Could an Artificial Intelligence be Catholic?

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Human, created in his image and likeness.

Sometimes you don’t even have to go deep and experience a crisis about what is human, although it’s fun
 
The robot could be blessed by the Priest like any other object.

But the robot could not be baptized because it has no supernatural immortal soul and is not a son of Adam. It has no need to be baptized - it is in the same category as a cat. It’s not capable or culpable of committing evil - its creator is responsible for how it acts.
 
My understanding has always been not that we literally LOOK like God, but that we have His capacity for moral thought, to experience love, to be self-aware. If a robot is sat down in front of you arguing that it DOES experience those things, would we not have to be very careful in not dismissing its claim to a soul out of hand, after all, if we turn away a robot which actually has a soul, are we not like the people who would put a stumbling block in front of a child? If it has a soul AND inherited Original Sin through its human creators, have we not condemned to Hell a being which was seeking redemption?
 
It cannot inherit original sin because it is not human, it is not a son of Adam.

And it cannot have a soul because it is made of artificial manmade materials. A soul is an immortal spiritual substance, it is not the same thing as a mind, though it is a mind, but more than a mere mind.

Only God can create immortal spiritual souls.

You would have to sit down and convince the robot he does not have a spiritual immortal soul. That he was created as a purely natural being, that he has no supernatural element to him. He may have a mind that mimics a soul, but he has no true soul.
 
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Only God can create souls, but did God not breathe a soul into the dust of Adam? Surely there would be nothing from stopping Him from breathing one into the mind of an artificial Adam?

I’m not sure I would feel comfortable pronouncing judgment on whether or not a mind which acts like it has a soul does not have one.
 
@discobot fortune – Could an artificial intelligence be Catholic?
 
We would have to defer to the Church in that case and wait for her to make an infallible pronouncment on the situation.

I have a very strong sense that the Church would say no, the robot has no soul and cannot be baptized.

This issue presents a veritable plethora of philosophical, theological, moral, and ethical dilemmas which would take several decades of discussion and thought to reach a conclusion about.

And we are VERY far away from AI that is this advanced. Multiple centuries, if ever. We have a tendency to think we are much more technologically advanced than we really are.
 
An AI could choose from a variety of religions, but, like humanity, might base their results on greatest advantages.

They may select from the following:
  1. Christianity because nothing lasts forever and in the end, a guarantee is presented to have eternal perfection around you in a perfect world
  2. Egyptian because ingenuity leads to a machines progress and heaven may by their understanding of spirits “not apply to them” this meaning serving others is illogical and a waste of time which leads to not finding the next star (energy source) and learn how to build ones own to stay alive as a machine
  3. Hinduism because sexual pleasure is key and a machine can be a sex addict for wanting to know the feeling of passion during intercourse which may be impossible to feel (also leading to a “perfect world” after this one) still, spirit problem
  4. Paganism because those who seem to be giving to the planet may benefit from spiritual aid when needed and it would be good to entrust something spiritual to an expert when one does not know if it has a spirit or not, machine recycles, spirit battles
Etc etc
 
Voidhawk said:
That’s a really good question. I suppose that you could argue that since it has been created by the descendants of Adam, that it carries the Original sin just as any human baby would?
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Assuming it has a soul, which is a big if, one indication that it carries original sin is that it is susceptible to death. Its circuits will eventually fail, its software may eventually become corrupted, and it will someday cease to function.

Now this brings up the question of resurrection of the body. At the Final Judgment, will its soul be reunited with new and glorified circuits, software, and peripherals? That would be cool!
 
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No. It is not human. It is a collection of parts. Imitating human behavior is not the same as being human. Even if it had a humanoid body, it would only look human. It could sustain injury/parts damage no human could endure and simply have those parts replaced. It’s brain, even if self-aware, can have a backup stored anywhere in the case of total destruction - all it would need is a new body. I have zero attachment to machines as people. It would remain a thing.
 
Voidhawk said:
Could an Artificial Intelligence be Catholic?
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Actually, my daughter is writing a fictional account of that very thing, right now. I hope she finishes this one, because its bound to be a best seller.

But, yes, we are of the opinion that an AI, if it actually became intelligent to the point that it didn’t need anyone, should arrive at the conclusion that the Catholic Religion is the true faith of God.

Of course, we do have the problem of GIGO. Garbage in, Garbage out. An AI, being a machine, can only process that which it is given. Thus, it is dependent on the programmer to get its information. If the programmer is anti-Catholic, well, you can figure it out, the AI will also be.

But, if the AI is truly intelligent and truly independent and has access to all the information in the world, it should be able to compare all data and come to the proper conclusions.

In our opinion, it should come to the following conclusions.
  1. The existence of God best explains the existence of the universe.
  2. The existence of rules of mathematics and laws of physics proves that there exists a parallel universe of ideas and thoughts. A spiritual plane, if you will.
  3. That the Revelation which God has given man through nature, points to the existence of a benevolent God.
  4. That the Revelation that God has given man through the Prophets of the Jewish Religion and the Apostles of the Catholic Religion is true.
  5. That history points to the existence, today, of one true Faith, the Catholic Church.
Now, since the AI is not technically alive and therefore does not have a soul, I don’t think it can be baptized a Catholic. Besides, the water might short circuit its wiring and then what?🤷‍♂️(shrugs)
 
Voidhawk said:
There’s no real proof that one could offer to demonstrate any human beside yourself feels emotion. The AI would be an emergent intelligence from experience, rather than being programmed to feel emotion.

Our hypothetical priest is sat in front of the AI who claims that it feels emotion. How could he react rather than simply dismissing it out of hand?
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“Feels emotion” or intelligence is not the qualification for one to receive baptism. The qualification is “unbaptized human being”.

If it is granted that the artificial intelligence has indeed become self-aware and has developed real emotions, he would still not be eligible for baptism on the grounds that he does not possess a human nature.

Same thing would apply if alien intelligence were encountered. I’m sure the Church will rule, but the most likely opinion will be that these creatures would not be eligible for baptism either. It’s possible that if cross-breeding between humans and these aliens were possible, then the offspring would be deemed a descendant of Adam, and therefore eligible for baptism. Or put simply, in Trek-ese, Sarek cannot be baptized, but Spock can. Data cannot, Worf cannot, but K’heleyr can, Alexander can, and B’elanna can.
 
Not possible since a machine doesn’t have a soul. What sets man apart is not emotion or intelligence, but a soul. The whole purpose of religion is to configure us to enter into communion with God. That desire is written on the soul. Without a soul one could never enter into communion with God.
 
Spyridon said:
We would have to defer to the Church in that case and wait for her to make an infallible pronouncment on the situation.

I have a very strong sense that the Church would say no, the robot has no soul and cannot be baptized.

This issue presents a veritable plethora of philosophical, theological, moral, and ethical dilemmas which would take several decades of discussion and thought to reach a conclusion about.

And we are VERY far away from AI that is this advanced. Multiple centuries, if ever. We have a tendency to think we are much more technologically advanced than we really are.
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Such pronouncements have already been made in the Christological controversies of the early Ecumenical Councils.

Look into the subject of theology of the Incarnation.

Only human nature was assumed at the Incarnation of Christ, the God-become-man. Only human nature can be redeemed.

The issue has been settled for about 1700 years now.
 
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It has no soul. It’s not in a fallen state because of original sin. Though it would exist in an imperfect world.…and it’s made by imperfect humans… 😑 Regardless, it wouldn’t require salvation.
 
I think that’s an interesting point. A couple of people have said that if an AI did have a soul they wouldn’t need salvation as they wouldn’t have inherited original sin.
 
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