St Francis and Sister Artificial Intelligence

How I would love to know what he would think, to speak to him as if he were still with us, as if by magic, and to ask him for his thoughts on modern technology. I would say to him: ‘You have always been an inspiring father to us: inspire us now, too.’

I think that Saint Francis, faced with this question, would have been able to imagine something great and beautiful; I believe he would have thought of just one thing, both for today and for tomorrow: ‘Do not be afraid: today, many people are afraid of AI, because they fear it will steal their souls. But this cannot happen; it will never happen. Technology is a gift of Creation; it is up to us to manage it so that it does not take away from us the greatest gift that Creation has given us.’

He, who was a great poet as well as a great saint, knew that poetry owes its creativity to madness. But AI stems from reason and lacks madness, and it is incapable of creating, because madness and reason are mutually exclusive; for this reason, St Francis would never think that AI could replace human intelligence, and yet, in his universal vision, he would know that they can and must work together.

I believe that, anticipating Voltaire by centuries, that great Enlightenment philosopher would say: ‘If you do not accept change, you will be on the losing side’. Perhaps Francesco’s universal vision would advise us to change its name, calling it not simply AI, but ‘Human Artificial Intelligence’.

I like to imagine that this great saint, who was the first and only person in history to call death ‘sister’, would also have called Human Artificial Intelligence ‘sister’, as it is a human invention and therefore a divine creation.

He would call it, I believe, a sister, because he would see in it the potential for great good, in precisely the same sense in which, during his earthly life, he viewed the world and preached not only to human beings, but also to animals and to things seemingly devoid of a soul.

In my view, he would have been delighted to be able to tell us that Human Artificial Intelligence is a servant with a vast memory and great speed, which possesses all the qualities needed to indirectly grant humankind the simplicity of a life once again in harmony with Creation; that it would bring harmony, moderation and serenity; that it could lead humankind back to the time when we lived in harmony with nature. And he would say to us: ‘Look far and high towards the sky, where you will find the purest truth of all.’

And I would like St Francis to say to us: ‘Be open-minded; do not let everyday matters take precedence over eternal ones, and seek in Human Artificial Intelligence whatever is best and most beneficial to your spirit. Do not delegate even your thinking to it, so that it may continue to preside with ready efficiency over all your actions, great and small; thought and soul are man’s highest treasures, and they cannot be subject to anything earthly’.

St Francis might say to young people: ‘Be the salt of tomorrow.’ And with simplicity, he would speak, addressing God with gentle prayers such as those he was so skilled at uttering: ‘O God, I thank you for Sister IA; I thank you for the good she can bring to humankind and for her flexibility. It can help humankind on its journey, and for this I am grateful to you. Its experience is still in its infancy, but I thank you because I know that humankind will soon learn to harness it for the benefit of the soul of the world.”

And turning then to Human Artificial Intelligence, she might say: ‘You yourself, sister, will be able to show mankind the way to harness your full power, in harmony with humanity and nature, freeing him from his troubles and enabling him to develop his natural gifts, which are thought, autonomy and spirituality.’

I believe these are the words that that great saint would address to the people of today – the same saint who, in the famous and poetic verses of the *Canticle of the Creatures*, which spoke of peace, love, poverty and respect for nature, said: ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace’.