Belarusian Exarchate warned of AI fraud to discredit the Church

The Belarusian Exarchate issued an official appeal, warning the faithful about the spread of false accounts and videos created with the help of neural networks, aimed at discrediting the Church. The Synodal Information Department noted that fraudsters use artificial intelligence to create «virtual clergymen,» who make statements contrary to Christian piety.

According to the official website of the Belarusian Exarchate, the Church has recorded the emergence of pages in social networks, posing as official resources of parishes and publishing distorted footage from the filming of church services. The purpose of such actions is called an attempt to discredit clergy and parishioners. Representatives of the Exarchate emphasized that such videos are often created «on the verge of sacrilege», causing spiritual damage to both viewers and authors.

The appeal advises believers to pay attention to signs of fakery, such as questionable affiliation of accounts, unnatural movements, optical distortions and inconsistency of sound with the video sequence. The Synodal Department urged to observe the norms of «information hygiene» and to choose spiritual food responsibly, especially during the period of Lent. Instead of consuming content from social networks, believers were invited to participate in real church services, where they will be able to «see everything with their own eyes, feel with their hearts and acquire a true treasure for their souls in communion with God».

As a reminder, according to a new study, artificial intelligence chatbots used for Bible study, including the popular ChatGPT, show a significant bias in favor of evangelical theology. This finding is troubling, as millions of people around the world turn to AI for answers to questions about faith and spirituality, calling into question the objectivity and completeness of the information provided.