Like a sickness, artificial intelligence and ChatGPT has slowly infected almost every part of human life. It is hard to find anything nowadays that hasn’t been influenced by AI. Religion is one of the topics that should be safe from artificial intelligence. Religion has thrived on community and original ideas for centuries. That’s why I was very surprised when Pope Leo XIV had to tell priests to not use AI.
On Feb. 19, the Pope held a closed-door meeting with the clergy from the Diocese of Rome. With four selected priests from the Diocese, Pope Leo urged them against, “the temptation to prepare homilies with Artificial Intelligence.” He tells them that AI does not have the capability to share faith. A homily is a religious address said during a church service. This part of the service is supposed to be the part where God speaks to his followers through the priest. It is a way for the listeners to further understand the readings of the Bible. It fully defeats the purpose if the priest uses AI to write the homily. The words are supposed to be from God, not a computer.
It is common knowledge that AI is bad for the world. Not only does it prevent people from learning by doing the work for them, it also uses the world’s resources. It uses immense amounts of water for data cooling centers and also consumes massive amounts of energy. A nonprofit, Ceres, reported that, “In the coming years annual water use associated with data center electricity consumption is expected to increase by 400%.” This would take the estimated 2.9B gallons to 14.5B gallons. That amount of water could supply a city like Scottsdale, Arizona for two years. This water has the potential to help people in need or cities going through droughts.
The danger of fake media is all around us. With the rise of AI generated images, it is getting harder and harder to determine what is real. False media can lead to mass confusion. There are resources to report fake media. Using the steps on this website, you can help decrease the amount of fake news on the internet. AI generated images harm our world and our minds. It is difficult to urge people to stop using AI, especially when our president uses it so freely.
On April 1, President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photo depicting himself as the religious figure Jesus. He is shown in a red coat healing a sick man on a bed. This post sparked national controversy with most people on all ends of the political spectrum in an outrage. The post was shortly taken down a day later and addressed with an apology. Trump later told reporters that he thought it was, “me as a doctor.” He then explained his reasoning behind deleting the post by saying that he “didn’t want to have people confused. People were confused.”
With the rise of AI not seeming to slow down any time soon, it is important to remember what AI can never have. AI cannot feel love or compassion. AI cannot form meaningful relationships or connections with people. Humans are gifted with empathy and understanding, which is something a computer could never replicate. Continue to spread love and kindness, and please stop using AI!