Bishop of Hong Kong tells peers AI is not the devil's work

Theologians give scriptural OK to online faith communities

The Bishop of Hong Kong said last week that AI was definitely not a gift from the devil at a meeting of his peers across Asia that called for sensible engagement with the technology.

However, the get-together also fretted over the possibility of fake "intimacy," LLM-generated homilies, and digital idolatry as AI permeates the world of faith.

The Federation of Asian Bishops called for the Church to "respond wisely and pastorally" to the rise of AI, according to Radio Veritas Asia.

Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, the Bishop of Hong Kong, opened the meeting declaring AI was a "gift from God," not "from the devil," The Japan Times reports.

In a concluding statement, the bishops said AI was an "expression of human creativity" and offered promise and peril. "The Church does not reject or fear AI but seeks to engage it with prudence and an incarnational vision rooted in human relationships."

The technology could support "evangelization, pastoral care, catechesis, and education," and enhance the Church's digital mission.

But the prelates also worried about "illusions of intimacy, simulated presence, deepfakes, biased content, and the erosion of truth in the digital environment."

The possibility of weakening human relationships was also a concern, with "fake intimacy" in relation to "artificial personas" a particular unease.

Ultimately, they declared it is humans who are "endowed with spiritual, moral, emotional, and relational depth, [and] cannot be reduced to algorithms."

Human worth "cannot be captured by data or computation."

So, while the Bishops called for "Catholic AI tools grounded in scripture" and a push to digitize church resources, they also called for "human oversight and pastoral accountability."

Some speakers gave their graces a more practical explanation of what digital Catholicism might and shouldn't look like.

Dr Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, warned of filter bubbles, driven by commercial or ideological interests, and the potential for AI to distort public discourse. He said that ultimately, AI was a form of calculation, and therefore limited.

Dr Nataša Govekar, Theological-Pastoral Director of the Dicastery for Communication, warned against "AI-generated homilies" or creating "real-life" images of Jesus or saints. Building an LLM was not "magic," she said – something the Church obviously frowns on.

And if you're upset you couldn't make the meeting, or indeed 10 am Mass on Sunday, don't worry. Cyberspace might be able to help satisfy your spiritual yearnings.

The meeting coincided with the release of a book by Filipino theologians Rico C. Jacoba and Agnes M. Brazal, which cites passages such as Matthew 18:20 – "where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" – as theological support for online gatherings as authentic Christian community.

At the same time, they said Christians should be compassionate and neighborly toward those they encounter on the information superhighway. Sound familiar? Yes, it's the story of the Good Samaritan transposed to the modern era where you're at least as likely to be robbed or monstered online as in the real world. ®