Vatican's AI commission chief admits he hasn't used artificial intelligence himself

Cardinal Michael Czerny, appointed in May by Pope Leo XIV to chair the Vatican's Inter-Dicasterial Commission on Artificial Intelligence, has revealed in an interview that he has never actually used AI tools himself. Asked on the "Brussels Playbook Week Ender" podcast whether he uses AI in his work, Czerny said he simply hadn't had the time.

The Czech-born, Canadian cardinal said he holds no principled objection to the technology. He described himself as willing and happy to learn, adding that he feels it is his moral duty to gain personal experience with AI so that it might help him in his work.

Czerny's commission brings together various Vatican administrative offices to study the impact of machine learning on humanity. Speaking on the fringes of Axel Springer's WELT AI Summit in Berlin, he called on European politicians and bishops to respond more clearly to warnings about the dangers of frontier AI models escaping human control and oversight.

Call for dialogue

Czerny said there should be dialogue between bishops and European governments to convey public concern and to address the issue with openness and creativity. Otherwise, he warned, people might look back in five months or five years and admit they sensed disaster coming but did nothing to prevent it.

The Catholic Church has been stepping up its involvement in discussions about AI's future. Paolo Benanti, the Vatican's adviser on artificial intelligence, recently attended a meeting in Scotland convened by King Charles III, where tech executives discussed the opportunities and risks surrounding the technology.