Theology, digital culture and the challenges of human-centered artificial intelligence

According to researchers and critical observers from various fields, the digital revolution represents greater challenges than any other in human history, causing even faster changes that occur simultaneously and globally. The digital world has become a new ‘life world’, which has seen a transformation of space, – the so-called virtual ubiquity – and time – a ‘virtual omnipresence’ within the ‘social acceleration’. All of this has resulted in new concepts of reality and truth, which, in turn, strongly influence the theological discourse. The purpose of our research is not to find a panoramic view of the digitalization process, but to evaluate it through the prism of a theological view. Just like at the emergence of industrialization, the Catholic social doctrine succeeded in establishing four basic principles for a Christian assessment of social conditions (personal dignity, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity), we would like to find answers to the new challenges posed by the age of digitalization. The values promoted by the digitalization process derive in many ways from the Judeo-Christian enlightenment, which both championed the importance of the individual, personal development, the freedom of choice, and the equality of all people. In view of all this, we could sensibly connect the four foundations of the Catholic social doctrine with the possibilities offered by digital culture: dissemination with the principle of the common good, transparency with solidarity, individuality with the dignity of each person, and democracy or the possibility of active participation with subsidiarity. When developing digital theology, we must answer the questions, such as ‘What happens when digital tools are used in theology or when theological tools are used in the digital world?’. We will be interested in a two-way process of researching: on the one hand, theology serves as an optics through which we analyze digital culture, and on the other hand, digital culture serves as an optics through which we observe theology. Another area that needs ethical reflection in modern times, however, is the use of artificial intelligence. Today, artificial intelligence systems make decisions for us, but unfortunately, due to their complex nature, their operation is incomprehensible to humans. The project focuses on researching the impact of non-transparent operations on trust in AI systems, on the issue of accountability, and on the human-centeredness of artificial intelligence. The main goals of the project are to conduct a preliminary empirical research/survey in practical disciplines to identify key areas for the use of digital tools in religious practice; to comprehensively analyse of the social impact of digitalization and the use of artificially intelligent systems, in particular in relation to theology and ethics; to design a novel framework for understanding human-centeredness, transparency, and trust (regarding new technology) from an interdisciplinary perspective (theology, philosophy, anthropology,…), both on the general as well as case-specific level; and to develop key ethical guidelines for digitalization and trustworthy AI.