SLU to Host Pope Leo Series on AI and the Social Teaching of the Church
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University is launching a year-long series on AI and the social teaching of the Catholic Church.
The Pope Leo Series on AI and the Social Teachings of the Church is hosted by SLU’s College of Philosophy and Letters and Catholic Studies program and will feature a monthly panel on AI and a different facet of social teaching. Panels will include a mix of academic experts. The series launched on Aug. 27 with an event looking at the impact of AI on the future of work.

Boileau Hall
Upcoming panel topics include:
- AI and its impact on education, research, and the quest for truth, Monday, Sept. 15
- AI and its impact on healthcare, Monday, Oct. 6
- AI and its impact on the protection of our common home, Monday, Nov. 3
- AI and its impact on warfare and the prospects for global peace, January
- AI and its impact on surveillance and misinformation, February
- AI and its impact on how we relate to God, March
- AI and its impact on society and human relationships, April
The panel discussions are free and open to the public. All discussions will be held from 3:15 - 4:45 p.m. at SLU’s Catholic Studies Center in Boileau Hall. Each panel in the series will be recorded.
The new pope, by taking the name Leo, signaled that the Church would face today's transformative technologies, including generative AI, with the same courage and clarity with which Pope Leo XIII, the founder of modern Catholic social teaching, addressed social challenges during the period of the first industrial revolution when the important 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, on the condition of the working class, was promulgated.
The goal of this series is to promote integration and interdisciplinary dialogue about artificial intelligence and its impact through sustained shared reflection on the social teaching of the Church, using as a springboard a Vatican document recommended by the new pope: “Antiqua et nova.”
Event Details
- Where: Boileau Hall Pope Francis Gallery, 38 Vandeventer Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
- Parking is available is the adjacent parking lot
- For more information, contact Gregory Beabout.
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