The Catholic Church released AI guidelines for various aspects of society to reiterate that AI is a tool to complement, not replace, human intelligence.
The “Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence” offers ethical and religious AI guidance for education, the environment, and more.
The document suggests ways to navigate the rapidly changing world of AI in a manner that benefits humanity.
AI and human relationships
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The Vatican recognizes that many are using AI to simulate realistic worlds and human connections.
For example, AI boyfriends and girlfriends allow many worldwide to have companionship by responding to their answers.
These digital personas fit a user’s preferred behaviors, mindsets, and other characteristics.
However, the Catholic Church warns the public that AI can form interactions that they can easily mistake for human connection.
Worse, treating AI as human or “anthropomorphizing AI” can lead children to treat human relationships as a transaction.
For example, a child might view teachers as “mere dispensers of information” as they interact more frequently with AI learning bots.
The Vatican reminds the public that AI cannot experience nor express empathy:
“True empathy requires the ability to listen, recognize another’s irreducible uniqueness, welcome their otherness, and grasp the meaning behind even their silences.”
AI must facilitate deeper connections among people and with God.
AI, the economy, and labor
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Most companies worldwide prioritize efficiency above all else. They follow a technocratic paradigm, “a world of humanity enslaved to efficiency, where, ultimately, the cost of humanity must be cut.”
In response, Pope Francis says in the AI guidelines:
“We cannot allow a tool as powerful and indispensable as Artificial intelligence to reinforce such a paradigm, but rather, we must make Artificial Intelligence a bulwark against its expansion.”
AI should promote the idea that work is not a mere way to earn money. Instead, it’s a means of personal growth, self-expression, and healthy relationships.
In other words, AI must not replace human work but promote it.
This technology must respect the “dignity of laborers and the importance of employment for the economic well-being of individuals, families, and societies.”
AI and healthcare
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AI has been helping medical researchers find cures for previously incurable diseases and improving existing medications.
For example, researchers used AI to create antivenom that neutralizes some of the deadliest snake venoms worldwide.
These innovations save lives and expand healthcare to more people.
However, the Vatican’s AI guidelines warn that this technology should leave patients interacting with machines instead of humans.
The Catholic Church also recognizes AI’s tendency to show bias and hallucinate information.
For example, global firm HFS Research says UnitedHealthcare Group used AI to deny insurance claims to the sick and elderly.
Proper frameworks are necessary to ensure artificial intelligence does not reinforce a “medicine for the rich” model.
More importantly, doctors must have the final say regarding patient treatment, not artificial intelligence.
AI and education
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AI can expand access to education to more people worldwide.
It could offer free courses that complement student learning and promote curiosity for numerous fields of study.
However, the Vatican AI guidelines warn that ChatGPT and similar programs may hinder students from learning. They may become accustomed to relying on these digital tools to find answers instead of figuring them out themselves.
“Education in the use of forms of artificial intelligence should aim above all at promoting critical thinking,” the AI guidelines say.
AI and misinformation
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Some use AI to create false narratives and facts with fabricated pictures, statements, and even videos.
People may lose their grasp on what’s true and false as it becomes more difficult to identify AI-generated content.
Consequently, the public may become indifferent to the truth, and groups will make their own “facts.”
Eventually, people will split into these groups, stick with “their truths,” and worsen polarization and conflict worldwide.
The Catholic AI guidelines urge everyone to fight against AI-generated misinformation.
They must “avoid the sharing of words and images that are degrading to human beings.”
AI, privacy, and surveillance
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More law enforcement agencies and governments worldwide use AI to predict the likelihood that a person will commit crimes.
While it may help catch more criminals, the Vatican warns that society must avoid reducing people to a set of numbers.
Otherwise known as “social scoring,” it involves rating a person based on their past actions and predicted behaviors based on algorithms.
“A person’s past behavior should not be used to deny him or her the opportunity to change, grow, and contribute to society,” the Vatican says.
“We cannot allow algorithms to limit or condition respect for human dignity,” it adds.
AI and warfare
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AI has been boosting military efficiency worldwide.
For instance, Israel uses the AI program Fire Factory to plan and organize air raids.
However, the Vatican AI guidelines warn against using this technology to harm people autonomously.
It specifies Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, which can identify and strike targets without direct human intervention.
They are a serious ethical concern because they lack the “unique human capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making.”
“The development and deployment of AI in armaments should be subject to the highest levels of ethical scrutiny.”
“No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being.”