Should Catholics use AI?

It’s difficult to avoid artificial intelligence these days. When searching on Google or reading product reviews, there’s a good chance that you’ll be offered the option to read an AI-generated summary. Or maybe an AI tool will offer to write your work email for you. Savvy users are typically able to detect the errors in AI summaries, but even the most cautious and informed person might find it difficult to sort through what’s accurate and what isn’t. And while an ethical student wouldn’t want to entrust their carefully thought out ideas to an AI writing program, it might be a temptation for those less skilled at writing, or less concerned about morals. 

These are just a few ways AI disrupts our already hectic human lives. There are also questions about AI taking human jobs, AI being used to spread disinformation, AI romantic partners, even AI contract killers. The ethical issues around AI are real. But does this mean AI itself is bad? Are there ethical ways of using it? On this episode of Glad You Asked, guest Brian Green talks to the hosts about what AI is, what the real ethical concerns are, and whether Catholics should use it at all. 

Green is the director of technology ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. His work focuses on the impact of technology on human life, society, and religion. He has contributed to a number of books on AI and ethics and is the author of Space Ethics (Rowman & Littlefield). He’s been a lead contributor on three World Economic Forum case studies on ethical practices at Microsoft, Salesforce, and IBM and has worked with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.

Learn more about this topic in these links. 

“How should Christians respond to the challenges of AI?”
By Kate Ott
https://uscatholic.org/articles/202307/how-should-christians-respond-to-the-challenges-of-ai/ 

“AI isn’t all doom and gloom, says this theologian”
A U.S. Catholic interview
https://uscatholic.org/articles/202307/ai-isnt-all-doom-and-gloom-says-this-theologian/ 

“‘Oppenheimer’ offers a sober lesson in the era of AI”
By Danny Duncan Collum
https://uscatholic.org/articles/202311/oppenheimer-offers-a-sober-lesson-in-the-era-of-ai/ 

“Futuristic fiction asks important ethical questions about AI”
By Jeannine Pitas
https://uscatholic.org/articles/202308/futuristic-fiction-asks-important-ethical-questions-about-ai/ 

Journal of Moral Theology, Special Issue on AI
https://www.academyforlife.va/content/dam/pav/documenti%20pdf/2022/AI/Spring%202022%20Special%20Issue%20AI.pdf 

Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries USA, an order of Catholic priests and brothers who live and work with the most vulnerable among us. To learn more, visit claretians.org.