week a striking "robot monk" named Gabi, the first humanoid officially associated with a Buddhist ceremony in the country. Standing 1,30 meters tall and dressed in a traditional monastic robe, the robot participated in a religious ritual held ahead of Buddha's birthday celebrations.
According to temple officials, this initiative began "almost as a joke" before evolving into a truly symbolic project aimed at bridging the gap between technology and spirituality. The robot, developed from the Unitree G1 model, clasped its hands before the monks, answered religious questions in Korean, and received a Buddhist rosary during the ceremony.
An experiment combining artificial intelligence and religious tradition
The Jogyesa temple explains that it wants to use Gabi in educational activities and public ceremonies to attract a younger audience to Buddhism. The five traditional precepts of the religion have even been adapted to the robot with specific rules such as "do not harm humans," "do not damage other robots," and "conserve energy."
The event has reignited the debate in South Korea about the role of artificial intelligence in religious practices. The country, highly advanced in robotics, has seen experiments combining AI and spirituality emerge for several years, particularly in some Buddhist temples and specialized universities.
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