Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of Pontifical Academy for Life, addressing a gathering in New Delhi on Jan 30 (Photo: Bijay Kumar Minj)
By Bijay Kumar Minj
Feb 1 2024
INDIA – A senior Vatican official says the Church is not against the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Catholic life ahead of the Catholic Bishops’ Council of India’s seven-day plenary session themed on the machines that make decisions independently of their human masters.
“The world is in a changing era and we are not against the growing use of technology and Artificial Intelligence,” Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told a gathering in India’s national capital New Delhi.
Catholics can use Artificial Intelligence as long as it does not go against the Church teaching, said the grand chancellor of John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Italy on Jan 30.
AI should be “used wisely and we should not become slaves of these objects,” Paglia added.
Addressing an event, organized by the Federation of Catholic Association of Archdiocese of Delhi, the prelate said Pope Francis has said AI should be used in the service of humanity and has repeatedly warned against the increasing impact of technology on society.
“What happened with the atom bomb in Hiroshima?” the prelate observed while speaking against the unmindful use of new technologies when they hit the stand.
Father Andrew Ciucci, co-coordinator of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told the gathering that AI has positive and negative impacts.
However, “It can’t be used immorally,” Ciucci said.
The senior Vatican officials have come in India to attend the 36th biennial plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in the southern city of Bengaluru, starting Jan 31.
This year’s central theme is, “Church’s response to the current socio-political situation in the country and the benefits and challenges of Artificial Intelligence.”
Paglia will address a session dedicated to Artificial Intelligence on Feb 2.
The Church under Pope Francis has embraced the use of AI. However, the 87-year-old pope has warned against tech majors efforts to use algorithms to change people’s views at a scale, at a speed, and for very little cost and to make our “moral purpose in life is to follow our self-interest.”
The Vatican has selected Artificial Intelligence as the theme of World Communication Day which is observed in 2024. – UCA News
