By Gina Christian
OSV News
Amid recent calls from several artificial intelligence leaders for a slowdown in the technology’s development, the nation’s Catholic bishops are engaging tech leaders and lawmakers to address concerns over AI and online child safety.
The bishops have also formed a task force to safeguard human dignity as AI rapidly evolves, echoing Pope Leo XIV’s message in his encyclical on AI, “Magnifica Humanitas.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced the developments in a Sept. 16 press release, saying its Administrative Committee had met at its Washington headquarters with “representatives from a variety of tech firms and specialists” in AI.
The USCCB also announced Bishop Oscar Cantu of San Jose, California — home to Silicon Valley and the hub of AI development — will chair its Bishops’ Task Force on Preserving Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
In a Sept. 16 phone call, Bishop Cantu told OSV News that the task force had been unanimously approved, with a goal of carrying out “the vision of Pope Leo” expressed in “Magnifica Humanitas.”
Bishop Cantu stressed that the Church is “concerned about how this (AI) affects the individual, human dignity, the family, society and particularly the most vulnerable.