Our newest course for the Word on Fire Institute is Artificial Intelligence and Evangelization, taught by Dr. Joseph Vukov. He thoroughly explores the world of AI, explains the basics of how people can interact with it, and addresses engagement with it as a Catholic to discover a new path to evangelization in the twenty-first century. Learn more about the course here. The Course Community will begin this course together on January 5.
Nell: Dr. Vukov, you tackle a timely and complex topic for our Institute members—artificial intelligence—to teach not only what it is but how Catholics can engage with it and actually evangelize with it. What background brought you to this level of interest and expertise on such a new technological advance?
Dr. Vukov: My academic background and training is in philosophy. For years, I have studied ethical issues at the intersection of technology and the human mind. Artificial intelligence resides right at that intersection; it is, after all, technology that mimics the human mind. As a Catholic scholar, I also work in the Catholic intellectual tradition, so I’m interested in questions our tradition is well-poised to explore, including questions raised by AI. AI is currently making all kinds of people ask deep philosophical and theological questions: What is the difference between humans and machines? Is there a special “spark” to human consciousness? How can I live ethically, responsibly, and humanely in a technological age? The Catholic intellectual tradition has loads to say about these questions, so I see the current moment as a real opportunity for evangelists.
Nell: Can you sketch out for us the pitfalls of the reductionism you see present in the digital space with respect to how artificial “intelligence” and human intelligence correspond? I know you address Gnosticism and our tendency to conflate intelligence with human worth as well. These three really do set the stage for how to begin to address this artificial intelligence question.
Dr. Vukov: In the twenty-first century, we have inherited a cluster of views that make the rise of artificial intelligence philosophically confusing for us. These views are broadly reductivist: They reduce human nature to something simpler than what it actually is. You mention Gnosticism and our tendency to conflate intelligence with human worth. Both are reductive, and both miss out on the much more robust view of human nature articulated by the Catholic tradition.
Other widespread views of human nature claim humans are nothing more than our computational abilities. Now, even if we don’t explicitly accept these views of human nature, many of them have woven their way into the way we understand ourselves, and they make it very difficult for us to sort out the differences between AI and humans. After all, if humans are nothing more than our computational abilities, then what do we make of a computer that performs these abilities better than we do?
The Church, however, has insisted consistently that modern technology—AI included—can be used for good.
Catholics need not be flummoxed by these kinds of questions. Our tradition is an anti-reductive tradition par excellence. But it is crucial for us to articulate this tradition as a response to the challenges posed by AI, so that’s part of what I try to help Institute members to do in this course.
Nell: For many people, Catholics included, the notion of AI is overwhelming, generative AI is viewed as a morally compromised tool, and the invitation to use AI in evangelization is novel. How do we overcome the initial hesitation at AI in general before we move to evangelization?
Dr. Vukov: I should start by emphasizing that I don’t want to be a “cheerleader” for AI. AI poses significant ethical challenges, and in many cases, it stands to diminish rather than support our individual and shared humanity. The more I reflect on AI, in fact, the more cautious I become. I believe that quite often, opting out of AI entirely is probably the most appropriate response for Catholics (and for everyone!). So I share the initial hesitation many people feel in the face of AI. Your gut feeling in this case is steering you in the right direction!
The Church, however, has insisted consistently that modern technology—AI included—can be used for good. Few organizations demonstrate modern technology’s capacity for good better than Word on Fire itself, which has leveraged the internet, YouTube, and social media in highly effective ways to spread the Gospel. I think we need to approach AI with a similar mindset. Cautious? Absolutely. But also with a keen eye toward the ways in which we can use the technology as a tool for evangelization.
Nell: Do you already see Catholic entities incorporating AI in ethical ways in their institutions for accounting, data synthesis, and AI tools? What does that look like on a large scale? And conversely, regarding the more readily available ChatGPT for the everyday person, what does ethical use of everyday AI tools look like given intellectual property considerations?
Dr. Vukov: If you want to see some examples of ethical AI use in Catholic spaces, watch some quality Catholic content on YouTube, try out the auto-generated captions, and then try translating them; here, you get AI translating content into myriad languages and thus a wider audience. That seems to me like a good thing. You also mention more “boring” AI uses: things like accounting and data synthesis. And indeed, AI-integrated tools stand to allow Catholic organizations and businesses—from Etsy shops to hospital systems—to complete tasks and analyze data in ways that may have been practically impossible without those tools.
Regarding ChatGPT use by everyday people, you raise a really puzzling ethical issue: Can you use a product that has been built using (at least in part) copyrighted data? Here, I think Catholics may come to different conclusions about what ethical usage looks like. The good news is that we already have some ethical guidelines in place for thinking through this kind of issue. Using a morally compromised technology product is, in certain ways, similar to using other morally compromised products. The computer I am writing on right now, for example, may have been manufactured using unethical practices. The hoodie I am wearing may likewise have been made using unjust labor. Does this mean I must get rid of both? Again, a good question, and one that the Catholic tradition—and in particular, Catholic social teaching—can help us answer. And also one, I think, that different Catholics may answer differently.
Nell: What do you hope our members learn from this course? What is your bottom-line takeaway for them? We’re excited to see a huge response within the Institute of the desire both to understand AI and to learn how to use it ethically and as evangelists.
Dr. Vukov: The main thing I want Institute members to take from the course is the idea that the age of AI presents evangelists with a great challenge, yes, but also a great opportunity. Questions about human nature and the ethical use of technology are at the forefront of peoples’ minds today, in large part due to the rise of AI. Catholics have well-developed strategies and frameworks for exploring these questions, and so we have a great opportunity to speak the wisdom of our tradition into the culture at this moment. This course aims to equip Institute members to do just that.