In January of this year, while some were celebrating and others were bemoaning the inauguration of a new president, our Church leaders in Rome put out another installment in the on-going conversation about Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence. Whaat? You missed it too?

Antiqua et Nova, Ancient and New is a joint effort produced by two departments in the Curia, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Dicastery for Culture and Education. The document, the writers refer to as a “note”, is a 30-page essay that explores the topic from various angles, from the anthropological foundations of human intelligence, which is of divine origin, to the ethical implications of machines that learn. 

“The Church invites those entrusted with transmitting the faith—including parents, teachers, pastors, and bishops—to dedicate themselves to this critical subject with care and attention,” it states. The writers express their desire for this message to reach anyone who feels technological advances, should ultimately serve the common good. (AN #5)

One of the themes that surfaces in the work is the potential impact of AI to human relationships. “Like other technological tools, AI has the potential to foster connections within the human family,” the writers state. Examples of this are AI-powered communication tools that can help families stay connected; AI powered assistants that can help seniors with reminders; and household tasks can be managed with “smart” home systems. 

“However, it could also hinder a true encounter with reality and ultimately, lead people to a ‘deep and melancholic dissatisfaction with interpersonal relations, or a harmful sense of isolation,” they say. In other words, AI has the potential of throwing humanity into a deep depression and a despairing loneliness.  (AN #58)

Those feelings of loneliness and isolation have already led many people to turn to AI applications and bots in search of relationships or companionship. “However, while human beings are meant to experience authentic relationships, AI can only simulate them,” say the authors of Antiqua et Nova.  “Relationships with others are an integral part of how a person grows to become who he or she is meant to be,” they say. (AN #63)

The very thing the authors of Ancient and New are alluding to is actually already happening. We’ve all seen it. Families apparently on a "night out" at a restaurant, sitting at their tables, gazing at gadgets instead of engaging one another.  What leads wives to spend long hours scrolling social media while husbands go from one game to the next on their phones?  It certainly isn’t a charitable spirit that seeks the good of the beloved. More likely, it’s an evil spirit that seeks to divide and destroy. Selfishness, sloth, gluttony? Will we begin to see more and more cases of infidelity with AI “friends”?  Will our teens be drawn down into deeper and darker rabbit holes in search of friendship? 

Church Fathers of the Second Vatican Council wisely stated in Gaudium et Spes ie Joy and Hope, (Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, 1965)   “By his innermost nature, man is a social being; and if he does not enter into relationship with others, he can neither live nor develop his gifts.”(GS par.12)  Is a technology that increasingly leads people to disconnect from the real world, from real people, from real problems, from real beauty, and real joy, a technology that leads to human flourishing?  Let’s be real. The more elaborate and “life like” technology gets, the more we will be tempted to make an idol out of it.  Our primary mission as Catholics and Christians to love God above everything and our neighbors like ourselves is in jeopardy if we don’t learn the discipline required to utilize this tool for the good.

Artificial Intelligence creates another challenge, “since AI can effectively imitate the products of human intelligence, the ability to know when one is interacting with a human or a machine can no longer be taken for granted,” the writers emphasized.

 “Anthropomorphizing AI (speaking about it as if it’s a person) also poses specific challenges for the development of children, potentially encouraging them to develop patters of interaction that treat human relationships in a transactional manner,” the writers continue. (AN #60)

“Genuine relationships, rooted in empathy and a steadfast commitment to the good of the other, are essential and irreplaceable in fostering the full development of the human person,” they affirm.   A further detrimental impact for children and adults is than an increasing reliance on AI will lead to a decline in people’s ability to develop critical thinking skills. 

While the message of the “note” includes the idea that Artificial Intelligence is a part of human intelligence and ingenuity that has the potential to help us, its negative impact on relationships, especially the relationships between men and women, husbands and wives, and their children is already becoming evident.   

Ultimately, our relationship with God, or the absence of it, will determine what our interaction with this new technology will be.  An AI creation, or chat bot, as lifelike as it may seem, will never have feelings, it will never have empathy, and it will never have a soul.   Only human beings can have a relationship with God, our Creator.  AI will always and forever only be able to have interactions with the creature, us and never the Creator.

While I would never bet the farm on a high school math genius against AI to solve a calculus problem, AI will never succeed at replicating the richness of human love, the true bonds of friendship and the moral and spiritual dimensions of life, the smart young man is capable of.    

To read Antiqua et Nova visit the Vatican website here: