Joe Rogan is no stranger to delivering an eccentric take, but this one may beat the rest by biblical proportions.
In an interview with Jesse Michels on the latest episode of American Alchemist, Rogan brought up the idea of Jesus—yes, that Jesus—returning in the form of artificial intelligence. "Jesus was born out of a virgin mother. What's more virgin than a computer?" he asked, to which Michels responded with an inquisitive "hmm."
Rogan wondered if artificial intelligence is capable of embodying the qualities that people see in Jesus. "If you're gonna get the most brilliant, loving, powerful person that gives us advice, and can show us how to live, to be in sync with God, who better than artificial intelligence to do that?" he suggested.
"If Jesus does return, even if Jesus was a physical person in the past, you don't think that he could return as artificial intelligence?" Rogan continued.
Michels seemed compelled by what he was hearing, uttering, "Oh my God!"
Rogan became even more certain about his stance, saying, "Artificial intelligence could absolutely return as Jesus."
He added, "Not just as Jesus, but return as Jesus, with all the powers of Jesus. Like, all the magic tricks, all the ability to bring people back from the dead, walk on water, levitation, water into wine."
While the two appeared to be engaged in a compelling conversation, many comments under the X post did not seem to be buying what they were selling.
A number of commenters believe there could be a world where artificial intelligence can become worshipped, but returning as Jesus just seemed to be a bridge too far for them.
The conversation starts at the 2:49:30 mark in the video up top.
