Would it be better to use AI to pick a new pope than getting the cardinals to do it, since it reduces the
likelihood of human prejudice?
The answer is no, it would not be better to use an AI to pick a new pope, but there are some subtle points.
For example, there is one famous example in Scripture of impersonal means helping to select a bishop, namely the selection of St Matthias to replace Judas, who had betrayed Jesus. In this instance, the remaining apostles chose two candidates and then selected one of them by praying and then drawing lots (Ac 1:15-26).
The problem with this example, however, is that the selection of St Matthias took place during a very short and unique time during the history of the Church, between the time of Jesus’s Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, so it would be unwise to draw broader conclusions.
There are, indeed, many reasons for not using an AI.
For example, it is unclear how a reward function would be specified for an AI to identify a good pope. As a famous example, none of the first apostles had many or indeed any suitable qualifications, and only one apostle, Judas the betrayer, had any influential connections in high places.
The Church is much more like a garden than a machine, and the virtues of success are much more those of a gardener than a skilled manufacturer or machinemaker.
Consistent with this understanding, the kinds of judgements needed to select bishops and popes require prudence and, ideally, openness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, which is impossible for AIs.
// Fr Andrew Pinsent - Artificial Intelligence
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(Image created using AI)