58th Annual World Communications Day 2024 Celebrated Sunday, May 12
Pope Francis has dedicated his message for the 58th annual celebration of World Communications Day to a discussion of the wisdom of the human heart “to look at things with God’s eyes, to see connections, situations, events and to uncover their real meaning.”
His statement for the occasion is entitled Artificial Intelligence and the Wisdom of the Heart: Towards a Fully Human Communication. The pope writes that AI is “radically affecting the world of information and communication, and through it, certain foundations of life in society. These changes affect everyone.”
The Holy Father expresses the hope that “the new” will not be rejected “to preserve a beautiful world condemned to disappear.” He highlights the value that artificial intelligence presents. But he also warns it is more appropriately called “machine learning” since it is not “intelligence.” He says, “Machines possess a limitless greater capacity than human beings for storing and correlating data, but human beings alone are capable of making sense of that data.” The message closely links to the Pope’s message for the World Day of Peace, which was devoted to the development of systems of artificial intelligence (AI).
Pope Francis highlights some of the questions that arise as a result of the developments in the world of communications. The answers we give, he says, “will determine if artificial intelligence will end up creating new castes based on access to information and thus giving rise to new forms of exploitation and inequality. Or, if it will lead to greater equality by promoting correct information and a greater awareness of the epochal change that we are experiencing by making it possible to acknowledge the many needs of individuals and of peoples within a well-structured and pluralistic network of information.”
World Communications Day was established by St. Pope Paul VI in 1967 as an annual celebration to encourage reflection on the opportunities and challenges that the modern mean of social communication (the press, motions pictures, radio, television, and the internet) afford the Church to communicate the Gospel message.
We present some resources in various languages that may be useful for a celebration of the Day in your part of the world.
World Communications Day Website – Dicastery for Communication
Artificial Intelligence and the Wisdom of the Heart: Towards a Fully Human Communication
Text of Papal Message
We Must Maintain Our Independent Thinking and Discernment – Machines Should Assist Not Replace
(English only) Interview with Bishop John Arnold of Salford, England
