Burundi: Formators meet for a seminar on Artificial Intelligence

Fr Dieudonné Niyibizi - Gitega

As Artificial Intelligence makes its way into all sectors of social life, the Catholic Church in Burundi has chosen not to remain on the sidelines of this transformation but to approach it with openness and vigilance. From this perspective, the Episcopal Commission for Priestly and Religious Vocations, Seminaries, and Novitiates recently convened a one-week seminar at its coordination offices, the National Vocations Centre in Gitega.

Reflections rooted in the Magisterium

During the gathering, formators began by looking at a broad overview of the history of human communication, from Palaeolithic cave engravings to the probabilistic calculations of today’s large language models and humankind’s quest for increasingly effective ways of transmitting knowledge. The quest is therefore not new.

Then, the formators reviewed modern-day technological evolution in light of the Church’s Magisterium, from Conciliar documents to the most recent texts.

Theological research and pastoral action

The seminar then addressed the concrete challenges Burundian houses of religious formation face daily. Alongside these challenges, the seminar also emphasised the real benefits Artificial Intelligence can bring to philosophical and theological research, as well as its structural limitations: a machine, no matter how advanced, does not possess faith, consciousness, or moral discernment, which are inherent to researchers and believers.

AI and pastoral life

On the pastoral level, the formators were able to assess how Artificial Intelligence already invests many areas of church life—from catechesis to homiletics—while clearly identifying what can never be delegated to it: faith, the absolute sacramental seal of the confessional, personalised spiritual direction and accompaniment, or human presence with those who are suffering.

A specific session also addressed ways to detect documents generated by Artificial Intelligence to preserve academic integrity in the work of seminarians and novices.

Synodality remained the guiding thread of the week-long seminar.