Vatican’s AI Ethics Chief Reveals He Has Yet to Try Artificial Intelligence Himself

The cardinal tasked by Pope Francis with guiding the Catholic Church’s engagement with artificial intelligence has acknowledged that he has not personally used any AI tools, citing a lack of time as the reason for the gap between his institutional role and his personal practice.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, who heads the Vatican’s commission examining the ethical and theological implications of artificial intelligence, made the admission publicly, prompting fresh questions about how religious institutions — and their senior figures — are keeping pace with the technology they are charged with scrutinising. According to reports, Czerny indicated that despite his prominent advisory position, the demands of his schedule had simply not allowed him to explore the technology hands-on.

Faith, Ethics and the Algorithm

The Vatican has in recent years positioned itself as a serious voice in global conversations about the responsible development of AI. The Holy See published its own ethical framework for artificial intelligence, known as the Rome Call for AI Ethics, and has sought dialogue with major technology companies and international policymakers. Cardinal Czerny, who also leads the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, represents the Church’s effort to bring moral and humanistic perspectives to an increasingly technical debate.

His candid admission sits awkwardly alongside those ambitions. Critics may argue that meaningful engagement with a technology — particularly when the goal is to assess its societal risks and benefits — requires at least a working familiarity with its capabilities and limitations. At the same time, supporters of Czerny’s approach may contend that ethical oversight does not necessarily require personal use, and that the broader intellectual and pastoral framework he brings to the discussion carries its own validity.

The episode is unlikely to derail the Vatican’s broader AI agenda, but it does highlight a tension that is by no means unique to the Church. Across European governments and institutions, regulators and policymakers tasked with drafting rules for AI have faced similar scrutiny over whether they possess sufficient technical literacy to govern a field evolving at extraordinary speed. The European Union’s landmark AI Act, for instance, was developed amid ongoing debate about the depth of technical understanding among those shaping its provisions.

The Vatican, for its part, occupies an unusual position in this landscape. As a non-governmental moral authority with a global following of over a billion people, its pronouncements on AI carry cultural and ethical weight that extends well beyond its formal diplomatic reach. Pope Francis has spoken on multiple occasions about the need to ensure that artificial intelligence serves humanity rather than diminishes it, framing the question in terms of human dignity and the common good.

Whether Cardinal Czerny’s unfamiliarity with the tools he oversees will prompt him to engage more directly with AI platforms remains to be seen. According to reports, he did not indicate any immediate plans to change his habits. For now, the Vatican’s most prominent AI voice continues to navigate one of the defining technological debates of the era largely from the outside looking in — a posture that, depending on one’s perspective, represents either a principled distance or a significant blind spot.