In the recent Catholic Times, we had an editorial and two featured articles on the AI revolution taking place in society.
Information and communication technology have dramatically changed human civilization. With the rapid development of computer information processing technology, the Internet has changed the world beyond compare. Now we are experiencing a new technological advance.
ChatGPT which has recently become a hot topic is making it impossible to gauge the limitations of technology's impact on human life. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft in the U.S., predicted that it was "a significant invention as the Internet" and that it would "change the world."
In particular, today's artificial intelligence evolves on its own through learning. It is feared that the enormous potential could bring unimaginable good and harm to mankind. Therefore, we should think deeply about ways to use artificial intelligence, which is a product of human intelligence and use it ethically.
Already, interactive artificial intelligence is being actively used in all social sectors. As interest in this increases within the church, it is seeking ways to use artificial intelligence. For example, it is introducing an artificial intelligence chatbot in the upcoming Catholic believer app "Catholic Ha Sang."
The media, and even the Church's view of all the technology and goods on earth, is that it is a gift from God. In itself, the church teaches that science and technology are gifts from God to use correctly. Therefore, we need to use the new technology in the best interests of society. This is done by preparing rules and regulations to prevent it from being abused.
In particular, artificial intelligence chatbot technology is expected to be used in pastoral and missionary aspects. This is because artificial intelligence chatbots have the ability to quickly find the necessary information and organize it in an easy-to-see manner according to the user's question. Using search engines to locate information online reduces the time spent browsing various web pages, blogs, and social networking sites and checking these details—provided that the chatbot has learned databases related to theology, doctrine, the Bible, liturgy, spirituality, etc. It can easily listen to the answers needed by believers.
Experts say that above all, artificial intelligence should not be considered as if it could replace humans. It is easy to misunderstand that artificial intelligence is similar to humans because it can use language similar to humans and conduct conversations and consultations. Consequently, the concern is that those using artificial intelligence will seek psychological, mental comfort and satisfaction that can be obtained only from a personal encounter.
The Church teaches that every human being is called to a personal relationship with God and a personal relationship with our neighbors. It is for this reason that the sacrament can only be celebrated in a personal encounter between persons, that is, person to person. The director of the Catholic Institute of Bioethics said: “Meeting with a virtual entity called artificial intelligence cannot replace a personal encounter."
Furthermore, it remains a vital task for the church to think about how to proclaim the gospel in a world that is rapidly changing with artificial intelligence. If artificial intelligence develops, knowledge will be delivered excellently, but the gospel that the church must proclaim is not all about 'doctrinal knowledge'. It seems that the church's role in witnessing the value of human beings, the image of God, the value of life, and the value of personal encounters through life rather than knowledge will become more significant.
