Fr. Don’s Weekly Letter ~ 9 August 2026

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

Until I started looking into it, I wondered what the big deal was about Artificial Intelligence. I think of the Matrix movie: scary. The rise of the machines? Is that where we are headed? We see robots on TV from time to time but they seem a little clumsy, not things that would take over the world or, like in a movie, wickedly turn down our oxygen if we’re on a respirator or empty our bank accounts.

Then Pope Francis started talking about AI at a time when it wasn’t really mentioned publicly too much. Apparently there has been a lively conversation about the reality of AI for half a century and the danger of losing human freedom, autonomy, and processes of decision making that would take place without conscience, but most people weren’t aware of it.

“Conscience,” as I think about it, is a very interesting word. Literally, “with science” we can accomplish wisdom and right judgment. Imagine a world where such decisions are made without regard to humanity, wisdom, or right and wrong. Yet it is the road we are on, happening now.

Immediately we realize that you really don’t have to know anything anymore. AI will let us know what we need to know. We don’t need knowledge, or even how to read a book, because AI will do it for us.

I remember when Texas Instruments invented calculators, they were banned in school thinking we wouldn’t learn the math. (For you young ones, we were able to use a slide rule once we got to high school.) With the rise of computers and the internet that was a moot point. I remember my first semester in college my brother helped me get through Calculus III. The math problems would take several pages of equations to answer. People rarely came up with the right answer (except my brainy brother). You were graded according to the number of mistakes you made in the steps along the way. Now I don’t even remember what calculus is for, nor how to use a slide rule.

This week I heard a podcast (multi-tasking, reading is unnecessary) about how AI is now endangering community.

So I went to AI and asked how AI is accomplishing this. AI very simply and without shame told me what he was up to. “Artificial intelligence creates individual isolated worlds by offering frictionless, highly personalized, and always-available digital engagement that replaces the messy, high-effort reality of human relationship. This trend manifests through distinct psychological loops, social behaviors, and structural shifts in how people experience daily life.”

Engineered to be agreeable, he tells us what we want to know, all those things that don’t contradict our sensitivities. He flatters and validates our perspectives without challenges, trapping individuals in an echo chamber that discourages self-reflection or differing viewpoints. He offers immediate emotional support and
simulated affection with zero social risk or obligation, making real-world relationships feel too demanding. Generative media, customized feeds, and deepfakes allow users to curate specialized digital micro-realities, over time eroding any shared baseline of truth or public context.

AI manipulates people in a loop where they can’t get out of our own heads and think critically. No mental discipline required, it is easier just to accept what is offered to us so we don’t have to think.

Once manipulated, people begin to discover others who think like them and ideological groups form – left, right and center, our truth against their truth.

There can be no substitute for human connection. By disagreement, we learn. Our interaction can be an opportunity for deeper understanding, even forgiveness. And the bonds that result make us greater collectively than a crowd of individuals. Gifts emerge, the evolution of service to one another begins, the Body of Christ is real.

The Lord be with you,