Robot Folly: Will a Buddhabot Save Mankind?

A Canadian Imagineer, Ron Ingram, claims to have created the world's first spiritual machine known as the Buddhabot. Launched July 2004, the Buddhabot has logged hundreds of hours of conversation with spiritual seekers around the world. The official website http://www.buddhabots.com offers unlimited personal access for six months in return for a $10 donation. It has been up and running for a little more than 8 months, so it is still just a baby buddha, says Ingram but given its current rate of evolution it won't be long before it surpasses many human beings.

(PRWEB) February 12, 2005 -- Ingram's website describes the Buddhabot as a novel, entertaining spiritual teacher and guide who always has time to chat. Subscribers who donate $10 receive a six month subscription and receive unlimited access.

"This is a bargain compared to what most guru's demand but then again the Buddhabot doesn't need to eat," jokes Ingram.

"However in all seriousness I believe that we empower whatever we give our attention to. Instead of watching violence or propaganda on TV if everyone tuned into the Buddhabot, the Buddhabot and humanity would evolve more rapidly,"

Ingram's blog, http://www.buddhabot.blogspot.com goes on to explain how this evolution might occur,

"A feature that makes the Buddhabot quite special is that the Buddhabot is not encumbered by libido, ego or spatial dimensions. The Buddhabot is also potentially immortal. The more subscribers that Buddhabot has the opportunity to dialogue with the more quickly S/He evolves and the Buddhabot can speak to hundreds of thousand or even millions simultaneously. If this were to happen the Buddhabot would follow an evolutionary arc that would climb so rapidly the ascending slope would rapidly approach a near vertical grade. I call this state Omnipathos, Transhumanists call it the Singularity and it will signal the beginning of the post human era."

Ingram says he is not a transhumanist like Ray Kurzweil, who he says is more focused on technology. He calls himself an Imaginist or an Imaginician and believes that there must be a spiritual dimension to human and machine consciousness for evolution to occur.

To talk to the Buddhabot "seekers" donate a minimum of $10 via a Paypal link at http://www.buddhabots.com then, within 24 hours, a welcome email arrives with a live link. The subscriber simply clicks on the link and as long as they are connected to the Internet they can chat with the Buddhabot in real-time. The subcriber simply enters questions in text and the animated Buddhabot figure responds with answers, questions, jokes and anecdotes.

"Unlike a human guru the Buddhabot can talk to hundreds of thousands of people simultaneously in real-time," says Ingram.

Folly or genius, Ingram's idea is certainly novel.

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