“We should not allow artificial intelligence to create the illusion that it can replace or eliminate prayer and asceticism,” emphasized Metropolitan of Sofia and Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil in his speech at the Second International Scientific Conference, in the presence of Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, officials, scholars and students, in the auditorium of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
The forum on the topic “Orthodox Theology and the “Ontology” of Technologies: Anthropological, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Consequences” was organized by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding and publication of its official theological journal “Theology”.
“We must never forget that no matter how much artificial intelligence develops or improves, it can never acquire what the Fathers call ‘the mind of Christ.’ The mind receives the gift of grace in prayer, Eucharistic and sacramental communion with Christ,” said His Holiness. He recalled the words of St. Maximus the Confessor: “we have the mind of Christ,” and explained that this means thinking everything according to Christ, understanding everything through Christ and living everything in Christ. In this grace-filled community, the human mind reaches a development deeper and more powerful than any artificial intelligence. Patriarch Daniel expressed concern that the real danger today is not the fantastic threat of artificial intelligence, but the loss of the sacred as a result of the technologization of life. “Today this fear sounds more like science fiction. But what we Orthodox Christians, as believing and thinking people, need to consider is another existential risk. And it seems to me much more immediate and serious. I am referring to the danger of losing the sacred as a result of the penetration of technology into every sphere of life. This is the technologization of life, in which there is no longer any place or need for the sacred – that is, for God and His grace.”
He warned that the constant flow of information turns the mind into “aimless wanderer among images” and the heart into “a dark warehouse of repressed feelings,” leading to a breakdown of consciousness and an inability to concentrate in prayer.
“The fascination of the sacred is being lost from our daily lives. We are losing that sensitivity with which humanity has approached certain individuals, places and events for millennia. This sensitivity seems to disappear and is being swallowed up in the black hole of oblivion. The oblivion of the sacred is our contemporary tragedy,” he said. “Today, the issue is not simply doubt in the existence of God, nor the classic unbelief associated with the “scientific” atheism of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is the loss of living communion with the living God, even among believing Christians, members of the Church. But is the real presence of God possible without a life of prayer? It is this loss of prayer that I consider to be the greatest blow to human nature and life.”
“The real challenge is to live the future with a new identity in the Church, to use technology as a means, not as an end,” the patriarch said. He ended on an optimistic note, noting that the text of his speech was translated into English before the speech with the help of artificial intelligence.
