Venezuela: They develop AI Catholic Assistant at WhatsApp

Eduardo Bitriago, a Venezuelan seminarian, is the developer of a new Catholic artificial intelligence integrated to WhatsApp, which he has called Felipeia.

In an interview granted to ACI Press from Rome, where he participates in the jubilee of young people and digital missionaries, Bitriago explains that when he entered the seminar in 2021, when he was 27, he felt the strong need to put his gifts at the service of the Church.

Before consecrating his life, the Lord founded his own software development agency. He has done technological project management courses at the Complutense University of Madrid and several training with Google. He had a prolific professional career, but ensures that none of this was completely filled.

In the midst of his moments of prayer, he felt that God called him to enter the seminar, a step he would finally take in the city of Valencia, in the central region of the country. “I’m still in a discernment, because the seminar is a long discernment, we don’t have the answers, but I am walking to find them,” he said.

What this young man is sure is his intention to be an apostle in the digital world. Following Jesus’ missionary mandate, the seminarian wanted to “give everything” and multiply his talents. It is then that he decides to get to work.

Felipeia: Evangelizing El Continente Digital

Bitriago has extensive experience in the Technological Development Teams: Fronnd and Backend programmers, interface designers and first -line artificial intelligence.

“Why not gather and use these assets to create a project at the service of faith and church?” The seminarian thought when starting the project. He points out that Catholics should not fear new technologies, but to approach and take advantage of them in the light of the Magisterium of the Church, which is taking “very firm and safe steps” in that direction.

“Benedict XVI and John Paul II were not wrong to say that evangelization had to be new in their burning and in their methods. We are sent to evangelize people who are in a digital world, we have to go there to be disciples,” he added.

Felipeia takes his name from the story of Felipe and Ethiopiannarrated in the Acts of the Apostles (8, 26-39). Felipe, one of the deacons chosen by the apostles, explained and announced the gospel to this foreigner, achieving his conversion.

This is a Catholic artificial intelligence assistant in Spanish, “designed to answer doubts of faith, accompany families, form communities and strengthen the evangelizing mission from the digital,” explains Bitriago. It works on WhatsApp and is available for free, every day, regardless of time and place.

The initiative arises with the support of Hospitalos de la Fea Catholic missionary network founded in Venezuela in 2011 Explain The network.

Recognized priests such as the Venezuelan Luis Toro and the Argentine Javier Olivera Ravasi have contributed the project, helping to cure their content so that it is completely attached to the Catholic doctrine. Felipeia has been trained with the catechism and many other magisterial documents of the Church.

“We did a great development of backend, to be able to achieve this whole model of model customization and we are working to make it more and more intelligent and more precise in their answers. It is still small, but that is what we want to do,” says Bitriago.

“We develop it. It is made in Venezuela, 100% in Venezuela and it is technology for those who like AI,” he added.

So far, Felipeia has attended more than 500,000 applications and has more than 13,500 active users. The seminarian explains that maintaining these types of projects is expensive, so the economic support of the users is indispensable, at least in the early stages of the initiative.

“When they have a doubt about faith, they do not keep that doubt. Many leave the Church because they have doubts. They ask Felipe, who will help them and accompany them on the way. Not only Felipe, but also we, that we are behind to attend to them – to personally in some cases – and to pray for you and accompany you,” said Bitriago.

“People are asking you questions that you may not dare to ask in public. We get this data, to know what the real and deeper questions are, and with this we can create material for catechesis and evangelization,” he said.

However, it ensures that the main objective of the initiative is that it is a tool that brings people to God and knowledge of the truth.

You can talk with Felipeia, by clicking In this linkor keeping your contact on your phone: +584122493952