Catholic expert in bioethics warns about the dangers that the AI represents

As artificial intelligence (AI) has become more common, a Catholic expert in bioethics warns about the dangers it raises, saying that “it is not too late” to “put the genius back in the lamp” and avoid the worst effects of the new technology.

Pope Leo XIV already warned that AI could have negative effects on the development of young people and contribute to a “loss of the sense of the human.”

“He took the name of Leo XIV to connect with Leo XIII, who was dealing with the industrial revolution of the late twentie EWTN News In DepthCatherine Hadro, this August 15.

“We are going through a similar technological change that will completely transform culture,” said Camosy. “How do we answer?” He questioned.

Camosy recently wrote an article to The Atlantic in which he argued that addressing artificial intelligence “could be the most ambitious and lasting project of Pope Leo XIV.”

The AI “will have an impact on almost all aspects of our culture,” said Camosy, adding that “people often cannot notice the difference when they talk to a human being or a chatbot.”

“To the extent that we have some confusion in this regard, that is really very worrying, because we must cling to the idea that we are fundamentally different from a large language model,” he said.

“We are flesh and blood made in the image and likeness of God, with a soul that reflects a relationship that could not occur in a chatbot,” said the expert.

With one Soledad epidemic In progress, people are already vulnerable, he said.

Camosy commented that if people live in a world where, “addicted to their smartphones,” they cannot communicate authentically and lack friends who can respond genuinely, they can become “vulnerable to a very articulated chatbot.”

He said that the chatbots of AI not only “appear to fill the void, but do it in ways that at least imitate the need we all have of intimacy, that someone cares for us.”

It is something that the Church has been addressing for some time through work groups on AI, Camosy said.

“It could be argued that the Church has been at the forefront of the general culture about AI because these groups have existed for some years,” he said.

Camosy referred to the Vatican document Antiqua et Nova: note about the relationship between artificial intelligence and human intelligence as a Catholic resource about Ia.

“I suspect, but I don’t know for sure, that our current Holy Father is at least in the early stages of preparing something like that,” he continued.

“It’s not just about,” he said, noting that the debate on AI is linked to the “advent of transhumanism.”

Transhumanism is a scientific and cultural movement that proposes the modification of human biology through technology, potentially blurring the lines between artificial and real.

We are in a crucial cultural moment, where the second industrial revolution is about to occur. Thank God we have someone like Pope Leo XIII to guide the Church in this process, said Camosy.

He pointed out the great statements that AI will eventually help human beings stop working completely. But the work, he said, is “an integral part of human experience.”

“We need protection for work. We need protection for workers,” he said. “It is not yet late to put the genius back in the lamp. We have to create a culture that adapts AI to the service of human beings, not the other way around,” he added.

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