Catholic Church to host conference on AI in Maynooth

The Catholic Communications Office of the Irish Bishops' Conference is to host a seminar on artificial intelligence in Maynooth.

The half-day conference, which will hear from industry leaders and policy makers, follows an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIV in May in which he called for AI to be "disarmed" and made "human-friendly".

In the text, "Magnifica Humanitas" ("Magnificent Humanity"), the Pope urged governments to slow down and closely regulate the development of AI systems, warning that they spread misinformation, prioritise conflict and risk leading the world down a path of unending war.

Today's conference in Maynooth will be hosted by Archbishop Eamon Martin.

Speakers will include Emma Redmond, Head of OpenAI Ireland, and Niamh Smyth, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence.

Pope Leo has made addressing the possible dangers of AI a major theme of his papacy and has called for the development of artificial intelligence systems that do not foster divisions in society but strengthen peace initiatives.

In a speech in France on Friday, the pontiff warned that a "paradise of machines" risked undermining humanity, posing fundamental questions about what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence.