Hello Holy Trinity Family!

At the annual presbyteral day gathering for all the priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on September 28 we were given a wonderful talk on Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Fr. Brendan of the Diocese of San Jose. AI has been around for some time now and it can seem a bit scary especially if it is used in the wrong way. There is concern about AI in our communities and in the Church. In fact, Pope Leo XIV wrote a Papal Encyclical Letter, Magnifica Humanitas, published on May 15 of this year addressing the Church and her concerns with Artificial Intelligence. It is important for us to understand AI and know how to use AI properly if we decide to implement this tool in our daily lives. I see a joke often on social media where a child asks their parent how they wrote papers in school (namely high school and college) without ChatGPT or other AI tools, and the parent responds they would write their papers without reading the book or materials. This is meant to be a lighthearted joke, but it is very true that AI can, and in many cases does, write papers for students (and educators) without them even looking at the materials. AI can create images and videos that can be used for good and bad. There is now growing concern within the Church that AI is getting too big and needs guardrails so that this great tool can be used appropriately and keeping the dignity of the human person intact. To be transparent I do use AI. Sometimes I use AI to help me with homily prep, writing my weekly bulletin message, or even to create images (I had AI give me a synopsis on Magnifica Humanitas). We can’t fear AI, but we must learn about AI and how to live in harmony with Artificial Intelligence.

- Fr. Jonathan