ePaul
A Catholic website has launched an intelligent ‘chatbot’ to help people with evangelising their friends and neighbours.
ePaul, named after the apostle Paul, is described as an intelligent software agent that will interact with visitors to the US-based Aleteia website who are seeking help with evangelising, asking questions before directing them to articles it thinks are most relevant and helpful.
Jesus Colina, global editor at Aleteia.org, said that while all Christians are called to share our faith, “it’s not easy for most”.
“Unless you are able to offer something that you know will be welcome, evangelization can quickly become uncomfortable and leave people feeling intruded upon, instead of inspired.”
ePaul, who “lives” on the US-based website and within Facebook messenger speaks with what its creators say is a “conversational and understanding voice” and draws on a curated five year database of content to answer people’s inquiries about how to go about evangelising their family or friends.
“He’s lively,” says Mr Colina, “but he has a serious job: to help people find a way to say ‘I am aware, I care, and so does God.'”
Jason Deal, Aleteia’s EVP of strategy and marketing, said that as as far as they know, “ePaul is the world’s first evangelizing chatbot”.
“We hope it is a fun and easy way to share stories of hope, trust, love and faith with loved ones, friends, and acquaintances.”
