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Amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence, the Vatican’s 2025 note ‘Antiqua et Nova’ draws a clear distinction between technological power and human intelligence.
Last year, the Vatican issued Antiqua et Nova, examining the relationship of artificial and human intelligence. The document offers timely insights that can help us appreciate the contributions AI can make to society, as well as the moral dangers presented by this new phenomenon.
The idea that technology can imitate and surpass the power of the human mind, while popular in this age of artificial intelligence, is not new. The 18th-century French philosopher Julien de La Mettrie famously asserted that man is no different from a machine. The century in which he lived witnessed various attempts to produce “automatons,” or mechanical devices, that could imitate human actions.
The development of digital computing in the mid-20th century gave renewed confidence to the belief in the power of technology to replicate human behavior.
In a 1950 paper, English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing devised a famous test — now known as the “Turing Test” — as a way of assessing whether machines can replicate human intelligence. He predicted that by the end of the century, it would be possible to program computers so that an interrogator would not have more than a 70% chance of distinguishing a human from a computer after five minutes of questioning.
Continued below.
Last year, the Vatican issued Antiqua et Nova, examining the relationship of artificial and human intelligence. The document offers timely insights that can help us appreciate the contributions AI can make to society, as well as the moral dangers presented by this new phenomenon.
The idea that technology can imitate and surpass the power of the human mind, while popular in this age of artificial intelligence, is not new. The 18th-century French philosopher Julien de La Mettrie famously asserted that man is no different from a machine. The century in which he lived witnessed various attempts to produce “automatons,” or mechanical devices, that could imitate human actions.
The development of digital computing in the mid-20th century gave renewed confidence to the belief in the power of technology to replicate human behavior.
In a 1950 paper, English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing devised a famous test — now known as the “Turing Test” — as a way of assessing whether machines can replicate human intelligence. He predicted that by the end of the century, it would be possible to program computers so that an interrogator would not have more than a 70% chance of distinguishing a human from a computer after five minutes of questioning.
Continued below.
