Richard Susskind, in his book How to Think About AI, suggests that we should focus less on what AI ‘is’ and more on what it ‘does’. He prefers to speak of ‘massively capable systems’ rather than ‘intelligent machines’. That approach—outcome thinking rather than process thinking—is helpful for framing this article.
The title of this article itself is slightly ambiguous. It could be a statement: ‘AI is at the service of humanity and the Church’. Or it could be a question: ‘Is AI at the service of humanity and the Church?’ Or perhaps it could be a challenge: ‘How can AI be at the service of humanity and the Church?’ I will explore all three meanings as we go along.
AI as a tool
A large part of the Catholic and wider human response to AI so far has used the language of ‘tool’. This is the framework used by both Pope Francis and Pope Leo. It is useful but limited, because it may betray a naivete about the growing power of AI and the potential benefits.
On 21st June 2025, Pope Leo reminded us: “It must not be forgotten that artificial intelligence functions as a tool for the good of human beings—not to diminish them, not to replace them.” A year earlier, at the G7 summit, Pope Francis stated: “Essentially, artificial intelligence is a tool designed for problem solving.”
This language is helpful because it keeps the human person at the centre. AI can indeed be put to work for good purposes, in the service of both humanity and the Church. We already see this happening all around us:
- In the workplace: automating routine tasks, increasing efficiency, and supporting innovation through AI‑driven research.
- In healthcare: improving diagnosis, discovering new drugs, enabling robotic surgery, and designing personalised treatments.
- For the environment: modelling climate change, optimising energy use, and designing sustainable buildings and transport.
- In education: supporting personalised learning, widening access to knowledge, and offering real‑time tutoring.
- In everyday life: providing smart assistants, self‑driving cars, maps, translation apps, and many other conveniences.
And for the Church, we can already see parallel opportunities:
- In evangelisation: using new communication tools and real‑time translation for multi-lingual parishes.
- In catechesis and formation: creating tailored resources for learners and catechists.
- In social outreach: mapping local needs, coordinating parish support for the poor and elderly, and connecting with the housebound.
- In administration: streamlining parish databases, finances, and communication.
- In worship and community life: assisting with liturgical music, producing resources and artwork, assisting with the development of reflections, homilies and pastoral advice.
All this is already happening, and it shows how AI can serve as a powerful and practical aid – a tool that helps us to do better what we are already doing.
Beyond the tool metaphor
But there’s a limitation here. A tool helps you complete a task; it doesn’t necessarily transform what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, or who you are. That’s why I’m not convinced that the ‘tool’ metaphor is sufficient for our theological or pastoral reflection. AI has the potential not only to help us do things more efficiently, but to change the very nature of what we do.
Richard Susskind makes this point powerfully in How to Think About AI. He says we normally think of AI as automating existing tasks. But AI also has the capacity to innovate, and even to eliminate certain tasks altogether. It can fundamentally reshape human activity, often in ways we don’t expect. For example:
- Medicine: AI will not just assist doctors; it may innovate by developing preventative systems that eliminate the need for surgery or regular consultation altogether. Suskind says that human beings don’t want doctors, they want health.
- Household life: Rather than developing robots that iron shirts, AI might design fabrics that never crease — removing the need for ironing completely. Yes, we already have polyester, but AI might give us creaseless cotton.
- Education: AI educational software can now offer personalised tutors that may improve the learning experience and also give children more time to socialize and play. It’s not “digital companions vs real relationships” but the best of both worlds. AI can act not just as an assistant but as a creative educational partner that enhances learning.
These examples remind us that AI is not just about automation, it can also involve a radical transformation of what we do through innovation and even elimination of some roles that seemed indispensable. It may reshape what we aim for and what counts as success.
Transformation and Vision-Based Thinking
Susskind suggests that we shouldn’t simply fit AI into our existing systems but instead use it to pursue our true goals. He gives a striking example: instead of asking, “What is the future of neurosurgeons?” we should ask “How will AI help us solve the problems that neurosurgeons are our current best answer to?” That shift—from institutional to visionary thinking—is vital. For the Church, this means not asking how AI will affect existing parish practices and roles, but how can it help us achieve the Church’s enduring mission in new and more effective ways.
What are the Church’s goals? They can be expressed in different ways. A traditional formulation: Christians are called to give glory to God and to sanctify souls. Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium describes the Church as being “in Christ, like a sacrament—that is, a sign and instrument of communion with God and of the unity of the whole human race.”
Another formulation: Jesus Christ is priest, prophet and king; and the Christian vocation and the mission of the Church is to share in Christ’s threefold mission of teaching, sanctifying, and governing. Which leads us to ask: how can AI help us to fulfil these three core responsibilities more faithfully and effectively?
- How can we best achieve the three goals of teaching, sanctifying, and governing?
- How can AI help us to achieve these goals in ways we haven’t yet imagined?
These questions may unsettle us. We’re used to established structures, not radical change. But remember, the Church has always adapted her methods of teaching, worship, and governance to new technologies and cultures.
Examples of Transformation from History
Think of the history of communication: from handwritten manuscripts to the printing press, from radio to television, from the internet to social media. Each shift has changed how the Church teaches and evangelises. AI could be the next great shift.
- Teaching: In an age of illiteracy, faith was passed on orally. The printing press made personal reading and Bible study possible for millions. The internet opened the world’s catechetical resources to everyone. The core teaching hasn’t changed, but language, understanding and theology have developed, and methods of communication have been transformed. AI may yet make learning even more personal, adaptive, and global.
- Sanctification and Worship: The call to faith, hope and charity has not changed, but forms of holiness have evolved over the centuries. From the ideal of martyrdom in the early Church, to the community life and solitude of the desert fathers and mothers; from the communal and personal devotions that developed in the middle-ages, to the universal call to holiness at Vatican II. AI does not pray, but it may help us to pray in new ways, or offer spiritual guidance and counselling based on Church tradition or lead us deeper into the sacramental life of the Church.
- Governance and Pastoral Care: The fundamental structure of the Church comes from Christ and from the Apostles. It has and always will be One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. But how much have parish and diocesan structures changed over the centuries? AI may transform parish and diocesan life and governance and help us to develop pastoral structures and plans we couldn’t imagine before. It will never replace pastoral love and human relationships, but it could facilitate new ways of putting love into practice and help us connect in new ways.
In all these areas, AI might not be perfect, but this misses the point. We shouldn’t compare an imaginary perfect Church with an AI-assisted Church. We should look at the imperfect reality of our Church today and ask whether an AI-assisted Church would be better or worse. What are the benefits vs the costs and dangers? Are we really fulfilling our Christian mission today? Will AI help us or hinder us? Can it help us reach the goals and fulfil the tasks that Jesus has given us?
The Need for Boundaries and Continuity
Still, there must be some boundaries. Much discernment is needed. AI doesn’t set the Church’s goals: Christ does. The Church’s two‑thousand‑year tradition can provide the wisdom to guide technology’s use. The four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church — faith, sacraments, the moral life, and prayer — give us a foundation and a set of “guard rails” (to use the language of technologists today):
- Faith: The deposit of faith is revealed by God, entrusted by Christ to the Apostles, handed down through Scripture and Tradition, and guarded by the Magisterium of the Church in each generation. This faith cannot change in its fundamentals, even if there are organic developments.
- The seven sacraments: They have a divine institution. They involve both “matter” (a physical element) and “form” (certain words): we can’t digitise baptism or automate confession. The public liturgy of the Church will always involve Christians coming together with the ministers of the Church to worship God as his People.
- The moral life: The commandments, the beatitudes, the virtues, the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, human dignity and the common good, our rights and responsibilities, our Christian vocation, the Social Teaching of the Church – these flow from our human nature and from our Christian calling. The essentials won’t change.
- Prayer: Every person is called to a personal friendship with Jesus Christ, to a life of faith, hope and charity, to sanctity. The encounter with God is personal and grace‑filled. Technology must never replace God, but it might help to facilitate our friendship with him.
Catholic development is organic, not revolutionary. Within those boundaries, however, there remains huge scope for creative innovation.
From Tool to Partner
If the idea of AI as a tool is too narrow, perhaps we can use a richer set of metaphors, taken from the world of HR and organizational theory:
- a tool helps you fulfil a task
- an assistant helps you complete a project
- a colleague collaborates with you and supports you in your day-to-day work
- a manager oversees local operations and develops tactics
- a leader sets the broader strategy
- a founder creates the defining vision.
AI will never be the founder—Christ alone sets the vision. But why limit AI to being a tool? Could AI not act as an assistant, a colleague, even a manager, perhaps even a leader in the Church’s mission? Many Christians might immediately recoil at the suggestion and come up with many reasons why AI cannot substitute for a human being. I am curious about how involved AI will become in the mission of the Church.
Already, people are using AI to develop evangelisation strategies or to manage parish planning. In time, AI systems may collaborate with us as trusted peers. But we must remain alert to the theological truth: AI may manage operations, but it cannot define our purpose. Only Christ can do that.
As technology transforms humanity itself—physically, cognitively, even spiritually—the Church will also need to rethink how she serves this changing humanity. We are entering what Donald Rumsfeld once called the territory of ‘unknown unknowns’.
Conclusion
To return to our title: I hope that AI can be put at the service of humanity and the Church. There are risks for the Church of using it and of not using it. It can certainly serve as a tool, and it should never undermine the foundations of Catholic faith or the centrality of inter-personal relations. But I think we should be open to the more radical ways it might affect Catholic life. How might it help the Church to teach, to sanctify and to govern more wisely and more fruitfully? If we are clear about our foundations and our goals, it will make us less afraid of using AI to achieve them.
I haven’t reflected here on the potential costs and unintended consequences of Christians using AI, which may be very significant. I’m just trying to provoke an openness to the potential benefits, so we can ensure that AI truly remains at the service of humanity and of the Church.
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Photo by Luke Jones on Unsplash
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