“We are convinced that, were Fr. Dehon alive today, he would engage this emerging social question [Artificial Intelligence] with the same passion and pastoral concern that he brought to the challenges of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.”
The quote is from Fr. Joseph Mukuna, SCJ, director of the Dehon Study Center, in his introduction to the August 12th colloquium on “Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” The backdrop of the colloquium’s overall theme was Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, in which the Holy Father urges “safeguarding the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.”
“We chose this topic because AI is rapidly transforming society and raising fundamental questions about human dignity, responsibility, and the common good,” continued Fr. Joseph. “The colloquium seeks to familiarize participants with the Church’s vision and to foster thoughtful dialogue on one of the most pressing issues of our age.”
Speakers at the initial session included Dr. Khaled Tannir, an AI and data engineering expert who specializes in developing generative AI (he is also a lecturer at McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies in Montréal), and Fr. Ricky Manalo, CSP, Ph.D., a theologian, author, and co-creator of CatholicFaithAI.org with the Daughters of St. Paul. He is a frequent speaker on AI from a Catholic perspective, including a presentation at the Vatican on the prophetic role of the Catholic Church in the age of AI.
“Magnifica Humanitas directs us toward the grandeur of humanity as God’s creation and the responsibility to safeguard it,” said Fr. Ricky. “Pope Leo XIV recognizes the genuine good that technology can accomplish but also notes that every AI system bears the marks of human choices…
“[He] warns that control over platforms, infrastructure, data and computing power increasingly rests with major economic and technological actors, and that when power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it can become opaque and evade public oversight. Catholic social teaching offers a process of shared discernment shaped by dignity, the common good, the universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity, social justice and integral human development. These principles ask whether technological power fosters participation and responsibility, protects the vulnerable, ensures fair access and serves the good of all.”
Click here to read more on the province website.
Click here to view photos from the colloquium
Several of the supporting materials from the presentations are available for download:
PowerPoint slides from Dr. Khaled Tannir‘s presentation
Booklet from Dr. Tannir’s presentation
Handout from Fr. Ricky Manalo’s presentation
Video recordings of the presentations will be made available soon.
