HUMANS IN COMMAND OF THE DIGITAL

 07.01.2026 

The sixth day of the Global Network of RSHM Schools Conference was dedicated to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence and technological development in today’s world.

Sister Catherine Vincie led participants in a reflection on“Artificial Intelligence and Roman Catholic Ethics.” She highlighted several concerns: technology is evolving faster than society’s ability to understand it; AI companies may not be interested in regulating themselves; the accumulation of wealth can be prioritised over the good of humanity; and the extraction of rare minerals raises serious ethical questions. She also noted that technology benefits some while impoverishing others, that the technology sector continues to show racial and gender imbalances, and that AI can be used for surveillance by governments, corporations and military forces. In her view,“we must preserve the human project, as well as the religious and spiritual dimensions of our lives, while working with AI.”

During her presentation, she further emphasised that human beings bear ethical responsibility for the choices they make, and that these choices can have either positive or negative impacts on society. Technology can serve the human person, the common good and social justice, but it can also increase inequalities between those who have access to it and the most vulnerable members of society.

“Humanising the Digital – Digital Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Spirituality” was the focus of the presentation delivered by Octávio Carmo, journalist at the Ecclesia Agency. He reminded participants that “when probabilistic calculation is confused with ontological truth, society risks granting machines an authority they do not possess, resulting in a phenomenon of algorithmic ‘hallucinations’ and the systematic spread of biases embedded in the underlying data.” He also clarified that“Catholic thought calls for the demystification of ‘probabilistic truth’ and the rejection of the label of true ‘intelligence’ attributed to these systems, which should instead be viewed merely as advanced tools for compilation.”

Faced with this reality, he challenged the educators present to consider whether they wished to lead or resist, since today’s school is confronted with “the urgent need to conceive an innovative educational project” and to counter the “danger of structural cognitive impoverishment.” In his view,“educators must rise as choreographers of hope.” Amid the technological avalanche, the question that should echo in classrooms is not “What can this machine do?” but rather “What kind of people do we wish to form for this world?”

Octávio Carmo concluded by stating that “the educational and pastoral mission requires women and men capable of integrating AI without surrendering to it what belongs to the human heart: presence, care and discernment.”

In the final presentation of the day, entitled “Technological Development – Empowering Transformative Education,” Marco Bento, Professor at the Coimbra School of Education, discussed the potential of artificial intelligence in education. He highlighted its capacity to translate and personalise content in real time according to the characteristics of each student, as well as its potential to free teachers so that they can spend more time with their pupils. Nevertheless, he stressed that the essential dimension of education remains unchanged, because only a human being can look into a student’s eyes and truly understand what they need.

For Marco Bento, AI does not replace the teacher; rather, it can extend the teacher’s reach.“This is not about replacement, but about symbiosis. AI identifies patterns, while humans define purpose.” Human beings possess empathy, take into account subjectivities, and attribute meaning. In the age of artificial intelligence, he concluded, the teacher becomes a curator of content and must encourage students to ask good questions.