OK, so I thought I might as well jump into the fray; you know, the debate on AI – the scary, unknowable, baffling reality all set to wipe out the human race within ten years. When I was a child, the big scare was ‘the communists,’ a group I feared so much that I was sure they hid behind trees at dusk when I walked home from a friend’s house or were hiding under my bed and would catch my knees when I knelt for night prayer. I said my prayers in my closet for a very long time! It doesn’t take much to scare a civilization. My grandmother always said Stalin’s name in a whisper as if he were listening. It didn’t help that my dad loved listening to spy mysteries on the radio, and my mother said novena prayers out loud for ‘the conversion of Russia.’ Yep, the Red Scare, as it was called, enjoyed full attention in our house between my ages of 7-10.
While communism was real, it was nowhere near the threat that AI (artificial intelligence) leverages now on the world.
In my young mind, much of communism was seen as an incursion into our lives, a slow creep of Godlessness and the erasure of democracy. That seemed like something we can handle, but AI? How can we handle it when we don’t know where we can even grasp it? Is it a thing? Can it be arrested and contained, treated like a human prisoner, and given a life sentence to keep it from hurting us?
What are the premises of AI, the handlebars we can understand and grasp? First, AI has several definitions and types explained clearly online, particularly through Google. It appears amorphous, without shape or structure and simply put it has grown from the very beginning of computers. On the positive side, AI can be very helpful in medicine and engineering. It has questionable advantages in use of robots for restaurants and driverless cars. On the negative side, AI requires Data Centers of such immense sizes that even small centers are 900 acres spewing pollution and grabbing natural water from local communities after demolishing entire city neighborhoods mostly in rural and less affluent areas. Studies show that AI promises job increases but in reality, it replaces human workers with no leadership in place to assist in job replacement.
We can honestly say that AI has grown too quickly to accommodate much of human life unless we establish oversight and ethical and legal regulations to control it.
Enter Pope Leo XIV. I will soon be finished reading his recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, centered on AI and the Christian responsibility to it. What follows are some thoughts to ponder.
Reflection
“Never has humanity had such power over itself.”
“It is necessary to establish adequate regulatory tools capable of upholding justice and curbing the effects of technological power.” This contrasts with the thinking of political leaders who are afraid to control the billionaire CEOs profiting from unregulated AI.
“We must realistically ask who holds this power today and how will they use it.” The Pope is suggesting that the citizens own the lands being compromised and must have a voice in what happens to them.
“For this reason, it is necessary to begin a shared discernment process for identifying spiritual and cultural roots of ongoing transformations.” We cannot leave it up to the owners and CEOs to make the regulations. There is an absolute moral and spiritual guidance required to accommodate the needs of the whole person. Decisions cannot be made on profit alone. Respect for sacred tribal land, for the economic well-being of citizens affected, and for the care and appreciation of the earth are paramount concerns for AI companies and CEOs.
Finally, the Pope asks, “What direction should we choose as a people and human community?”
These are statements worth meditating on as we face the reality of AI – which will, undoubtedly, touch each one of us. We cannot let AI become the worldly god replacing our beloved Creator. From this Creator-Source comes the very existence of AI but it cannot replace the Source. Its tentacles and algorithms can reach out toward the Eternal, but it cannot uncover His Face or reveal His love.
The rapid growth of AI demands that the believer of any faith see the gift that it can be and uphold the parts of AI that are major contributions to the sick all over the world, to the hungry we are compelled to feed, to the homeless we must shelter. Education will flourish and illiteracy disappear when AI is put to good work. Think about this, pray over it. Study AI every way you can. Apply your faith to the quest. Join groups where you can give a concerned voice. You must be heard. God’s will awaits your response and full commitment.
To all my readers: It is fitting to love learning so as to share the best of it for others. But it is also fitting to protect rights over invention. We pray for the grace and courage to do both.
God bless all of you in your special needs.
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