Featured Image Credit: Lisa Maree Williams / Stringer / Getty
Popes have been around for roughly 2,000 years, yet following the death of Pope Francis this is the first time ever that artificial intelligence is able to weigh in on who it thinks will be the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.
People have typically used AI technology like ChatGPT to predict the dangers of the future, as it's able to outline the biggest triggers of a potential upcoming World War alongside the horrific 'futuristic' weapons that'll likely be deployed if conflict were to arise.
So, the prospect of picking a new pope is thankfully a little more optimistic, while also remaining one of the most consequential decisions in the wider religious world, although one famous philosopher saw this coming hundreds of years ago.
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Currently there are 135 eligible cardinals under the age of 80 who will now prepare to enter the conclave, emerging only when a candidate wins two thirds of the vote and white smoke emerges from the chimney of Sistine Chapel.
Which senior cardinal is the front runner though? Thankfully, ChatGPT has given us an answer.
As reported by the Daily Mail, OpenAI's world-leading artificial intelligence tool has estimated that Cardinal Pietro Parolin is currently the most likely candidate to become the next pope, following in Pope Francis' footsteps.
He has been the Secretary of State for the Vatican for over a decade now, and would be the first Italian pope in 40 years after three successive 'foreign' leaders.
Revealing why it opted for Parolin as the next pope, ChatGPT illustrated: "Parolin is viewed as the 'continuity' candidate - acceptable to both reformers and traditionalists. In closed-door voting, courted largely by European and Latin American cardinals, he's seen as a safe compromise if no single progressive candidate can secure the two-third majority."
Adding to his strengths, ChatGPT argues that Parolin's vast diplomatic experience and ability to speak multiple languages plays in his favor, although it does fail to mention his involvement in the Vatican's financial scandal surrounding London real estate, which could play against him.
It's certainly appears to be true that Parolin would be the 'safest' option of carrying on the legacy of Pope Francis, yet voting is currently incredibly tight and it could be any one of the other leading cardinals, which includes Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, and Matteo Zuppi.
You don't need ChatGPT to figure that out either, as the odds on cryptocurrency-fuelled betting site Polymarket are incredibly close between Parolin and his close Filipino rival Tagle, with their chances at 28% and 25% respectively right now. There have even been points where Tagle has overtaken the Italian, and you never know what'll truly happen until the white smoke emerges.
