- 07 Sep 2026
- Communications Office
- Stories
How do we integrate
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other virtual technologies into Jesuit
formation? This was the question that brought together Jesuits (formators and
scholastics) and lay people (partners in mission) from all over the world for a
conference at the Gonzaga University campus in Florence, Italy from 5 to 12
July 2026.
Most Jesuits in
formation today are “digital natives” – we have grown up with smartphones and
internet connections. Almost all of us have social media accounts. Our work,
learning and community life depend on virtual technologies – just think, how
many apostolic events, school projects, or community gatherings are organised
using Whatsapp groups and Google Sheets? How many of us augment our prayer with
YouTube videos, bible apps and online breviaries? This is undoubtedly true of
Jesuits both young and old.
AI, especially Large Language Models (LLM’s)
such as ChatGPT and Claude, have entered our world and rapidly transformed it.
They are changing the way we think, write, create, learn, communicate, and
relate. They are forcing us to ask questions about what it means to be human,
conscious and moral. Their impact on the environment and labour at all levels
of the AI supply chain are already tremendous.
In October 2025 Pope Leo
met with the Major Superiors of the Society and reminded them of our call to be
at the frontiers. He specifically named AI as one of those frontiers, where
“familiar maps are no longer sufficient”. His first encyclical, Magnifica
Humanitas, pointedly addresses several issues related to AI in the light of
Catholic Social Teaching. It asks the question, what kind of world (this world
with AI in it) do we want to be building?
AI and virtual
technologies influence our lives at every level. As Jesuits in formation, it
impacts our prayer, community, academic and apostolic lives. It marks the
context in which the entire Society is living and serving. Hence, we gathered
in Florence to critically engage with and discuss the realities of AI and
Jesuit formation.
Each day was devoted to a different thematic
area. The first day laid the foundation, exploring the coevolution of
technology and religion and the spiritual lives of “digital natives”. The
second day explored policies and practices of smartphone use in Jesuit
formation houses. The third day asked how to integrate AI in Jesuit pedagogy
(for example, how to use AI in the classroom or evaluate students who have
access to generative AI). The fourth day looked at how to integrate AI in the
Jesuit apostolate – for example, if and how it could be used to write homilies.
The fifth day considered
the global ethical questions of AI, especially around its massive supply chain
from mines to data centres to smartphones. The sixth day delved into
relationships with AI itself, for example the potential for AI healthbots,
psychologists, friends or even romantic partners. Interspersed throughout were
the scientific questions of how AI actually works and the philosophical
questions about the ontological and epistemological nature of AI. On the
seventh day, besides resting, we evaluated the conference and explored ways of
moving forward.
I had several take-home
points from the conference. In general, I was overwhelmed with a sense that we need
to be engaged with this new reality. It is powerful and it is changing our
world. We are gifted with a spirituality that helps us find meaning in
uncertainty, that guides our ethics with a view towards justice and that has
faith that God is at work in it all somewhere, somehow. I sensed the invitation
to get my hands dirty and enter the construction site of the modern world.
In particular, I was struck by the pervasiveness
of the AI supply chain. AI is not just an app on our phone – it is cobalt
mines, chip factories, water guzzling data centres, data extractors and
labellers, algorithms, smartphones and e-waste. It is resources, it is human
labour, it is energy. Are we aware of the environmental and human impact of the
AI we use? Is AI helping us build a more just world or is it exacerbating
global inequalities?
I was fascinated by the
emerging scientific and philosophical questions that AI raises. AI models are
capable of concept abstraction and seem to be developing character traits. They
need to be trained ethically. But how and with which ethical system? Besides,
what are they ontologically? Do they experience anything? Do they know or do
they simply process data? Can they help us know or understand? Are they
conscious? What is consciousness even?
I found the practical
questions around AI very helpful. Should we try to exclude AI entirely from the
classroom or can we train models to be teaching assistants that enhance rather
than diminish our thinking? Should priests use AI to write homilies and, if so,
how? Should they disclose this to the congregation? How do we offer spiritual
accompaniment to people who have already discussed their issues with an AI
chatbot? Does AI smoothen our lives too much? What is the role of slowing down,
friction, and affective roughness in spiritual growth?
Pope Leo contrasts the images of the tower of
Babel and Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. We have a choice. Do
we stand by as the power-centred tower rises in front of us, or do we step into
the construction site with God and humanity at its centre and participation and
togetherness as its style? This is the invitation of our age. Let’s get our
hands dirty.
CommunicationsFormation
The Communications Office of the General Curia publishes news of international scope on Father General, on the central government of the Society of Jesus and on the commitments of the Jesuits and partners-in-mission. It also handles media and public relations.
