Vatican's artificial intelligence symposium

7 lessons learned from the Vatican's artificial intelligence symposium

Sometime before December 2019, Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council of Culture, and Michael Koch, then the German ambassador to the Holy See, had a series of discussions on the long-term societal and philosophical ramifications of artificial intelligence that led them to jointly sponsor a symposium, "The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence for Human Society and the Idea of the Human Person."

The symposium, finally held on Oct. 21, 2021, featured two chairs, two moderators and six presenters--including Fr. James Keenan of Boston College, who is also a contributor to NCR. Among the seven lessons he learned from the symposium: The advances of artificial intelligence are staggeringly more rapid than anyone ever anticipated.

You can read his commentary here.

More background:

• View the program and speakers’ bios at the Pontifical Council for Culture website.

• Last year Pope Francis said humanity and ethics must be at the center of AI technology.

---

Online fundraiser supports LGBTQ staff fired from Catholic parishes, schools 

Linda Karle-Nelson says that $5,000 isn't much, but it's enough to make a statement of support for LGBTQ people who have been fired from their jobs in the Archdiocese of Detroit. In September, Families with Dignity, a support organization based in Detroit, started Love Always Wins (LAW), a fundraising campaign to help support LGBTQ people and allies who have lost jobs in Catholic parishes or schools in the archdiocese.

In 2020, Families with Dignity identified five people who had lost their jobs. Karle-Nelson, like other members of the leadership team, wanted to do something "to make a statement and to offer support."

Read more of the story here.

More background:

• NCR’s executive editor Heidi Schlumpf recently asked whether the tide could be turning on LGBT firings at Catholic schools.

• As Brian Fraga has reported in the past, Catholic teaching supports nondiscrimination against the LGBT community. 

---

More headlines

• During oral arguments about whether the Texas abortion law can be challenged, two Catholic Supreme Court justices--Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett--were among those expressing some unease with the law’s framing.

• Global Sisters Report is asking, "Was Jesus a ‘foodie’?"

• ICYMI: The United Nations’ climate change convention is underway and NCR’s EarthBeat correspondent Brian Roewe reports that the interfaith community is well represented.