The phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI) is analyzed from the perspective of the Catholic Church in Latin America in a new document, which aims to provide “a thorough and interdisciplinary reflection”, and that raises recommendations that can be put into practice in the region.
This is ensured by the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) in its document entitled Artificial intelligence. A pastoral look from Latin America and the Caribbean.
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The AI phenomenon, although present in recent decades in technology used daily, has taken greater impulse with the dissemination of tools such as Chatgpt, in the field of text generators, or Dall-E, in which they generate images.
Since the pontificate of Pope Francis, various concerns about artificial intelligence had already been expressed, and the Pontificate of León XIV could have the focus on this issue because, as Mateo Bruni, director of the press office of the Holy See, said about the choice of the name of the new pontiff, is a clear “reference to women, men, their work and workers in an artificial intelligence time”.
Far from being “an exhaustive analysis of the theme in question”, as warns in its introduction, the CELAM document seeks to “provide points of reflection that handle the tension between the complexity that this claims and the simplicity capable of providing lines for reflection, discernment and action.”
It thus proposes “a critical and prophetic look, where evangelical values help promote technological development that contributes to the recognition of people’s dignity and the care of the common house.”
What is AI and why worries the Catholic Church?
CELAM document takes up the definition Surrounded in 1956, among others, by John McCarthy – considerate by many as the “father” of AI -: “A machine capable of showing a behavior that would be described as intelligent if it were a human being who produced it”, while recalling that Pope Francis, in his message For the 57th World Day for Peace, he pointed out that artificial intelligence “must be understood as a galaxy of different realities.”
Thus, the book addresses concepts of increasingly common use, such as “generative AI” and “machine learning”
“It is a field in full development where efforts of universities, governments and private companies focused on capital generation converge,” he says.
In addition, he warns, “the different advances in the development of AI are oriented by ideologies that enhance and perhaps overvalue some approaches.”
Among them, it points out “progress and technological optimism (the belief that the world will be better thanks to technology), globalization and connectivity (integration of cultures, economies and people), ‘dataism’ (data will be considered central to knowledge and decision -making), the increase in efficiency and productivity (such as last values that the AI performs), competition and maximization of benefits (such as values and Corporations, big
impulsor of AI), personalism and autonomy personal (enhanced by AI systems), instrumental rationalism and objectivity (relegating subjective aspects), etc. ”.
For Celam, it is important not to “fall into the deceptive comparative ‘IA / human being’, nor in the claim to replace the work properly human by computer programs.” Returning to Pope Francis’s message for the 57th World Day for Peace, remember that “it is not, therefore, to demand that the machines seem human; but rather to awaken the man of the hypnosis in which he has fallen due to his delirium of omnipotence.”
Inculture Christianity in digital, including AI
The CELAM document also addresses the need for “the inculturation of Christianity”: “Discernment to identify and assume those positive values and forms present in digital processes, including AI, is necessary in order to enrich the evangelizing action.”
“In digital culture, Christianity is called to perform a translation exercise: the eschatological component of the Christian faith makes us see that the understanding of revelation is not closed; we can access the Logos With the dynamics of this new context, and thus offer a synthesis that can make the evangelical message in contemporary cultures visible and lively, knowing that no cultural mediation can ever cover it in its entirety. ”
“To achieve this, it is essential to begin to think theologically and pastorally, but it is also to rethink theology and pastoral of the AI phenomenon,” he says.
The AI revolution and its impact on economy and democracy
CELAM warns in its text that “AI is radically and accelerated the economic structures in many parts of our planet”, something that marks “the beginning of a new era, comparable with past technological revolutions such as the introduction of the steam machine, industrial electrification or the construction of road networks.”
“The application of AI to various economic sectors generates both opportunities and challenges, and its impact is felt on the key dimensions of the economy, such as productivity, labor markets, distribution of income, trade and global financial markets.”
In Latin America, he points out, “a region characterized by sociocultural diversity and the complexity of its democratic systems, a good use of AI has the potential to improve citizen participation, strengthen government transparency and optimize decision making.”
However, he continues, the use of AI “also raises significant risks in the field of public opinion manipulation, erosion of privacy and concentration of power in the hands of actors who control technology and data.”
“The risks associated with the use of AI in politics cannot be ignored,” he emphasizes.
Making it concrete: the proposals of the Church in Latin America for the AI
In the final part of the CELAM document, it presents a series of recommendations and practical proposals so that the Catholic Church in the region faces AI.
The first prominent point is to “inculture AI in the Latin American and Caribbean Church”, pointing out that “both in our ecclesial preaching and in our works (parishes, schools etc.), we must be aware that AI is not only an instrument, but its configuration has a systemic claim in which the human being runs the risk of being absorbed.”
“The AI is acceptable to the extent that its use promotes respect for the dignity of the human person and unacceptable to the extent that its implementation the reduction,” he emphasizes.
In addition, it calls for “avoiding the extremes of technophilia and technophobia.” While the first can fall into the naivety of “that we will be closer to people, that we will be more modern and socially better accepted if we gather acortically to new technologies”, technophobia leads to think “that new technologies will only bring catastrophes.”
“The challenge is to maintain a balance between the use of technology and the preservation of the authenticity and depth of faith lived in community, a privileged place for the encounter with the person of Jesus Christ and the ecclesial community of the sisters and brothers in faith. The use of AI should not replace the encounter between the believer and the word of God,” he says.
As a second point, the CELAM document proposes proposals for the bishops of the region, encouraging them in the first place to work in the “awareness and training on AI”, with “training instances for the laity, consecrated life and the clergy.”
He also advises “producing educational materials for families on how to educate children in digital culture, emphasizing Christian values.”
Then the text encourages a “organization and pastoral planning on AI”, which may include the creation of “a commission on AI and digital ethics at each episcopal conference and in the dioceses in which it is possible, composed of experts in technology, theologians and pastoralists.”
It is then encouraged to the “articulation and accompaniment of initiatives linked to AI”, as well as “research on the light of the Magisterium of the Church”, to finally promote “digital inclusion in geographical and social peripheries.”
You can download the document Artificial intelligence. A pastoral look from Latin America and the Caribbean of Celam here.
David Ramos
Graduate in Communication Sciences by the Private University of the North in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working in ACI Press, I am based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered the trips of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.