We have explored and commented on others, organization and even the U.S. President and Vice President on their positions on artificial intelligence AI. This blog we want to briefly talk about the Vatican, since they recently released a new document (called a Note) entitled Antiqua et Nova addressing the ethical, moral, and anthropological implications of AI. The document (link below), signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, for the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith and for Culture, outlines guidelines to ensure that AI development remains human-centered, respects human dignity, and serves the common good.
AI and Human Intelligence: A Clear Distinction
The document, ostensibly addressed to the 1.3 billion Catholics, emphasizes that human intelligence is a gift from God, reflecting a deep capacity for creativity, morality, and spiritual understanding. In contrast, AI operates based on pattern recognition and algorithms, lacking the depth of human intelligence, which involves corporeality, relationality, and an openness to truth and goodness. The Vatican’s position is that AI should not be viewed as an independent form of intelligence but rather as a tool created by human ingenuity. The Vatican warns against equating AI with human consciousness and urges developers and society to remember that AI remains a product of human intelligence, not an autonomous entity.
The Holy See’s Ethical Considerations in AI Development
The Vatican highlights multiple risks associated with AI, including job displacement, erosion of privacy, biases in data, misinformation, and its potential use in warfare. As noted, a core principle of Catholic social teaching is that AI must always serve human dignity and not be used to marginalize or exploit individuals. The document asserts that AI should reduce inequality rather than reinforce existing power imbalances.
The Vatican further calls for a strong ethical framework that aligns AI development with human responsibility. Developers and policymakers must ensure that AI does not replace human decision-making, particularly in critical areas such as healthcare, law, and interpersonal relationships. AI’s role should be to complement human intelligence, not substitute it according to the Church.
AI in Warfare, Surveillance, and Privacy Concerns
One of the document’s strongest warnings is against AI-powered autonomous weapons, which could remove human oversight from life-and-death decisions. It calls for stringent regulation, asserting that no machine should have the authority to take a human life. Additionally, AI-driven surveillance raises ethical concerns regarding personal privacy. The Vatican insists on regulatory measures to prevent overreach and protect human rights.
AI’s Role in Education
The Vatican underscores that AI should enhance education by fostering critical thinking rather than merely accumulating information. Schools and universities are challenged to educate students on AI’s ethical and societal implications.
AI’s Role in Healthcare
The Vatican note also highlighted that in healthcare, AI can aid in diagnosis and treatment but must never replace the human relationship between doctors and patients. Medical decisions must always remain under human control.
Healthcare, American’s Number One Industry
I was fascinated by the Vatican’s even disclosing a position on AI. Recently they had discussed their collaboration with Microsoft to digitally preserve St. Peter’s Basilica as a “AI-powered digital replica”.
I was pleased with what they noted about healthcare and AI, and that AI should never replace the doctor-patient interaction and relationships. Because healthcare is a $5 trillion industry that can be improved by AI, we are seeing on a day like today, both the $100 million raised by AI companies, like those using AI to record ambiently the doctors-patient interaction as part of the EHR. See link below about Athenahealth and Abridge partnership.
There are many companies in the “ambient clinical documentation” space, a term you will hear a lot. We, at one point, used Nuance in our EHR, that was 8 years ago. Voice recognition and documentation has taken a huge leap with AI, but based on my conversations, I really am concerned if most doctors really want everything said in their office visit to be recorded. Time invested and cost will tell if this use had value. Depending on who has access to this data, the underlying incentives will drive its application. If the goal is to document more, to bill more, well that may not be a great application of AI. If the goal is to provide more accurate records, that is a worthy objective. One of the dangers expressed to me by hospital CEOs and those in leadership was that they were concerned that AI could “over bill” or “over diagnose” a patient and could in a review by Medicare, retroactively be seen as fraud in over billing. That is not something you want to do with Medicare, and AI will need some real guard rails to prevent that.
The other AI news today is the allegation that a telemedicine organization’s AI is having interaction with patients without clearly identifying the response is coming from an AI chatbot.
We see AI best used today, in helping Consumers interact and navigate a progressively more complex healthcare system that is at time unresponsive, and at other times even hostile to Consumers.
About HealthScoreAI ™
Healthcare is at a tipping point, and HealthScoreAI is positioning to revolutionize the industry by giving consumers control over their health data and unlocking its immense value. U.S. healthcare annual spending has exceeded $5 trillion with little improvement in outcomes. Despite advances, technology has failed to reduce costs or improve care. Meanwhile, 3,000 exabytes of consumer health data remain trapped in fragmented USA systems of 500 EHRs, leaving consumers and doctors without a complete picture of care.
HealthScoreAI seeks to provide a unique solution, acting as a data surrogate for consumers and offering an unbiased holistic view of their health. Giving Consumers tools to respond to denial of care by insurers. By monetizing de-identified data, HealthScoreAI seeks to share revenue with consumers, potentially creating a new $100 billion market value opportunity. With near-universal EHR adoption in the USA, and advances in technology, now is the perfect time to capitalize on the data available, practical use of AI and the empowering of consumers, in particular the 13,000 tech savvy baby boomers turning 65 every single day and entering the Medicare system for the first time. Our team, with deep healthcare and tech expertise, holds U.S. patents and a proven track record of scaling companies and leading them to IPO.
Noel J. Guillama-Alvarez
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nguillama/
