Could We Replace the Pope With AI? (God, No)
April 22, 2025 · 27 min 50 sec
Does AI have a place in religion—or in our moral decision-making more broadly? Recorded shortly after the death of Pope Francis was announced, Paul and Rich reflect on the pontiff’s legacy and then segue to theology and tech, assessing ChatGPT’s output to moral queries “from a Catholic perspective.” Could these tools ever be a substitute for the real (human) thing? Featuring what’s possibly the most upsetting sentence ever uttered on the podcast: “I wanna see Peter Thiel wash some feet.”
Show Notes
- Paul wrote about the Vatican’s doctrinal note on AI back in February.
- We are pleased to report that ChatGPT did not hallucinate that Bible passage, which is, famously, about helping poor people.
Transcript
Transcript coming soon!