The wisdom of the Buddha may one day be in the palm of your hand, with a BuddhaBot icon on your phone nestled between the latest mobile game and a dating app.
BuddhaBot is a chatbot that uses text based on Buddhist scripture to answer user questions.
It was developed with the help of Prof. Seiji Kumagai of the Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society, who is also a True Pure Land Buddhist monk. He spoke about the chatbot at a Foreign Press Center Japan briefing earlier this year.
Kumagai is also working on Teraverse, an augmented reality system that displays Buddhist avatars in one's surroundings on a screen.
While not yet available for public use, BuddhaBot is being used first by select monks in Bhutan after the monastic community there reached out to Kumagai. The aim is to discuss in fiscal 2026-27 its expansion to the general public in Bhutan.
BuddhaBot has three options for personalities: Gotama Buddha (Buddha Level), Vasubandhu (Saint Level) and Shinran (Founder Monk Level). Each gives different answers to the same questions based on their associated writings.
Its initial function was only to answer questions with text based on Buddhist scripture.
The system was simple, straightforward and did not generate AI hallucinations, where information is jumbled or incorrect. However, Kumagai said the answers may be difficult for laypeople to understand and quotations were sometimes completely inapplicable to the question asked.
However, when OpenAI's GPT-4 became available, Kumagai's team found potential in generative AI to clarify the complex phrasing for users, adding straightforward language to the response and explaining how it applies to the question.
While Bhutan is the first place BuddhaBot will be made available, the system was initially designed with Japan in mind.
There are concerns that Japanese Buddhism is dying out. Kumagai said income for monks at many temples is low, and roughly 30% of temples are expected to close by 2040.
He said people often associate Buddhism in Japan with funerals and tourism. It may feel more remote and alien compared to Bhutan, where the religion is heavily integrated into society.
BuddhaBot can potentially make the religion more accessible, as Kumagai mentioned most people in Japan have little to no direct contact with monks. It could serve as a link to Buddhism where none currently exist.
For many, BuddhaBot may be easier or more interesting than attending religious services. And if the advice brings them comfort, Kumagai argues, does it matter if the source is not human?
Teraverse could also increase familiarity and access to temples by having AI avatars represent temples, including ones that have been shuttered. These avatars could then stand as memorials and allow people to continue interacting with the religion virtually.
Because Japan's Buddhist community has not shown much interest in BuddhaBot, it is uncertain if it will ever be made available to its original target audience.
Are the machines coming for monks' jobs? Kumagai's view is that "distinctive" monks whose work cannot be automated will be fine and perhaps it will spark others to improve their human-facing activities.
BuddhaBot and Teraverse sound like the setup for a cyberpunk story, with religion hijacked by machines, but efforts are underway to prevent misuse of the systems.
Buddhism survived the transition from oral to written teachings, and then the advent of print technology even though writing scripture is a devotional activity. AI could potentially benefit Buddhism as previous innovations have.