{"id":60514,"date":"2026-02-25T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=60514"},"modified":"2026-02-25T17:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:15:38","slug":"japanese-university-develops-robot-buddhist-priest-amidst-national-priest-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-university-develops-robot-buddhist-priest-amidst-national-priest-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese university develops robot Buddhist priest amidst\u00a0national priest shortage\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>XNOVA, a Japanese AI\u00a0and robotics development company,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/xnova.jp\/topics\/buddharoid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently unveiled<\/a>\u00a0<strong>Buddharoid<\/strong>, a humanoid robot equipped with\u00a0generative AI trained on Buddhist scriptures. Created in collaboration with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/teraverse.cloud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Teraverse.<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Professor Seiji Kumagai\u00a0of\u00a0Kyoto University,\u00a0the robot generates responses based on users\u2019 questions about Buddhist philosophy and replicates classic religious gestures, such as\u00a0holding\u00a0both\u00a0hands\u00a0together, bowing, and even sitting in\u00a0meditative postures.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1076\" height=\"624\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1076px) 100vw, 1076px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260225-60514-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260225-60514-001.jpg 1076w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260225-60514-001-380x220.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260225-60514-001-768x445.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The project was\u00a0launched\u00a0with the purpose of exploring new possibilities for human-AI dialogue, specifically by integrating religious thoughts with artificial intelligence.\u00a0Buddharoid\u00a0comes\u00a0outfitted\u00a0with\u00a0a\u00a0voice and modest robes, making it\u00a0sound and\u00a0look more human. If it\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0exposed\u00a0robot\u00a0head, some might mistake\u00a0it\u00a0for a person altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buddharoid\u00a0is\u00a0also\u00a0envisioned to\u00a0provide\u00a0psychological safety for people who wish to discuss difficult topics face-to-face, allow\u00a0for more research at the intersection of AI and religious ethics, and address ongoing\u00a0labor shortages in Japan\u2019s religious sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\uff21\uff29\u642d\u8f09\u306e\u50e7\u4fb6\u30ed\u30dc\u30c3\u30c8\u201c\u30d6\u30c3\u30c0\u30ed\u30a4\u30c9\u201d\u8a95\u751f\u3000\u53e3\u982d\u3067\u306e\u5bfe\u8a71\u304c\u53ef\u80fd\u306b\uff01\u3000\u300c\u307b\u3057\u3044\u3082\u306e\u304c\u591a\u304f\u3066\u56f0\u3063\u3066\u3044\u308b\u300d\u8a18\u8005\u306e\u8cea\u554f\u306b\u4f55\u3068\u7b54\u3048\u305f\uff1f\uff082026\u5e742\u670824\u65e5\uff09\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AaCkp8fsyn8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The video&nbsp;above&nbsp;shows an interviewer&nbsp;asking&nbsp;Buddharoid&nbsp;several questions, particularly about their tendency to drink too much. In response, the robot replied with \u201cAvoid harmful things&nbsp;and&nbsp;refrain&nbsp;from drinking.&nbsp;Striving&nbsp;for&nbsp;good deeds&nbsp;is the greatest happiness.'&#8221;&nbsp;Another question focused on the interviewer\u2019s tendency to rush into things, to which&nbsp;Buddharoid&nbsp;replied with&nbsp;&#8220;It&#8217;s important not to rush, but to face each thing one by one and discern what is truly necessary. It would be good to proceed with discernment&nbsp;and&nbsp;sort things out little by little.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Professor Kumagai,&nbsp;via an interview with MBS News (seen in the above video),&nbsp;Buddharoid&nbsp;can be seen as a natural evolution of robots. Since&nbsp;robots are already being used in the caregiving sector, he thinks that they will soon be used in communication-based jobs,&nbsp;such as with parishioners.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moving forward,&nbsp;XNOVA hopes to&nbsp;advance the societal implementation of \u201cAI with thought\u201d by creating more robots that embody ethical standards.&nbsp;Likewise, the group as a whole wants to add more practical uses for robots and AI in the religious sector, such as dialogue with worshipers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20240221-27530\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Japanese robot venture is looking for sponsors for human-piloted mech project<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20230802-20439\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Japanese robot cat waiter smiles proudly as he makes a huge mess, people love him all the more<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Called a Buddharoid, the robotic priest has been trained on classic Buddhist scriptures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":60519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[67,17],"class_list":["post-60514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-ai","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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