Last week, Pope Leo XIV approved the creation of an Interdicasterial Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which will be coordinated by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development under Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny.
In his rescript, the Pope stated that the body will focus on “the development in recent decades of the phenomenon of Artificial Intelligence and the most recent accelerations in its widespread use; its potential effects on human beings and on humanity as a whole; the Church’s concern for the dignity of every human person, especially in relation to their integral development…”
The Commission will be made up of representatives from 7 Vatican bodies: the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Dicastery for Communication, the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
This formation of the commission marks a continuing trend of Pope Leo focusing on how AI may both help and harm the human experience. Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence, is set to be released on May 25. As part of the encyclical’s publication, a presentation event with the Pope and various speakers is scheduled for the same day at the Vatican. With these events, it is doubtless the pope’s intention is to help shepherd the faithful through a new time of accelerating technological advancement.
Click here for more details on the Commission on Artificial Intelligence, courtesy of the Vatican News website.