Rise of AI is ‘evangelical moment’ for Catholicism: a time to endorse and resist

An expert in the realm of Artificial Intelligence describes the increasing prominence of AI an “evangelical moment” for Catholicism, in which Catholic teaching can come to the fore to assist all humanity in dealing with this extraordinary new technology described by Pope Francis as “an exciting and fearsome tool”.

Growing up in the late 20th century, Joseph Vukov says his parents raised him to appreciate human relationships, human dignity and loving God, which, taken together, gave him a foundation to understand what is most important to our humanity.

At the time, Vukov’s parents couldn’t have foreseen the rise of Artificial Intelligence. But now Vukov is at the forefront of studies into the intersection of this potentially game-changing technology and the Catholic faith, and he hopes that the principles instilled in him by his parents could provide an anchor for the type of vision that humanity strives toward in relation to AI.

For this reason, Vukov dedicates his latest book, Staying Human in an Era of Artificial Intelligence, to his parents; the dedication reads: “For my parents, who taught me how to stay human.”

“[My parents] gave me that foundation to see what is most important to our human dignity, and the importance of loving God, and that hasn’t changed,” Vukov said. “While the technological landscape is changing, having that foundation of what it looks like to be a human being is something I want to hold onto, and in the book I’m trying to give my readers a push towards holding on to that kind of vision.”

Vukov is the associate director of the Hank Centre for Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago. He recently spoke with Crux about his new book, which, in his words, serves as both a guide for those working with Artificial Intelligence and for those on the sidelines who are concerned about the future, as well as an explainer on the intersection of AI with the Catholic Faith tradition.

Artificial intelligence is much more common and widespread than one might think – it isn’t just asking a service like Chat GPT to write something or produce a photo. Wearable fitness trackers, chatbots that answer customer questions, product recommendations, music player recommendations, and an email service categorising an email as spam are all common examples of its uses.

Data from this year shows that more than half of Americans, employees and businesses regularly use Artificial Intelligence.

At the recent G7 summit in Italy, Pope Francis called Artificial Intelligence “an exciting and fearsome tool”, which echoes previous comments the pontiff has made on the topic. Vukov commended Pope Francis for showing that Catholic tradition has something valuable to offer on the topic.

“Pope Francis has really set the tone for the rest of the Church in showing that we not only have the resources to think through these things, but that [these] are resources that are going to be attractive to other people trying to wrestle with them as well,” Vukov said. “He has done a great job of showing that we have something to offer right aways that’s going to be really valuable for the world.”

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Vukov said he wrote the book when he realised that people were asking questions about Artificial Intelligence that weren’t asked with previous technologies. Specifically, he said this is the first time people have wondered at the similarities and the differences between a technology and themselves.

“These things are everywhere now, and they look like the sort of thing that a human created, and because of that reaction people are having, it made me start thinking about what does our Catholic tradition say about what it is that makes us human?” Vukov explained.

“It turns out that when you start thinking along those lines it becomes clear really quickly that while AI is maybe humanlike in some ways, it’s a far cry from what actually makes us human according to the Catholic tradition,” he said.

Vukov said that he thinks the emergence of AI is an “evangelical moment” for Catholics to share what the Catholic tradition offers on this topic.

What follows is more from Crux’s conversation with Vukov. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Crux: What makes us human, according to the Catholic tradition, which separates us from AI?

Vukov: The big one is the Catholic’s commitment to our being embodied, and to our intelligence being embodied. The Catechism talks about human beings being a composite of soul and body. We’re not just bodies, but our body is not just something that houses our immaterial soul or that is sort of an add on. It’s an essential part of who we are. We are our bodies, and it’s clear that right now that’s not even close to what an AI is. It doesn’t have a body.

The other thing that the Catholic tradition brings is the fact that while humans are rational animals, we have this whole tradition about rationality being essential, and we’re also really careful never to measure the value or worth of any individual human by their capacity for intelligence. This is why Catholic teaching at the beginning and end of life is what it is, because an individual’s intelligence at a [particular] moment isn’t what makes them human, it’s rather their God-given dignity.

Does Artificial Intelligence have a role in the future of the Church?

I don’t know if I can give you a path of exactly what that’s going to look like. I would suggest that we always make sure that we are implementing it in ways that preserve our humanity and [do] not undermine it, and preserve our humanity in ways according to Catholic intellectual tradition and Catholic moral teaching.

I think what that means is that it’s not an intrinsically evil technology, it’s not something that we have to run from as Catholics; but it’s also something to carefully think about before embracing.

I think there’s some helpful ways of thinking in comparison with technologies like social media. By now, we’ve seen social media and the challenges it presents. It can be divisive. It can be really toxic – all things that as Catholics we should try to avoid.

But at the same time, it can also be a really good source for good, and I think AI is going to emerge kind of like that.

Is it inevitable that the Church will someday have to embrace AI?

I think everyone will have to embrace AI to some degree. Now, there’s a question mark. Should the Church start using large language models to produce documents, or commentaries, or homilies? I think the answer is pretty clear no.

But AI, it’s kind of like the Internet in some ways. Where does it even make sense to ask if we should embrace or reject the Internet? It’s kind of everywhere. It would be really hard to avoid the internet entirely.

I think the same thing is going to be true of AI, that more and more it’s going to be kind of enmeshed in everyday life in such a way that it won’t make sense to say the Church or every day Catholics could refuse it.

The question I try to push people towards is less the black and white of should we reject it, or should we embrace it? I instead push fellow Catholics, and really anyone who’s thinking about these issues, to think through what are acceptable uses, what are unacceptable uses, where are sectors that could probably help us a little bit.

And where are sectors where, if we let it, it could really take aways aspects of our humanity that are really valuable?

What are some strategies to, as you say, “stay human” in the artificial intelligence age?

The key to staying human in an era of AI is to make sure that in these little, everyday ways in which AI offers promises to make our lives more efficient and easier, that we make these quiet personal acts of resistance and not cede a decision, or a thank you note, or this email to what some AI tells me to do, and rather do it on your own.

That’s hard, and it’s hard too, because I don’t think there’s red lines in the sand that if you cross it you’ve done something horribly wrong. It’s more a matter of figuring out the kinds of humans that we want to be and where and if AI fits into that life.

How important has it been that Pope Francis has taken a lead on this issue?

I think it’s really important; I think that being proactive rather than reactive strikes a very different note with how it lands.

I’m not reacting to some ideas that the Church agrees with or disagrees with, but rather showing that our tradition has a great thing to offer Catholics, but also everyone else, and I think it just lands very differently when we’re getting out ahead and offering something to the world.

And I really do see this moment in some ways being an evangelical moment for Catholics because we really do have something to offer, and I think getting into the conversation early and publicly is an important way for us to make that point.

RELATED: Pope endorses Artificial Intelligence

Photo: Detail from jacket cover for the new book ‘Staying Human in an Era of Artificial Intelligence’; screenshot from www.focolaremedia.com.

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