Developing Catholic AI: how the Catholic Church develops and implements LLMs for clergy and the lay

This talk presents work-in-progress from an ongoing study of how Generative AI (GenAI) is entering religious life, with a particular focus on the Catholic Church. Drawing on fieldwork and early analyses, Dr Tomislav Karačić will explore how clergy, developers, and lay users develop and experiment with GenAI tools for teaching and pastoral care and how its use reshapes long-standing practices of authority, discernment, and compassion. As this is ongoing work with emerging insights, Tomislav will share observations that raise new questions about what it means to develop and integrate GenAI into one of the world’s oldest living institutions.

Meet our speaker

Dr Tomislav Karačić is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems, Department of Management, and a Faculty Affiliate at the Data Science Institute. He has a background in information systems, mathematical logic, philosophy, and communication sciences. Tomislav studies development and use of AI (in its many forms) in knowledge-intensive organizations using ethnographic methods and is primarily, but not solely, interested in the relationship between emerging technologies and expertise.

This seminar is part of the DSI Faculty Affiliate Research Showcase series that highlights research from across LSE in the field of Data Science and AI.

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