Bishops warn that artificial intelligence can never replicate the soul

American Catholic bishops published this week a pastoral letter addressing the rapid boom of artificial intelligence (AI) and the response of the Catholic Church to the numerous challenges and opportunities presented by this technology.

Signed by the archbishop of Baltimore, Mons. William Lori; Cardinal Robert Mcelroy of Washington; Bishop William Koenig by Wilmington; and the four auxiliary bishops of Maryland; the cartaentitled The Face of Christ in a Digital Age (The face of Christ in the digital era), urges Christians to discern “how to speak and live the gospel in the midst of the new language and the new powers that arise through artificial intelligence.”

Published before the solemnity of Pentecost, the bishops write that Christians should not fear the rapid development of technology, which “is not alien to the work of the Spirit, since the Spirit of God moves through history, culture and human creativity.”

However, the bishops warn: “Will we allow technology to train us in their image, or will we mold it according to the Gospel?”

The Catholic Church “must be a prophetic voice, calling the world to put the human person, made in the image of God, at the center of this transformation,” says the letter.

“It doesn’t matter how advanced the machines become, they can never replicate the soul, consciousness or the eternal destiny that belongs to each human being,” express the bishops in the letter.

The letter highlights the possible benefits of AI for humanity in the fields of health, education, evangelization and humanitarian efforts, while warning about its risks, including the loss of jobs, the use of lethal autonomous weapons and the manipulation of truth.

To teach discernment in an era where the digitally manufactured content blurred the line between truth and falsehood, and between reality and fantasy, bishops strongly emphasize the importance of the development of virtue, especially with regard to the formation of consciousness.

“It is essential that we form consciences capable of discernment – especially among young people – so that they are not manipulated by algorithms, but by truth and grace,” the bishops write. “Digital tools can report, but they can’t form the heart.”

Bishops call parishes and families to base digital commitment and media literacy in writing and sacramental life, and urged the faithful to cultivate a true “empathy and authentic relations.”

Michael Hanby, professor of religion and philosophy of science at the Pontifical Institute John Paul II for studies on marriage and family, told CNA – Ewtn News agency – that, although the document “identifies some obvious hazards of AI, as well as some good uses that can be given to it”, it does not go far enough.

“There are other dangers,” Hanby continued, “especially the reduction of human intelligence, aimed at understanding the truth, to a ‘functional intelligence without thought or understanding’, which the letter really does not address.”

“It is in the logic of technology, and especially in technologies as powerful as this, that there are dangers that we simply cannot foresee. We have not yet fully understood this new type of power,” said Hanby.

The Dicasteria for the Doctrine of Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education approached the same concerns that Hanby in a note published in January entitled Antiqua et Nova: note about the relationship between artificial intelligence and human intelligence.

“The Christian tradition considers that the gift of intelligence is an essential aspect of the creation of human beings” in the image of God “(gen 1,27),” said the note, emphasizing that “one of the objectives of this technology is that of imitate the human intelligence that has designed it”.

The Dicastery recognized the fears that AI could reach a kind of superintelligence that eclipse “one day to the human person”, although some see this possibility with good eyes.

“We do not know yet if AI is simply a ‘tool’ that can be used or molded according to the Gospel,” Hanby told CNA. “I would have liked the letter to emphasize more the need for a deeper philosophical thought about this, and that it would have been a little more care to distinguish the movement of the spirit, which is a mystery, of the history of technological progress. But, again, the letter presents an open challenge, not the last word.”

Drawing parallels with other historical technological changes such as the invention of the printing press and the arrival of the Internet, the bishops in their letter encourage Catholics to approach AI with courage and hope, invoking the Holy Spirit so that “the face of the earth renews” (Ps 104,30).

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.