Let's take Pope Leo XIV's warnings about AI seriously

The new pope, Leo XIV, has identified Artificial Intelligence as an area of particular concern to him -- and is right to do so.

AI already has shown great potential to be useful to human development, but, like almost every scientific advancement -- from splitting the atom to connecting the world on the internet -- AI carries with it the potential for disaster and the diminishment of humanity's freedom and reliance on truth-telling.

As this Associated Press story notes, the pontiff  has "identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor."

Why might AI be such a threat? Many reasons, but among them the concern that "AI development may result in a 'nuclear-level catastrophe,'” as this Scientific American story put it.

A primary question is whether anything like a moral conscience can be built into AI and, if not, how might it be controlled so that it doesn't treat humans as merely another machine. We humans already know the danger of dehumanizing other people, and it's pretty clear that Pope Leo XIV wants us to stop it but also wants to make sure we don't allow AI to do that.

This later RNS story quoted a cardinal "who had dinner with the pope soon after his election and who said he asked Leo why he had chosen the name. Leo answered that he is 'very concerned about the cultural shifts we are living through, a Copernican revolution really — artificial intelligence, robotics, human relationships.' He said he was 'inspired by Leo XIII, who in the midst of the Industrial Revolution wrote Rerum Novarum, launching an important dialogue between the church and the modern world.”

The pope added this, according to the cardinal: “There is a revolution happening, and it must be addressed seriously. The church can contribute through its moral authority and also its academic strength.”

One of the primary teachings of Christianity, including, of course, Catholicism, is that each human being is precious in God's sight and was created in the very image of God. What has happened historically when people don't take that seriously? Oh, slavery, wars, the Holocaust and on and on. If one of the results of AI is to move us away from the idea of what political scientist Glenn Tinder has called the "exalted individual," we are in danger of dismissing the spiritual center of our politics.

So if you aren't up to speed on AI and its potentials and dangers, now is a good time to educate yourself. Start with the Scientific American article to which I linked you and then look for books such as The Chaos Machine (I wrote about it here) by Max Fisher to add more to what you know.

You also might give a listen to this recent broadcast on NPR's "1A" show about how "Artificial intelligence is writing sermons. It’s composing prayers. It’s even answering spiritual questions — 24/7, in every language, no confessional required."

On the whole, people interviewed on that show found that AI could be useful in extending effective ministry to people, but there also were lots of words of caution.

But here's a recent example of AI being used to distribute misinformation via the mainstream media. Newspapers in Chicago and Philadelphia published a reading list with fake AI-generated book titles. A serious violation of journalism ethics.

The point is that Pope Leo XIV is right to raise this issue and he's now in a position to influence public opinion about the need for lots of caution about AI. Let's not ignore him on this matter.

In fact, the author of this opinion column about the pope and AI predicts Leo XIV will issue a major encyclical on the subject within a year: "Leo XIV, as an American pope, perfectly understands and appreciates the benefits of technology but is far from ignorant of the dangers AI poses to the deeply sensitive issues of our moral imagination and building authentic human relationships, a perceptivity he developed as an on-the-ground missionary and bishop in the poorest parts of Peru over two decades. The odds look good that he will be penning his first encyclical on the New Things of AI come the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum on May 15, 2026. It would not make sense to wait much longer than a year, with artificial intelligence breaking technological, analytical, creative and relationship barriers at light speed—with all the good, bad and ugly that comes with it."

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THE SUPREME COURT GETS ONE RIGHT

In recent years the U.S. Supreme Court has made a lot of troubling decisions -- at least troubling to people who value the Constitution and who want to limit the power of secret money influencing political races. But its squeaker 4-4 decision to forbid public money going to a parochial school in Oklahoma is to be applauded, even if it happened only because one of the justices recused herself from the case. There is an important place in this nation for parochial schools funded by supporters of one faith tradition or another. But there should be no place for such schools to be funded mostly by taxpayers. Why four justices didn't understand that is a mystery. But, in the end, the right decision was made.

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P.S.: My Flatland column that posted here this past Sunday described how lots of people in this chaotic time are turning to area retreat centers to take a break and achieve some measure of calm. I used several examples from different centers but didn't have space or time for all the stories I collected. So I want to add a few more here. These come from Sr. Therese Elias, a spiritual director whose home is the Sophia Spirituality Center in nearby Atchison, Kan. She tells me about the experience of several people who have been retreatants at the center:

First is a man over age 60: "Sophia Center has been a place of transformation for this man. For 45 years, he was a member and later, minister, of a congregation. Finding himself burdened by a sense of guilt and unworthiness, he shared with a friend who recommended Sophia Center. From the time he entered the front door, he says, he’s found unwavering acceptance by the retreat staff. Through further retreat time, his image of a demanding, critical God has been replaced by one of compassion and unconditional love. . .Being in the silence and solitude helps him unwind. There’s no TV, no internet, no distractions, just God and him. His negative emotions drain away and he gradually finds his center again. After several days he returns to his world having reconnected with himself and his God and feeling new again. This is his sanctuary, a refuge and soul-renewing place."

Next she describes a woman over age 70: "This woman, a spiritual director, attended a workshop at Sophia Center on the effects of trauma on one’s spirituality and sense of God. Memories of her own childhood sexual abuse surfaced and she panicked. Fortunately, there was a spiritual director available who provided her with support. She was able to find a trauma counselor through the recommendation of the workshop presenter and began a journey of healing. She recognizes that, had she not had a safe place in which to receive these memories, she might never have begun this journey to wholeness. She has continued attending retreats and receiving spiritual direction. The center has become home to her. . .It has become, as she calls it, her 'sanctuary.'”

Next are the words of a recently retired woman, who says: "I was nearing retirement and knew I wanted to concentrate on my spirituality in this final stage of life. An internet search found a nearby Catholic monastery who sponsor a retreat center. Their website happened to feature an Indian woman. She had visited a community where members were open and curious about her spirituality while remaining faithful to their own tradition. I figured if these religious women could open their home and hearts to this woman of a different culture and spiritual tradition, they could handle my spirituality with its mixture of beliefs and disbeliefs without freaking out! I was spiritually stuck and knew I needed a safe place to explore my relationship with God. I took a private 3-day retreat and received spiritual companionship. I visited this retreat center frequently as the years went by. I learned to get out of my head and experience God in my heart and body. . .I learned I needed to listen and be present to my own pain. I could then truly listen and be present to other’s pain."

And finally a mid-50s Catholic woman says this: "I was in a dark spot, dealing with deep hurts and a feeling of lostness. My spiritual director, a sister from Sophia Center, helped me recognize these feelings as emerging from a deep down experience of abandonment. In the process I was able to acknowledge this as beginning with events from my childhood. She invited me to accept the feelings, to be present to them, mostly to be present to God in the midst of them. . .Prayer doesn’t make the pain go away entirely, but I can now let go and trust that God and all the angels and guides God put around me will keep me safe. I’m at peace because I’m loved."

If you're in need of a retreat center, I invite you to look at some of the ones I listed in my Flatland column.

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ANOTHER P.S.: Many of you have been following the recent border war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. My closest friend from the part of my boyhood that I spent in India is Markandey Katju, a former justice on India's Supreme Court. He has been working hard for some years now to convince people that India never should have been divided in 1947 into India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). I like his arguments a lot because they're rooted in the reality that over much of India's history the majority Hindu population and the minority Muslim population there got along reasonably well. At any rate, here is Katju's latest column about all this and why he's been devoting his life to the cause of reconnection.

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A final P.S.: I will post an extra blog entry tomorrow about Tuesday's funeral of Sarah Milgrim, a young Kansas City area woman who, with her fiancé to be, was murdered a week ago in Washington, D.C., in a clear terrorist attack related to the Hamas-Israeli war.