The Church Has More to Say About AI Than Whether to Use It

On Monday, October 19, Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia attended the 10^th Annual International “Faith & Word” Orthodox Media Festival. There he answered questions and shared his thoughts on many issues relating to technology that face Orthodox Christians today. One question had to do with the use of artificial intelligence (AI): “Is it possible for a product created by artificial intelligence – by a neural network –to be comparable to the living word of a living human being?” His Holiness replied,

“It would seem so; perhaps that is where things are heading. What I have just said would have been very difficult to express even five or ten years ago. Yet, observing current developments – seeing how artificial intelligence is intruding into every aspect of human life – it becomes clear that we are witnessing the dehumanization of human society. We are seeing the erosion of the decisive role that a human being – a free human being – plays through the power of their own reason and will, both in their personal life and in social relations.”