On 3 November 2026, about 100 people gathered in Bern for an interactive evening on artificial intelligence organised by the Swiss Bishops’ Conference and the Roman Catholic Central Conference of Switzerland (RKZ). Under the title “Babel or Truth? How AI Works,” participants tried prompts on their own phones, compared answers, and tested real against manipulated images and videos.
Auxiliary Bishop Josef Stübi of Basel, the conference’s media bishop, stressed a vigilant and responsible approach: the Church should not close itself to new technologies, but must keep asking whether they serve human dignity and the common good. Speaking afterward to Vatican News, he said the Church must lead formation and awareness-raising, because many people fear that AI could slip beyond human control.
Stübi linked the Swiss work to Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which treats AI as a call to careful responsibility rather than a mere warning. Questions raised for church life included AI in administration and in preaching: where the limits lie, and what rules can be set. EPFL professor Rachid Guerraoui explained how algorithms work; Vatican News’ Mario Galgano moderated; RKZ president Roland Loos closed by urging digital maturity and personal responsibility for everyone, not only experts. Insights from the evening are to be brought to the Swiss bishops.
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