Data Dreams - A Catholic Perspective on Artificial Intelligence

By Eric Hanna, S.J.

“Data, if you ever do realize your dream of becoming human, I don't think you'll be a bad one.”

− Star Trek: The Next Generation

It is wrong to assume that a religious understanding of the sacredness of life is automatically opposed to the concept of artificial intelligence. We believe that human souls are sacred … but does this imply that an intelligent machine, being non-human, must be a soulless impossibility? What is sacred about intelligence? What can be sacred about machines? To begin to answer these questions I offer a few philosophical and theological tools. At the moment, human-like artificial intelligence is but a dream: an unknown possibility. But exploring our dreams can help us learn more about ourselves.

Our Lady: The Soul of A Nation

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S. J.

I believe that every nation has a soul, and that this ‘soul’ is often expressed through the culture of its people. Some may argue that the culture of a nation has nothing to do with its soul, and everything to do with the artists behind it. This approach may be correct, but it does not appeal to the romantic in me! Therefore, whenever I travel to new places, I often turn to the arts in my quest for an understanding of the elusive spiritual side that a nation may have. 

Venezuela was no different: If I was at a theatre watching a play, in the streets, listening to original music of local people, or at an evening of Venezuelan folk music (none of which I truly understood much in the end), I always paid careful attention to the artistic expression of the heart/soul of the nation. But it was not in the capital of Caracas that I finally had a taste of the real soul of the country, but in the village of Guasdualito.