Pope tells priests to use their brains, not AI, to write homilies
AI, “Frictionless Relationships,” and Artificial Intimacy
- Several comments reference Sherry Turkle’s ideas: AI creates “frictionless relationships” with “pretend empathy,” which people may prefer to real-world disagreement and negotiation.
- Some see this as addictive and worry chatbots are becoming substitutes for messy, real relationships.
- Others note this “more real than real” but low-friction world is a hallmark of postmodern life.
Confession, Power, and Data vs. AI Logs
- Parallel drawn between telling secrets to priests and to AI: both receive intimate disclosures, but one is bound by absolute secrecy, the other by ad-tech.
- Multiple commenters stress how seriously the Catholic seal of confession is taken (even to torture/death), contrasting that with Big Tech’s profit motive and data-mining.
- Some push back on framing confession primarily as “power”; they argue its point is liberation, while AI systems are explicitly about control and profit.
Homilies: Authenticity, Context, and Mediocrity
- Many note homilies are often recycled, phoned in, pulled from manuals, or overly political; AI would just be a new flavor of canned content.
- Others insist good preaching is community-specific: you can’t feed enough local, pastoral context into a model without breaching privacy or losing nuance.
- Some priests/seminarians in the thread report AI-generated homilies are “ok-but-not-great,” comparable to average sermons but lacking heart.
- There’s support for the Pope’s core point: the act of writing a homily is spiritually formative for the priest; outsourcing the thinking undermines that.
AI Dependence and Cognitive Atrophy
- Several commenters worry AI will atrophy critical thinking, making people dependent on subscription “thinking services,” likened to a new feudalism.
- Others note we’re already dependent on search engines and navigation; AI is just the next step.
- A recurring distinction: using AI for technical work (code, docs) is seen as acceptable; using it for spiritual guidance or intimate human communication feels wrong or disrespectful.
Religion, Science, and Institutional Smartness
- Long subthread debates the Church’s historical relationship with science (Galileo, crusades, scientific clergy) with substantial nuance and disagreement.
- Some are impressed by recent Vatican documents on AI, arguing the institution “gets it” intellectually, even if one rejects its theology.
Authenticity vs. AI-Mediated Speech
- Multiple commenters argue any important human-facing writing (sermons, emails, pastoral care) should be authentically human, even if clumsy.
- Using AI for these is described as “gross,” a betrayal of trust, and fundamentally missing the point of religious and interpersonal encounters.