【慈幼通訊社 ─ 2023 年5月 09 日西班牙塞維爾訊】 ─ 對於一位在1980年，出生於巴塞隆納，卻在塞維爾成長的慈幼會士Sergio Codera神父來說，他常常與科技及宗教信仰連繫一起。他初領聖體時，便獲贈了第一台電腦，自此他與科技及宗教信仰形影不離。
Codera神父一向活躍於本身的團體，目前他在社交網絡中所發表的內容、在電視上的教育，以及與其他司鐸所組成，在西班牙稱為「瘋狂神父組」的團體，均使他名聲遠播。他最近的一項計劃，是在塞維爾聖三慈幼學校一些班別，採用人工智能向學生進行福傳。
這對於教會在這個世代，面臨「重建青年信仰」這重大挑戰時，大有幫助。當前的情況是複雜的：根據社會研究中心2021年7月的報告顯示，西班牙天主教徒數目降到最低點。人們認為自己是天主教徒的比例，由1978年的90.5%，下降到2021年的55.4%。在青年中，缺乏信仰的情況是很明顯的。大多數18至24歲的青年稱自己為無信仰者。更甚的，根據三月西班牙主教團的推算，這一年度西班牙主要神學院的學生數目，出現史無前例的下降。
面對這些數字，我們要展開這項慈幼司鐸的實驗計劃。這個概念是要引導學生參與這些新開發的應用程式，帶領他們走向信仰。Codera神父說：「自從我們開始運用一些以人工智能為基礎的應用程式後，我注意到他們學習的動機和興趣大為提升。」
因此，問題來了，對於以學生為對象的充滿動態的人工智能，要顧及學生的需要而作出調整。Codera神父說：「例如對於年紀較小的，便使用Lexica這套程式，因應所提供的描述而展現不同的圖像。學生在31項基督徒價值的列表上作出指示，要求生成一個有鼓勵訊息的圖像。」這樣耶穌基督的圖像便在手提電腦及智能手錶上顯示出來。
另一方面，對於年紀較大的學生，就會進行較複雜的活動，甚至是根據學生所提供的數據和指示，來編輯全由人工智能寫成的書籍。Codera神父繼續說：「這本書的書名未有最終定案，大約是類似『成為善人的支柱』。這本書將有40多個篇章；每個篇章內有25句由人工智能，根據已作詮釋的價值觀來編寫的句子，全本書共有1000句句子。」
因此，這本書的概念，是運用不同的方式，去喚起人們對信仰等題目的關注。這位慈幼會士解釋說：「我們跟隨聖保祿福傳的足跡，運用來自宗徒大事錄的數據，在谷歌地圖上畫上不同的路徑。我們也運用人工智能創造聖週的自動式簡報，然後學生根據他們個人的感受，利用另一應用程式進行改良。」
這是否可行？答案是肯定的。在慈幼學校參與計劃的學生，在科技的幫助下，宗教成為他們喜愛的科目之一。
然而我們有需要關注人工智能運用所帶來的挑戰。最近西班牙數據保障社(AEPD)，展開了一項對ChatGPT母公司OpenAI的調查。這定會在運用這些程式方面，提出一些明智運用的原則。
Father Sergio Codera, the priest who uses artificial intelligence to evangelise his students
(ANS – Spain–Seville, 09 May 2023) – For Father Sergio Codera, a Salesian born in 1980, originally from Barcelona but raised in Seville, technology and religious faith have always gone hand in hand. His first computer was given to him when he received his First Communion and since then he has never dissociated himself from religion or technology.
Fr Codera has always been very active in the communication field as well, and is currently very popular for the content he publishes on social networks, for his interventions on television and for the group he created together with other priests and which is known in Spain as the Curas Locos, or crazy priests. His latest project, carried out with some classes at the Holy Trinity Salesian school in Seville, is to evangelise students by resorting to artificial intelligence.
This help of his comes at a time when the Church is facing a great challenge: recovering the faith of young people. The scenario is complicated: according to the CIS (Centre for Sociological Research) report in July 2021, Spain is less Catholic than ever. The percentage of people who consider themselves Catholic fell from 90.5% in 1978 to 55.4% in 2021. And it is among young people that the absence of faith is most evident. Most people between the ages of 18 and 24 call themselves non-believers. This year, moreover, for the first time in history, the number of major seminarians in Spain has dropped, according to estimates provided in March by the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
Faced with this data, now we have this Salesian priest’s experiment. The idea is to engage students in these pioneering applications and relate them to religion. “Since we started using some applications based on artificial intelligence, I have noticed a significant increase in their motivation and interest in learning,” explained Fr Codera.
The question arises, therefore, as to the dynamics of artificial intelligence, aimed at students. “It depends on the year they are attending” Fr Codera says. “The little ones, for example, work with an application called Lexica, which develops different images according to the description that is provided. The students indicated a list of 31 Christian values, asking that an image be generated with a message that reinforces them.” Hence the image of Jesus Christ with a laptop and a smart-watch.
Older students, on the other hand, are involved in more complex projects and are even editing a book, which will be entirely written by artificial intelligence, according to the parameters and directions provided by the youngsters. “It doesn’t have a final title yet, but it will be something like ‘The mainstays of being a good person’ Fr Codera goes on to say. “It will be a book with some 40 chapters; each chapter will contain 25 sentences that AI has written based on the values that have been explained to it. In total, the book will contain 1,000 sentences.”
The idea is therefore to combine different current tools to arouse interest in a topic such as religion. The Salesian explains: “We have traced the path of the missionary journeys of Saint Paul, obtaining the data from the book of the Acts of the Apostles and drawing the lines of the different journeys on Google Maps. We also made automatic presentations about Holy Week, which each student then gave a personal touch by modifying them with another app. ”
Does it work? The answer is yes. The students at the Salesian school involved in the project say that, thanks to technology, religion has become one of their favourite subjects.
But there is a need to be careful about the challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence. Recently the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) launched an investigation into OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT. This should lead to a principle of prudence in the use of these applications.