March 6, 2025 // Diocese

Bishop Luers Teachers Instructed on Benefits, Dangers of AI

Christopher Lushis

Freelance Writer

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop and advance, the Church has sought to assess and react promptly in light of the benefits and challenges such technologies pose for humanity in the years to come.

Holy Cross Father Nate Wills, who serves on the faculty of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program at the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education, visited Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne on Tuesday, February 25, to share about new technological advancements and how the faculty and staff might consider responding as educators in faith.

Father Wills, who is also the director of the Higher-Powered Learning program, began with an overview of how generative AI programs work and what types of services are publicly available to users. These include not only text-generated responses from programs such
as ChatGPT, but also PowerPoint designs, artificial (though authentic sounding) podcasts, and more. Other programs aim to provide quick language translation, math problem solving, and scientific computation. Father Wills emphasized that while these programs are remarkable, they are not always accurate and still require human oversight to check for errors and omissions.

Georgia Lieb
Holy Cross Father Nate Wills leads an instructional assembly on positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence for teachers at Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne on Tuesday, February 25.

He also referenced a note published by Vatican officials earlier this year on the “relationship between artificial intelligence and human intelligence,” entitled, Antiqua et Nova. In it, Pope Francis called AI “exciting” for providing access to information, advancements in medical care, and the ability to help offload arduous work. Yet he also expressed being “fearful” for further promoting a throwaway culture instead of building up a culture of encounter, replacing human workers rather than complementing them, and being detrimental to students by increasing their reliance on technology and screens while eroding their abilities to independently problem solve and think critically. The Holy Father further emphasized that true education should provide students with the possibility of authentic reflection.

Echoing these sentiments, Father Wills shared that he is “circumspect or cautiously optimistic” about the advancements of AI and its potential in the classroom. He said that regardless of how one feels about these new programs, they cannot be ignored.

As a former high school teacher and now a teacher of teachers (and administrators), Father Wills highlighted some positive benefits of AI, including the ability for students across the socioeconomic spectrum to now have access to resources and training that previously would have been limited to those who could afford private tutors. He also shared his excitement for the potential value these tools have to reach more students with very different learning styles. He also commented on the benefits of saving time for teachers by assisting with creating rubrics and jumpstarting lesson plans and creative project ideas, which overall could help increase productivity and decrease burnout.

He also emphasized using caution, highlighting the necessity of the human element, saying, “AI can get you 80 percent of the way, but you always have to check to make sure what it is offering is actually helpful and correct.” He also recommended avoiding using technology simply for the sake of it being new technology – that it has to serve an academic and formative purpose – and to make sure to use programs that have safeguards on searches and protections for one’s data.

Father Wills concluded his presentation by showing examples of current AI program simulations, sharing the depth of complexity and creativity available to both teachers and students. Recognizing that such advances force educators to change the way they assess student learning, he advocated for requiring in-class tests and
essays that students cannot rely on technology for in creating their answers. He parted with words of evangelical encouragement to those present, saying that as Catholic school teachers, they “challenge students to become disciples of Jesus Christ, critical thinkers, and the best they can be!”

Ethan Schiffli, a theology teacher at Bishop Luers, told Today’s Catholic that he found father Wills “very engaging and informative,” adding that “he is clearly excited and knowledgeable about the topic, and has a clear understanding of how to use artificial intelligence in the classroom.” Schiffli said he believes “the ability of AI to analyze, categorize, explain, and visualize a great amount of information, which can be sometimes intimidating to students, can be a great tool for teachers in the classroom, especially if it can be used as a supplemental resource for learning.”

However, in addition to the obvious problems of plagiarism and academic dishonesty, Schiffli mentioned that “there are certain moral concerns I have of utilizing AI to ‘create’ that which is, ostensibly, a key part of what makes humans different than the other animals in creation. God has blessed us with reason and the ability to understand and appreciate creation at a level that no other creatures can (apart from angels, of course); our experiences and desires lead us to create expressions from our mind, heart, and soul. AI, as a computer, doesn’t have mind, heart, or soul: any ‘expressions’ that it can create (whether physical art, poetry, prose, song, etc.) are merely shadows of what humans have already created or copies that can only mirror human rationality, not replace or exceed it. Yet, especially among younger generations, there are a growing number of people who don’t really see a difference between the ‘art’ that a computer can create and actual human artistic expression. Until and unless we as teachers can successfully lead our students to a proper understanding of artificial intelligence as a tool to be used by humans, rather than an entity existing in and of itself, I believe that AI provides a larger opportunity for vice than virtue.”

David Maugel, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, attended the talk. Afterwards, he shared his appreciation for Father Wills’ presentation and his openness to learning more, stating, “As a diocese, we are investigating what is the appropriate use for AI for adults as well as students and not making any determination at this point whether it is good or evil.”

Schiffli added that he, too, is “thankful for the opportunity given to teachers and staff at Bishop Luers High School to receive this training and education in AI” and that he “looks forward to further catechesis from Holy Mother Church regarding the proper use of AI, as she is the voice of the wisdom that crafted the heavens and the earth, and continues to lead us in His wisdom and love to eternal communion with Him.”