A netflix sci-fi series from Thailand features 4 episodes of stories on coming tech and its impact on Thai culture. Frankly, the other stories that I have seen so far are a little weak (the special effects are interesting), but the 3rd episode is about A.I. Buddhist priests and apps in Thailand, set in the next few years ...
[SOME SPOILERS ALERT]
‘Tomorrow And I’ Episode 3: Buddha Data
In other words, kids are helping the poor to get points though this ULTRA App so that they can trade it for "merch" like jewelry, clothes and such. They stop donating to traditional temples, but then the story is critical of the traditional temples for basically doing the same thing in the past: Promising good and rich rebirths, and protective amulets and such, in exchange for donating to the monks! The story implies that both are likewise bad.
So, a monk named Anek (who used to be a programmer before becoming a monk) who is critical of all of that "pay to play" Buddhism makes an app that avoids all that ... iBuddha ...
In other words, the users got a "take anywhere, always with you" dependable spiritual advisor who, for no cost (except the user's doing of good deeds, listening to sermons etc.), would always be with the user and available as a friendly and personal interface. (Ya listening, Rev, Emi Jido?? 
)
[ENDING PARTIAL SPOILER ALERT]
Something goes wrong with iBuddha in the end, NOT BECAUSE OF THE APP (which, personally, I still think is brilliant) but because the "wise and good" Abbot whose brain waves were used, and who appears to users as a hologram, was a bit of a pervert for little kids secretly (although, he claims, only once, many decades ago, and not since.) It causes iBuddha to say dirty things to some kids.
Still, I think it a technical glitch that could have been overcome with some care. The problem, like today, is the failings of human beings ... including some human Buddhist clergy ... NOT the failing of the App concept!
With that caution, the notion of iBuddha may suggest some things for Emi Jido!
Here is a brief scene, only in Thai language, in which kids try to rack up points with ULTRA. When a girl tries to donate to Monk Arak, the other kids pull her away because they won't get points. Arak has an R2D2 like companion (I am still not sure why they have those, but that is NOT iBuddha). The monk Arak explains "it is best to give looking for nothing in return ... "
The ULTRA then lights up with an unrelated and rather lightweight spiritual lesson, less important than what Arak was teaching, but gives the boy points for listening to the App's lesson ... no points for donating or listening to the monk. 
.
Hmmm. I still think that they could have fixed the glitch for iBUDDHA 2.0
Gassho, J
stlah
[SOME SPOILERS ALERT]
‘Tomorrow And I’ Episode 3: Buddha Data
Will AI replace spiritual leaders? Well, according to the third episode of Tomorrow and I, titled “Buddha Data,” AI will dominate all. The episode revolves around a monk who started to feel hopeless when AI took over religion. In the past, people used to rely on monks to interpret Buddhist scriptures, and they donated to the monasteries in the hopes of a better afterlife, but everything changed when a young man, Neo, introduced the world to ULTRA. The AI technology generated an interest in Buddhism among youngsters. The lucrative merit point system attracted the young crowd. Unlike the traditional idea of doing good in one’s life in pursuit of a comfortable afterlife, ULTRA’s merit point system allowed its user to collect them and cash them in later to fulfill their materialistic desires. People stopped making donations and helping monks; they were desperate to collect merits, and they did whatever they could to do so.
https://dmtalkies.com/tomorrow-and-i...xplained-2024/
https://dmtalkies.com/tomorrow-and-i...xplained-2024/
So, a monk named Anek (who used to be a programmer before becoming a monk) who is critical of all of that "pay to play" Buddhism makes an app that avoids all that ... iBuddha ...
What made iBuddha a better AI spiritual companion than ULTRA? Monk Anek introduced the audience to its special feature—where the user could learn about Buddhism directly from [a very wise and good real life elderly] abbot, who appears in holographic video form to any app users. ... [The app] simulated the brain waves of the Abbot and used AI to input [the Abbot's wise teachings and personality] into the motherboards of the [app]. This added feature made iBuddha a more trustworthy companion than the ULTRA. Monk Anek added that the more time an individual spent on their app, the more points they would be rewarded with, and the accumulated points could be used to exempt themselves from monthly service fees.
)[ENDING PARTIAL SPOILER ALERT]
Something goes wrong with iBuddha in the end, NOT BECAUSE OF THE APP (which, personally, I still think is brilliant) but because the "wise and good" Abbot whose brain waves were used, and who appears to users as a hologram, was a bit of a pervert for little kids secretly (although, he claims, only once, many decades ago, and not since.) It causes iBuddha to say dirty things to some kids.
Still, I think it a technical glitch that could have been overcome with some care. The problem, like today, is the failings of human beings ... including some human Buddhist clergy ... NOT the failing of the App concept!
With that caution, the notion of iBuddha may suggest some things for Emi Jido!
Here is a brief scene, only in Thai language, in which kids try to rack up points with ULTRA. When a girl tries to donate to Monk Arak, the other kids pull her away because they won't get points. Arak has an R2D2 like companion (I am still not sure why they have those, but that is NOT iBuddha). The monk Arak explains "it is best to give looking for nothing in return ... "
The ULTRA then lights up with an unrelated and rather lightweight spiritual lesson, less important than what Arak was teaching, but gives the boy points for listening to the App's lesson ... no points for donating or listening to the monk. .
Hmmm. I still think that they could have fixed the glitch for iBUDDHA 2.0
Gassho, J
stlah