ITEST Webinar
Bioethics and AI as Human Flourishing:
Where Catholic and Orthodox Social Teaching meet in One Christian Social Ethos
Saturday, June 14, 2025
7:00 am – 9:00 am (Pacific)
8:00 am – 10:00 am (Mountain)
9:00 am – 11:00 am (Central)
10:00 am – noon (Eastern)
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm (Rome, GMT+2)
Register at the bottom of this page for this webinar.
There is no fee for this webinar.
Donations are appreciated.
Our presenters
Dr. Constantine Psimopoulos
BIOETHICS AND AI AS HUMAN FLOURISHING:
WHERE CATHOLICS AND ORTHODOX MEET IN ONE CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ETHOS
Abstract
This presentation draws a comparison between Catholic social teaching and the Social ethos of the Orthodox church. Both traditions have some parallels in the way they approach AI, from a bioethical perspective that addresses social justice. The document ‘For the Life of the World’ (F.L.O.W.) of our Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, emphasizes that science and technology are a wonderful product of a God-given human creativity, and that “the desire for scientific knowledge flows from the same wellspring as faith’s longing to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of God.” It is an imperative to use AI for Human Flourishing. From a Christian bioethical lens, science and technology, and in particular Artificial Intelligence (AI), can serve as one concrete example of how this can be addressed.
Fr. Michael Baggot
Programming with Purpose:
Guiding AI through Catholic Social Teaching
Fr. Michael Baggot is an Associate Professor of Bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and an Invited Professor of Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) and the Catholic Institute of Technology (CatholicTech). He also serves as a professor for the Joint Diploma in Leadership: Service through Virtues and the Catholic Worldview Fellowship summer program. In addition, Baggot is a Research Scholar at the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights and a member of the Scholarly Advisory Board for Magisterium AI. He is also a fellow of the Fr. James L. Heft, SM Generations in Dialogue program at the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California.
Abstract
As an expert in humanity, the Catholic Church is deeply interested in the AI technologies that are shaping family life, education, medicine, religious practice, and other key aspects of social life. The presentation draws on the social doctrine of the Catholic Church to highlight the virtues and social structures most conducive to using AI tools to promote human flourishing. It gives special attention to the influence of AI companion systems on the loneliness epidemic and the quest for social connections. The conference also examines the significance of ecumenical dialogue, interreligious dialogue, and dialogue with secular traditions in addressing the perennial philosophical questions that emerging technologies raise.
