“Can AI become Catholic?” sounds like a silly question because the answer is so simple. No, it cannot. Priests and deacons do not baptize laptops. However, there may be legitimate concerns among Catholics and other denominations about the impact of AI on children’s faith formation. We can better understand this apprehension if we rephrase the question to read: “Can AI pose a threat to human faith?” That answer is a cautionary “quite possibly.”

Before we delve into those possibilities, we should state categorically that AI is here to stay. How it stays with us and the effect that this can have on the faith of our children, is the question worth pursuing calmly and intelligently. If there are safeguards that need to be put into place to protect the integrity of our beliefs, we need to act sooner rather than later because later may be too late.

How is AI “here to stay?” In the past 30 days alone, I have had three encounters with professionals who regularly consult with AI during their practice:

1. a medical doctor who brings AI with him on his phone into each patient visit as his “virtual assistant”
2. a physical therapist who holds a degree in treatment specialties and relies on AI to confirm exercise recommendations
3. a CPA who consults AI regularly to keep current on various accounting tasks like tax laws and preferred ethical practices

Obviously, these professionals have discovered that AI brings efficiency, accuracy, and real-time updates to the services they provide.

Why should people be concerned about AI?

1. Losing their employment, since job displacement is a valid anxiety for folks who perform routine tasks, given that AI never gets tired or injured at work or wants time off
2. Privacy issues, since AI handles sensitive material like personal information including religious affiliation, security breaches are a real possibility and liability
3. Unintended prejudices, since AI has “unwittingly” amplified biases in its programmed responses as well as educational answers that challenge orthodox teachings significantly

How might this affect our children’s faith?

The privacy issues and prejudice flaws are critical here. What we believe and what we teach our children to believe is paramount to our freedom as Americans and our constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state. Our government cannot impose a particular religion upon us. We have already discovered that certain AI processes can be biased when it comes to women’s issues and race. Is this the fault of prejudiced programmers or, more likely, the calculations rendered by AI’s statistical logic based upon numbers taken from available data banks? Regardless, the fact that such AI bias exists raises legitimate concerns about how it will approach faith and science in the classroom. After all, AI is computer-bound, which strongly suggests that it will always favor science over faith. For example, will it insist on adherence to the Big Bang theory as the origin of the universe and dismiss any reference to the biblical account of creation by God as a fanciful myth? Which dogmas will AI discount for lack of scientism’s proofs?

Holy Homework: Besides escorting our children back to school this month, where they will be influenced for more hours per week by AI than by their parents, let’s educate ourselves about the pros and cons of “artificial intelligence” and make sure we know what it will be “teaching” our kids about science and faith.

Comments may be sent to FatherBobPagliari@Yahoo.com