The Catholic AI Frontier

This week Pastoral Perambulations is guest written by our Communications Director, Michelle Wyatt. This is the first in a series of guest commentaries on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. Drawing on her background in media and communications–and as a mother raising children in a digital world–Michelle reflects on why Pope Leo’s engagement with artificial intelligence is both timely and important, with particular attention to Chapter 4’s sections on truth and education.

In 2002, as a Communications and Media studies major at Fordham University I took a required course called Media Industries. At the time those industries included newspapers/journalism, radio, television, film, advertising, marketing, public relations and the internet. But the real lesson was this: every new technology disrupts the old. Television eclipsed radio and internet journalism was threatening newspapers. As future media professionals we needed to keep ahead of technology, adapt, or get left behind.  

It has been clear for some time now that AI is the next defining disruptive technology. Its capacity to transform industry, economies, and society runs far deeper than previous technologies, owing in part to the autonomy with which it operates. So I stood struck when, on Monday, May 25th, I saw the first article reporting that Pope Leo XIV had published an encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on the Christian response to AI. With this document, Pope Leo places all of us at the crest of a towering wave, urging us to confront the defining questions of the AI age, and in doing so, help shape its future for the better. What does it mean to be a Christian thinker in a world shaped by artificial intelligence? What does it mean to be human? What moral and ethical guardrails must be in place to ensure that this technology serves the common good?

At Fordham–and likely at other communications programs around the country–moral and ethical considerations were infused throughout curriculum. Chapter 4 of Pope Leo’s Magnifica Humanitas, “Truth as a Common Good,” reads like an affirmation of core journalistic principles. In fact, Pope Leo points to journalism as one of the intermediary institutions–alongside public policy, our Church and religious communities, and educational institutions–that can help pursue truth in the AI age. As Pope Leo writes, “Truthful information does not arise from centralized or automated control. In public discourse, the truth of facts has a rational dimension, as it requires verification, cross-checking of sources and responsible argumentation.” Those are the same principles journalists are trained to follow: verify facts, corroborate sources, and separate truth from opinion. Pope Leo states that those who control powerful technological and economic resources can shape how people understand humanity, society, and even God. When power becomes detached from truth, and from God, information becomes manipulation. Pope Leo warns us that, “Democratic life is weakened when questions about truth lose their appeal.” Or, as the Washington Post slogan puts it: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

After Fordham, I spent five years (2006-2011) working at NBCUniversal Cable, during a period of extraordinary technological change. Television transitioned from standard definition to high definition, DVRs became commonplace, and on-demand viewing disrupted traditional ratings and advertising models. Digital integrations expanded, social media emerged as a powerful new force, and a DVD-by-mail company called Netflix began streaming a small content library–eventually transforming the entire industry. Like most of my colleagues, I was a small participant in a vast system. We had opinions about these changes and their implications, but our day-to-day focus was on doing our jobs and meeting business goals. Those goals drove our work. Many working in AI today face similar pressures. Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, who was invited to speak at the presentation of the encyclical, put it best: “Every frontier AI lab—including Anthropic—operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing. That is why, if we want this technology to go well, it is enormously important that there be people outside those incentives–who are willing to be our earnest, thoughtful critics.”

This is precisely why I was so elated by Pope Leo’s focus on AI. The world’s most visible moral voice is engaging with–and inviting us to engage with–a technology that will shape our human future. He is keeping ahead of technology. His fundamental point is engaging with AI must not be at the expense of our humanity or leaving behind the common good.

I’m optimistic about AI. Despite the very real challenges that often accompany new technologies, I remain grateful for what technological progress has brought us to date. It has made women and minorities lives better. It has allowed marginalized groups to organize. It has given more people access to information than ever before.

On a practical level AI helps me in my job at the Parish. The generic images and illustrations you see in this bulletin? Some made with AI. In settings like churches that need to stretch resources, this has saved time because I no longer need to search for public use photos that fit the context. The Mental Health Ministry and Social Justice logos? Made from AI. AI fills the gaps where my design skills fall short or design times take too long. Need a grammar check or second set of eyes on more generic writing? AI can do that. Can it tell the story of this Parish? No. There aren’t microphones everywhere. Not yet at least. Can it capture the distinct voice and unique niche of West Coast Jesuit Catholicism. No way!

For me AI is a tool. And that is my hope for my children. That is my hope for all children. I do not want AI to process and think for them, I want it to be a tool that makes their lives easier. I still want children to be creative, independent and critical thinkers. I want them to know God is the source of our power. I want them to still care for others and the marginalized in our society. Come to think of it, I want what they already are getting at the Parish School, to be:

Religious, Loving, Open to Growth, Intellectually Competent, Committed to doing Justice

And with Pope Leo at the helm, I think together, we will all get there.