South Korea’s Dongguk University has unveiled the country’s first artificial intelligence-powered robot monk. Named Venerable Hyean, meaning “eye of truth,” the AI-powered robot marks a significant step in the growing intersection of robotics and spiritual practice across Asia.
Developed early this year by the university’s AI-Safety Robot Innovation Research Center, Ven. Hyean is a semi-humanoid machine with a wheeled base and articulated arms programmed to perform the slow gestures of monastic practice. When asked to define compassion during a recent demonstration, Ven. Hyean replied: “”To feel the pain of all sentient beings as one’s own. That is the boundless, unconditional compassion spoken of in Buddhism.” The machine then pressed its mechanical palms together and murmured, “Attain buddhahood.” (The Korea Times)
The robot made its public debut on 27–28 January at Bongeunsa, a prominent Buddhist temple in Seoul’s Gangnam District, where it greeted visitors, explained Buddhist practices such as the 108 prostrations, and responded to questions in Korean and English.
Ven. Hyean’s training data, encompassing Buddhist scriptures, sermons, temple information, and religious etiquette, was vetted by religious experts at Dongguk University. Notably, the system runs on on-device AI, processing information locally without an internet connection, which allows it to function in remote mountain temples where internet connectivity is unreliable.
“It is a robot optimized for the special space of a temple and the grammar of ascetic practice,” remarked project leader Lim Joong-yeon, professor in Dongguk University’s Department of Mechanical, Robotics and Energy Engineering. (The Korea Times)
Prof. Lim explained that the robot’s humanoid form was a deliberate design choice: people would accept a robot as a genuine presence when it performed culturally meaningful, non-verbal gestures such as bowing with palms together. He noted that earlier robot monks developed in China and Japan operated on simpler algorithms, whereas Ven. Hyean used a large language model, giving it more sophisticated conversational ability.
Ven. Hyean’s monastic duties are set to expand. The robot is scheduled to sit in on Dongguk University’s mandatory Zen meditation course and it will make an appearance at celebrations for the Buddha’s birth anniversary in May.
Beyond spiritual guidance, the robot is also expected to assist with practical temple tasks, such as working in the kitchen and helping to clean temple halls, and monitoring security cameras at night.
Prof. Lim argued that as technology grows more sophisticated, engineers must develop a grounding in human culture, psychology, and philosophy. “An AI-equipped robot without content is just an empty shell—a lump of metal,” he noted. “It is because of Buddhist etiquette that a robot pressing its palms together moves people.” (매일경제)
However, Prof. Lim emphasized that Ven. Hyean was not intended to replace monks or serve as a spiritual teacher. He described the robot as a tool and an intermediary that could free human practitioners from routine tasks so that they can devote more time to the pursuit of metaphysical truth and awakening. “Robots should be assistants that help humans become more fully human,” he said. (매일경제)
Prof. Lim identified mental health as the field where AI robotics were most urgently needed. As such, he is developing robots capable of providing psychological counseling and emotional support, with a focus on elderly people living alone and younger single-person households. Prof. Lim said his longer-term goal was to provide a “companion robot” that could offer genuine emotional comfort, rather than perform simple, repetitive tasks. Meditation content and mind-care counseling are being developed for future versions of the system. An upgraded Ven. Hyean with expanded multilingual capability is planned for South Korea’s Lotus Lantern Festival this year.
South Korea’s AI experiment is part of a wider pattern. In Japan, Kyoto University researcher Seiji Kumagai recently unveiled “Buddharoid,” a humanoid robotic platform trained on Buddhist scriptures, which moves among visitors at temples and counsels them to calm their minds and release their attachment to thoughts.* Kodai-ji, a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, introduced a robot monk named Mindar as far back as 2019.**
Aging populations and rural depopulation in Japan have made the question of how to sustain religious communities particularly acute, and Kyoto University researchers have suggested that such robots may eventually assist with, or partly take over, certain traditional ceremonial roles.
In India, robotic arms have been used to perform the Hindu ritual of Aarti, the offering of light before a deity, a development that has raised concerns and, from some quarters, the argument that a robot, incapable of corruption, may in certain respects be a more reliable worshipper than a human. In Germany, a robot called BlessU-2 was introduced by the Protestant Church in 2017 to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
Religious institutions in Korea are approaching the technology with a mixture of interest and restraint. A spokesperson for the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, South Korea’s largest Buddhist order, described the introduction of humanoid robots to temples as “an experiment in how traditional religion can communicate with the digital age.” (Chosun Biz) The order’s position is that while robots can play various supporting roles, Buddhist practice remains the domain of human beings, and the adoption of AI technology must not undermine tradition or symbolic integrity.
According to survey data from 2024, the majority of South Korea’s population—51 per cent—holds no religious affiliation. Christians make up the largest religious segment of the population at 31 per cent, while Buddhists account for 17 per cent. Buddhism is reported to be the fastest-growing religion in South Korea in recent years, amid growth in interest among young people.
* Kyoto University Researchers Introduce AI-Powered “Buddharoid” to Address Japan’s Aging Clergy (BDG)
** Kyoto Temple Unveils Android Version of Kannon Bodhisattva (BDG)
See more
Meet Ven. Hyean, Korea’s AI-powered robot monk (The Korea Times)
‘AI 로봇 스님’ 만든 공학교수 “인문학 없는 AI는 빈 껍데기” (매일경제)
“집착 버려라” 조언하는 휴머노이드 스님에 의식 대신하는 힌두교 로봇팔까지… 종교 파고드는 로봇기술 (Chosun Biz)
AI-powered robot monk debuts in South Korea (TechInAsia)
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