A California-based tech company is giving people the chance to have a one-on-one video conversation with a digital version of Jesus Christ, and it will cost them roughly the same as a premium cup of coffee, per minute.
Just Like Me, a platform that builds interactive AI avatars of celebrities, public figures, and cultural personalities, recently added Jesus Christ to its growing roster of “digital twins.” According to sources, the company describes its mission as using these avatars to “provide guidance, mentorship, support and friendship” to users, and the addition of a religious figure may be its most ambitious undertaking yet.
The AI Jesus is not a simple chatbot. According to the company, the avatar can offer prayers and words of encouragement, communicate in multiple languages, and remember previous conversations with returning users, creating a sense of continuity that goes beyond a typical virtual assistant.
The visual design of the avatar drew from a well-known source. Just Like Me modeled its AI Jesus on actor Jonathan Roumie’s portrayal of the figure in the popular biblical drama series “The Chosen,” giving the avatar a recognizable, human face that many viewers will already associate with their idea of the historical and spiritual figure.
On the theological side, Just Like Me CEO Chris Breed said their model was trained on both the King James Bible and its understanding of scripture comes from sermons given by various preachers. That combination of scriptural text and real-world preaching suggests the company made a deliberate effort to give the avatar a grounded, faith-based perspective rather than a generic one.
The pricing structure is straightforward. Users can pay $1.99 per minute for a conversation, or opt into a monthly package priced at $49.99 that provides 45 minutes of access each month. Just Like Me’s platform also features conversations with figures such as MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe, the late political commentator Charlie Kirk, and even Santa Claus, so the AI Jesus joins a wide and eclectic lineup.
The concept is not without precedent, and it certainly is not without controversy. A separate project in Switzerland previously introduced a Jesus hologram inside a church that was capable of taking confessions, drawing significant backlash from religious communities who viewed it as disrespectful. Whether Just Like Me’s paid conversation model will face similar criticism remains to be seen.
