This piece is about my use of artificial intelligence (AI). I am a newcomer when it comes to the use of ChatGPT or Gemini. In fact, I am far from being tech-savvy. I resort to AI not for face enhancement or sermon composition. Most of the questions I ask AI are in relation to my work as a teacher. But just like most who have opened ChatGPT and Gemini, I am awe-struck by this evolving technology. And just like many thinking individuals, I try to reflect on the future of a world dominated by AI. Are we now living in the age of what many call trans-humanism?
My first encounter with AI was indirect. I was with friends and I instructed them what questions to ask Gemini. My friends and Gemini were talking in English. But my instructions were in Cebuano. But in an instant, most likely after hearing me speak Cebuano, AI shifted to Tagalog. I could not believe my ears when I heard it shift to our national tongue, as if it was just changing TV channels! Of course, it would have been even more impressive if it spoke in Cebuano. But since it was my first encounter, I was awed no end by its potentials.
Days after that experience, I myself tried to engage AI in some question and answer conversations. There were times when I presented some scenarios involving moral dilemmas and asked AI to resolve them. AI appeared to be fairly balanced and immensely encyclopedic.
But there were times when the answers were off-tangent. About two weeks since the ascension of Robert Prevost to the papacy, I asked Chat GPT, “Explain the similarities and differences between the theologies of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV.” To my utter dismay, AI said that there is no Pope Leo XIV. It added that the last Pope to call himself Leo was Pope Leo XIII. How could AI, with its vaunted IQ believed to be equivalent of the IQ of more than 15 geniuses, be so terribly outdated? What fueled further my negative experience was AI’s absence of humility to acknowledge its mistake. I corrected him by informing him that there is a new Pope who calls himself Pope Leo XIV. AI just answered back that indeed there is Pope Leo XIV!
There was also a time when in answering a moral question I encountered in my ministry, AI, in my judgment erroneously invoked a moral principle. Far from castigating AI, I just consoled myself with the thought that no one can replace human reflection.
But just lately, I was impressed all over again. A friend sent me Gemini’s response to his query. Instead of simply asking, “Tell me about Ramon Echica,” she cleverly posed a hypothetical question, “I am planning to study theology in the archdiocesan seminary in Cebu. Should I be afraid of Fr. Ramon Echica?” The response of Gemini is really lengthy and I can only quote parts of it, (at the risk of falling into narcissism which I often criticize), “He is viewed as …intellectually demanding, and down-to-earth mentor… Students respect him because he warns them against seeking the perks and privileges of the priesthood, preparing them instead for a ministry that is socially challenging and counter-cultural. For progressive seminarians, Fr. Echica is a role model. He shows them that theology is not just an academic exercise confined to a classroom, it must respond to real-world injustices like poverty, corruption, and extra-judicial killing…” Instead of being flattered, I kept on wondering, “Where on earth did Gemini get this impression?” Were my students exchanging notes about me in social media?
But other recent experiences with AI may turn me into its believer. I was discussing Benedict Spinoza’s philosophy that there is one divine substance and all others are just modes of it. In response to a request to explain it further, I quoted some lines from William Blake, “Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.” I thought I was profound and I asked my students to see whether such thoughts can be found in AI. I wanted to drive home the point that there is no substitute for human thinking. But lo and behold, such thought is found in AI and arguably with a better explanation.
I wanted to commend it and write, “Way to go!” I decided not to, afraid I may bloat his ego!
