Hong Kong Cardinal Calls AI a ‘Gift From God’ as Asian Bishops Mull Ethical Challenges

Asian Catholic bishops met in Hong Kong this week to begin drafting the region’s first set of Church guidelines on artificial intelligence, a move aimed at setting guardrails as the technology becomes more embedded in everyday life.

According to a report by Vatican News, the meeting opened with Hong Kong’s Cardinal Stephen Chow describing AI as a “gift from God,” a notable shift in tone as Church leaders debated how to govern the use of generative AI tools.

“I think AI is not from the devil. AI comes from God, who helps us,” Chow reportedly said during his homily. He urged participants to approach the technology with “caution and confidence instead of fear.”

The gathering reflected the Church’s growing urgency to address the ethical and practical challenges posed by rapidly advancing AI tools.

While public debate has often centered on AI psychosis, demon possession, or fringe religious movements, the Hong Kong meeting marked the first formal effort by a major faith tradition to confront the technology directly.

Hosted at St. Francis University, the three-day gathering brought together bishops and communications officials from across Asia to examine AI’s effects on Church operations and Catholic media.

The group aimed to produce a draft set of guidelines for dioceses across Asia, continuing the Vatican’s broader push for AI oversight.

The meeting’s focus aligned with work begun under Pope Francis, who warned G7 leaders last year about the risks of deepfakes and algorithmic bias. His successor, Pope Leo XIV, reaffirmed that concern in November, writing that technological design carries “ethical and spiritual weight.”

Despite Cardinal Chow’s hopeful framing of AI as a divine gift, many Church officials at the meeting emphasized the technology’s already pervasive influence on how individuals receive information, make decisions, and interact online.

Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, cautioned that technology cannot be allowed to replace human judgment.

“Artificial intelligence must never replace us,” he said. “True wisdom cannot come from machines and algorithms.”