The more general concerns around AI are well documented, especially when it comes to academia and research. One of them regards the accuracy of the data and that AI can be prone to mistakes, eventually ending up in research articles.

But the creators behind Magisterium AI say it works slightly differently to other larger AI programs such as ChatGPT and Google Bard, which have had a mixed reception in academia, in that the information is limited to authentic Church data.

Father Baggot said that unlike more “general generative AI programs,” Magisterium AI draws on a “restricted database of official Church documents” which makes it “much less prone to give false or misleading responses based on unreliable sources.” By including references and links to official Church documents, he said the program enables users to read the original sources.

However, he cautioned that “since any generative AI system can ‘hallucinate’ [an AI term for creating false information], users should always consult the original documents to avoid confusion.”

[Er … why not just stick with the original documents altogether? Generate an index, perhaps, but don’t have AI front the Magisterial documents. We live in an unprecedented age of direct access to source material. We don’t need an AI intermediary. — Ed]