Handsome AI Jesus images are created from patterns a machine picks up from the information it is fed. What does that say about us, and how we view figures important to our cultural identities?

The image is believed to be the Christian symbol of the “Good Shepherd,” an early depiction of Jesus as a benevolent figure, suggesting its owner was likely an early Christian.

Images of the Good Shepherd could already be found in the catacombs, as this Shepherd Carrying a Lamb from the Catacombs of Domitilla suggests. Scholars date this statue from about A.D. 300-350.

I often think of this little lamb when the image of Jesus as a shepherd arises, as it does in today’s Gospel. “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me,” Jesus says.

AI images of Jesus Christ begin to surface as some researchers point to new evidence that could validate that the Shroud of Turin was used to bury the religious figure.