Artificial intelligence and communication: knowing how to accompany changeArtificial intelligence: The dignity of the person, a key criterionIn which encyclical does it talk about contraception? Where does the phrase 'into dust you shall return' appear? Where in the Gospel does it talk about the pure in heart? Finding the answers to these questions has become easier, thanks to the tools offered by artificial intelligence (AI) that search among the texts of the Magisterium of the Church, the Holy Scriptures or the Doctors of the Church for the question posed. This is the goal of CatéGPT (caté for catechism) which is based on the official documents available on the Vatican website.
Nicolas Torcheboeuf, an engineer and Catholic, is the creator of CatéGPTthis chatbot that uses the tools made available by OpenAI, the company that is at the origin of ChatGPT to find these answers. CatéGPT is open and no subscription is required to use it, although it does offer the possibility of making small donations to allow it to continue to grow.
In this interview with Omnes, Torcheboeuf explains how he launched the project. CatéGPT and his vision of the possibilities of the Artificial Intelligence in the pastoral mission of the Church and the formation of Catholics and stakeholders.
Who is Nicolas Torcheboeuf and what is his professional and religious profile?
-I briefly introduce myself: I am a practicing Catholic and an engineer. I do not work directly in the field of artificial intelligence, but the subject interests me and, following the success of ChatGPTI started to develop small tools using this technology.
What led to the development of CatéGPT?
-There were two main motivations that led me to develop CatéGPT. First of all, I had already been exploring for some months the possibilities offered by the tools made available by OpenAIthe company at the origin of ChatGPT.
From a technical point of view, the simplest way to create a high-performance chatbot is to use data that does not need to be updated regularly, to guarantee the reliability of the answers. This is how we came up with the idea of developing an AI tool that would work with the fundamental texts of the Catholic Church: these texts are public and their substance changes very little over time. These two conditions made it possible to develop a reliable and stable tool.
The second motivation comes from my experience, as a Catholic, that believers today have a very low level of religious culture and doctrinal formation. For several years now, I have been trying to help people rediscover the incredible number of documents and texts that the Church has produced over the centuries, which unfortunately are too little known.
I am convinced that our contemporaries could find many clarifications to the questions they are asking themselves by reencountering the secular teaching of the Church. In order to carry out good pastoral work, the Church must not neglect doctrinal formation, otherwise she will necessarily run risks that could lead her away from the coherence of her teaching.
In my opinion, Artificial Intelligence is an opportunity to put into practice part of this synthesis between the pastoral role of the Church and its doctrinal mission.
How many people work on it?
-Mainly me, during my free time. Sometimes, friends and family give me a hand in the development of the tool.
In the future I would like to expand CatéGPT to make it more professional and try to integrate it more deeply into the heart of the Church's evangelizing mission.
What distinguishes CatéGPT from other Catholic chatbots such as Catholic.chat or Magisterium AI?
-The idea behind CatéGPT is completely original, in the sense that none of these tools existed when I started developing it. CatéGPT began publication in May 2023 in a still fairly simple version, and it wasn't until July when the Catholic.chat y Magisterium AI.
If we were to compare CatéGPT with other Catholic chatbots, I think it comes closer to Magisterium AIby focusing primarily on responses that incorporate the teaching of the Magisterium as fully as possible, and by making a special effort to identify the sources from which the responses are drawn.
A chatbot like Catholic.chat is limited to reproducing the position of the Church in the catechism. On the other hand, when I discovered Magisterium AI I was struck by its similarity to CatéGPT in the way it works. I believe this is because the two tools share the same motivation: to help people rediscover the fundamental texts of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church by providing complete answers and inviting the user to go deeper into the answer by reading the texts themselves thanks to a documented response.
One of the particularities of CatéGPT (which was later taken up by Magisterium AI) was the introduction of two types of response: a "Teaching" mode, which offers a very structured response (a response drawn from the Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the Magisterium and the Popes) and a "Discussion" mode, which is closer to a "Discussion" mode, which offers a very structured response (a response drawn from the Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the Magisterium and the Popes). chatbot standard and that allows users to deepen by discussing the answer with artificial intelligence.
What are your main documentary sources?
-For the time being, for simplicity's sake, the main source of documentation of the CatéGPT is the content available on the Vatican website. It consists mainly of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, the principal Councils and the teachings of the Popes.
To be more effective, CatéGPT I would need to integrate many other texts: all the Councils and the texts of the Fathers of the Church to begin with. But that would require a lot of work on the database. As I am practically alone working on this project, this part of the documentation will be part of a future development.
How is a project like CatéGPT financed and maintained?
-The particularity of CatéGPT is that it is completely free for users. Since its main objective is to help people rediscover the Church's teaching as widely as possible, it would be counterproductive to set up a subscription system.
For example, if a fee were charged, CatéGPT would only attract people who are already convinced. Magisterium AIfor example, has chosen to place more and more restrictions to encourage users to subscribe. This does not seem to me to be a good strategy for carrying out the mission of CatéGPT.
Although the site is free, there is a significant cost involved. That is why we are appealing to people to make donations for CatéGPT. Thanks to the generosity of donors, these contributions make it possible to finance the site, without making a profit. As long as we can maintain this situation, I believe that CatéGPT will be viable and will be able to continue its development.
In your opinion, what are the gaps in the formation of Catholics?
-My people die for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). The prophet Hosea's observation is cruelly observed today. In this regard, I believe that the pontificate of Benedict XVI has been a magnificent opportunity for this generation, which was able to meet him at the World Youth Days in Madrid or on the esplanade of Les Invalides.
Compared to the long pontificate of John Paul II, we might think that these 7 years have been a transitional period for the Church. On the contrary, the election of Cardinal Ratzinger to the throne of St. Peter was providential for the Church.
We needed those strong words against confusion and relativism, pronounced with such gentleness on his part. Today we have to take advantage of this inheritance, and that is the reason why the CatéGPTTaking up the words of Benedict XVI to young people: "But how can you love someone you don't know" (Genoa, May 18, 2008).
In recent years much emphasis has been placed on evangelization. But how can we fulfill this vital mission for the Church if we lay people are not able to give clear witness to what we believe? Let us rediscover, then, all the richness of the Church found in her texts, in the writings of her saints and doctors.
Let us reread the Scriptures in the light of the Magisterium. And when we have re-appropriated these texts, we will have strengthened our Faith and will be able to rely on the Holy Spirit to fully carry out our work of evangelization. I believe that today it is vital not to miss this stage of formation, which is too often neglected.
What influence will AI have on the formation of Catholics?
-I like to say that Artificial Intelligence is smart to the extent that it does not replace human intelligence. It is a tool and should remain so.
If Catholics do not bother to open the Catechism or are not in the habit of immersing themselves in the Sacred Scriptures, we can do all of the following CatéGPT we want, but AI will have no influence on the formation of Catholics.
The only thing AI can do - and that's what we've been trying to do with CatéGPT - is to answer users' questions as accurately and directly as possible, taking care to provide all the references on which the answers are based.
In this way, users will find that the answers to their questions are largely to be found in the many texts of the Church, and they will gradually want to go and consult the sources that the AI sends them.
Back to Catholic.chatI believe that its fundamental difference with CatéGPT (o Magisterium AI) is that it does not focus on these texts of the Magisterium and contents itself with answering questions. In my opinion, such a tool misses the mark.
The goal of artificial intelligence should not be to prematurely take over the intellectual work of its user; therein lies the danger of AI. On the contrary, if we exploit the full power of AI with its very great generative capabilities, I am convinced that we will be able to put the emphasis back on the education of Catholics. But Catholics must be aware of their shortcomings and feel the need to educate themselves.
Can the Catholic faith, in its expression and dissemination, feel threatened by AI? We know that the role of the family, catechists and priests is fundamental in the teaching of the Catholic faith. What will be their role in a future where personal interaction will diminish and we will be more interested in what we can find independently on the Internet?
-In my opinion, CatéGPT responds primarily to a need for the formation of Catholics and in no way substitutes for anyone in the Church, but rather seeks to assist her in her mission.
We will never be able to give an Artificial Intelligence enough wisdom to play a pastoral role in the Church.
I imagine that no AI, no matter how powerful, would be able to perceive, as Solomon did, the feelings of the mother of the baby he was to detect between the two women presented to him.
AI can be useful to reaffirm our faith in a world increasingly relativistic and blinded by sentimentality. But it will never be sufficient to provide all the conditions for a true life of faith to flourish. I only hope that it can help to lay a solid foundation on which the various agents of the Church can build.
On the other hand, the Church will never be able to dispense with her pastoral role, mainly through her priests, and no artificial intelligence will be able to respond to the spiritual needs of each person. Grace will always continue to pass through the sensitive signs that are the sacraments. Individuals can discover the Catholic faith for themselves, perhaps through CatéGPTBut all this will not bear fruit if this faith does not flourish in their family or in their community and if they do not deepen their search for truth with the pastors of the Church.
We have to see these artificial intelligence tools as new means of evangelization and formation, but because of their virtual nature, they can only bear fruit if their use is followed by personal interaction (starting with sacramental life). Today, in my opinion, CatéGPT is part of the same movement as the development of the presence of priests or religious on social networks. As with AI, the emergence of influencers Catholics can be dangerous. But if they are especially attentive and justify their presence on social networks by a strong concern for evangelization, they may well use AI as hooks to engage new people in search of truth and make the transition from the virtual world of AI and social networks to the concrete world of the Church expressed through its priests and communities.
If you were thinking of taking CatéGPT at a higher level, it would be necessary to get in touch with these influential priests and work together to meet the needs of both doctrinal formation and spiritual and pastoral accompaniment. So yes, AI may be a small revolution for the Church, it will only help to reinforce the way the Catholic faith is currently expressed and spread.
