What the Catholic Church can teach Silicon Valley about AI

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(RNS) — Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” has captured the world’s attention in a way that almost no other papal document has. The most prominent moral authority on this topic to date, the pope offers a humanity-wide call to action on artificial intelligence and how it can best reflect “human participation in the divine act of creation.”

In it, he outlines three distinct groups and prompts. First, he says tech creators must interrogate the ultimate purpose of what is being built, ensuring it serves human flourishing rather than mere efficiency. Meanwhile, lawmakers and international bodies must craft binding legal frameworks that prioritize human rights and the common good over market expansion. And, individuals and communities have to resist treating human relationships and identity through the lens of digital metrics and a technocratic paradigm, and choose empathy, mercy and genuine personal encounter instead.

It is crucial that a process and framework is in place to guide this global endeavor. And universities, as powerful conveners and knowledge hubs, are poised to serve as critical partners.

As ethical and religious leaders at Santa Clara University, in the heart of Silicon Valley, and with our experience navigating complex issues through mediation and input from the tech industry, we suggest embracing an idea promoted by Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis: synodality. 

What is synodality?

Synodality is a consultative method for those facing a substantial issue or challenge to deeply engage, purposefully avoid a win-or-lose debate and intentionally honor the dignity of each participant. It is characterized by active listening, inclusive dialogue and shared discernment.

Pope Francis elevated synodality as a church-wide practice, spending three years employing it to discern a path forward for the Catholic Church. One of this article’s authors, Dean Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, was one of 364 voting participants in the two signature monthslong gatherings for Francis’ Synod on Synodality from 2023 to 2024.

While synodality in the Catholic Church relies on the belief in the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in the discussions, it has merit outside of spirituality. It carries the power and structure to invoke shared beliefs when dealing with challenges. Notably, a synodal process in 2019 helped bring about a detente between two warring leaders in South Sudan, thanks to their willingness to undertake this endeavor of self-reflection and recollection of their shared values as people. 

Among many elements, synodality shifts power toward the collective and prioritizes collaboration, guided by five main tenets. We explore them below, as well as what an AI synodal process might encompass. 

Equal voices and mutuality

During the Synod on Synodality, laypersons, theologians, pastoral workers, young adults, university professors, activists and leaders of Catholic initiatives joined cardinals, bishops and the pope. Each had equal voice and equal voting rights in the process. This was an uncomfortable departure from historic practices. But, as it became clear that all constituencies were open to learning and willing for their perspectives to change, and that absolute decisions weren’t going to flow immediately from the process of relationship-building, people opened to different viewpoints and were able to let them sink in. 

In an AI synodal gathering, we envision Silicon Valley leaders given equal time and voice with thoughtful, curated representatives of some of the vital constituencies raised in “Magnifica Humanitas.” For example: 

• Workers concerned about AI’s direction, perhaps selected by labor unions that are promulgating actionable “Worker-First AI” principles.
• Technologists employed to implement tools to expand AI capacity; prominent whistleblowers could be invited guests.
• High school or college students informed about AI and anxious about its rapid usurpation of the labor market, perhaps chosen by university leaders.
• Academics or medical professionals charged with envisioning the life-saving potential of AI to solve some of the most devastating illnesses or bedeviling academic problems facing mankind.
• Human rights advocates sharing the human toll of resource extraction in places like Africa, which Pope Leo called “new forms of slavery.”
• Thoughtful political leaders of all stripes who want to implement rules that are possible, fair and best for the common good.
• Environmental leaders focused on the realities of AI’s impact on the climate.
• Religious leaders, including even Pope Leo, who have called for a slowdown in the advancement of AI technologies and responsible governance aligned with the promotion of human dignity.

Intentional listening and generative dialogue

Synodality prioritizes deep understanding over simply “winning” an argument. Participants are encouraged to evaluate the success of the gathering in the context of the development and strengthening of community rather than the elevation of pre-existing motives. The advantage of approaching the gathering with this mindset is that it opens the way for agreement, compromise and shared ground rules, which a competitive mindset naturally struggles with. 

The challenge and promise of a synodal gathering on AI would be to find participants who were not simply lobbyists with well-honed talking points or vested interests in AI, but rather those who represent the true human face of its impact: Front-line creators, not PR people. Laborers working on solutions, not lawyers for special interests.

As a region known for hosting roundtables and dialogues — and embracing practices like mindfulness, “blameless” post-mortems after failure and developing new technologies through open collaborations with stakeholders — Silicon Valley may be primed to convene this type of gathering. It would have the added benefit of offering a positive, innovative response to AI backlash. 

Self-reflection and personal conversion

Perhaps the most unique feature of a synod on AI would be the space and time to reflect with the curated, diverse participants and their perspectives. A synodal convening would entail a multidimensional and multidisciplinary dialogue that includes a variety of interlocutors — including innovators of technologies, civil society organizations, political authorities and leaders from human and social sciences. Each would work toward the vision proposed by Pope Leo: to “find principles for thought, criteria for discernment and judgment and concrete guidelines for action.”

In doing so, participants will rediscover their shared humanity — those elements worthy of protecting and fighting for as AI is developed and disseminated in our world. 

Acceptance of productive discomfort

During the Synod on Synodality, many cardinals and bishops were visibly uncomfortable setting aside their traditional roles as teachers and decision-makers. But lowering their defenses and flattening traditional hierarchies proved to be the key to allow for vulnerability and trust among the participants. 

As Pope Leo has said previously about synodality, “No one is called to dominate; all are called to serve. No one should impose his or her own ideas; we must all listen to one another. No one is excluded; we are all called to participate. No one possesses the whole truth; we must all humbly seek it and seek it together.” 

During the Synod on Synodality, all participants centered their discussions around one essential question posed by Pope Francis: “What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our ‘journeying together’?” The discussions at the table featured each individual responding to this question, sharing the challenges and opportunities as they affected them and those they represent. 

The essential question for an AI synod could be similarly simple, yet profound. For example: “AI should contribute to and support human flourishing. In what ways does it do so? In what ways does it not?” The fundamental question of course would be, like “Magnifica Humanitas” asks, what kind of future do we want to live in together?

Surfacing new shared goals

Discussion from participant breakout groups in the Synod on Synodality was documented by scribes who compiled the learnings into daily reports for the collective body. Members then voted on what was to be included, with each vote carrying equal weight. This was notable, as cardinals and bishops were traditionally accustomed to having the final word.  

Although one criticism of synodality has been that its primary output was dialogue, not concrete solutions, in this case that would be a feature, not a bug. You have to talk before you can act. We don’t believe there is a meaningful path forward for AI without creating a network of people in genuine dialogue with one another. When participants experience the value of this synodal formula, they are empowered to model it back in their own organizations to sustain the ripple effects.

The encyclical contains four specific and nearly three-dozen implicit references to synodality. In discussing the need to establish ideals for what is meant by “the common good,” for example, Pope Leo acknowledges there are “many ideological and practical differences among people, as well as differing interests and frequent disagreements.” He goes on to assert that “that does not mean it is impossible to engage in dialogue to establish a set of basic agreements that enable the creation of a shared vision, upon which everyone can move forward together.”

As Francis told synod attendees in October 2023, a successful gathering requires only the will to try and the willingness to be changed by the process. In spiritual terms, this is a form of conversion. For our time and place in history, the payoff would be the first-of-its-kind shared vision for the potential of AI, which would open the doors for further discussions toward real progress.

This way forward provides the necessary foundations of understanding, respect, trust and relationships vital for developing and implementing an AI that serves human dignity and the common good of all people. We stand ready to join with others who wish to launch a synodal approach to AI.

(Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, S.J., is dean of the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. Brian Patrick Green is director of technology ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)