AI: How the Church is Responding and how Catholics can get Involved

About This Event

Doors to St Wilfrid's Hall will open at about 7.30pm. The talk starts at 7.45pm. After the talk, there will be some time for questions and discussion, concluding at around 8.45pm. After that, hot snacks and drinks (hotdogs and wine) will be available along with the opportunity to socialise until 10pm. In this talk, Tomislav will demystify Artificial Intelligence by introducing what it is and how it works. He will situate these technologies within the broader historical relationship between the Catholic Church and major technological developments, showing how current debates about AI continue a long tradition of discernment about human creativity, moral responsibility and the nature of progress. Building on this foundation, he will examine AI through key principles of Catholic social teaching, showing the opportunities and challenges posed by advanced AI systems. He will present findings from a study of MagisteriumAI, focussing on how individuals use chatbot-based systems for spiritual direction and pastoral questions. The talk will also survey current initiatives within the Church that aim to discern faithful paths for engaging AI. Tomislav will conclude by identifying concrete areas where Catholics can actively shape the development and use of AI technologies, emphasising that we are not passive spectators, but essential participants in ensuring that AI serves authentic human and spiritual good. Speaker Bios: Tomislav is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the LSE. Tomislav’s journey began with a simple question: How do we come to know things through tools? This question took him from studying philosophy and communication sciences in Zagreb, to mathematical logic in Amsterdam, and finally to a PhD in information systems where he left his armchair thinking to study how real organizations use AI. After conducting research at a plant breeding company and moving to the London School of Economics as a researcher, he discovered his true calling when he realized how much he was using AI in his personal life to study theology and do Bible studies. Today, as an Assistant Professor at LSE, Catholic AI is his sole research focus as he explores how Catholic social teaching can inform the development of AI systems that lead to human flourishing.

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