Cardinal Cupich: AI presents ‘unique challenges and serious threats’
September 18, 2026
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CWN Editor's Note: Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago warned that AI “presents unique challenges and serious threats, and the Holy Father calls each one of us and society as a whole to act responsibly.”
Cardinal Cupich wrote in a September 17 newspaper column:
We must candidly ask questions such as: What safeguards will protect children who may develop parasocial relationships with AI chatbots? The anticipated job displacement cannot be ignored, as this too could have profound effects on labor. What limits should govern AI in surveillance, biological research and warfare? How do data-center projects strain water and energy resources, and how do they affect the communities that host them?
The Church “neither opposes AI in general, nor mistakes it for a panacea,” he added. “Relying on ‘the algorithm’ cannot become a moral alibi. Human beings remain accountable for decisions affecting people’s livelihood, freedom, health, environment or life.”
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