March 11, 2025 // Diocese

Servus Omnium Speaker Applies Catholic Teaching to AI

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

As the sun rose on Tuesday, March 4, a large crowd was listening attentively, with coffee and pastries in hand, at the University of Saint Francis’ Servus Omnium Lecture – a breakfast held on Fat Tuesday for business leaders to learn more about how they can serve their communities.

This year, Tim Connors, a Fort Wayne native and venture capitalist who invests in technological solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, spoke to a crowd of 225 people on artificial intelligence and its impact on business, poverty, and even the Catholic faith.

In his speech, which was held at Saint Francis’ North Campus, Connors acknowledged both the benefits and dangers of using artificial intelligence in the world today. As a Catholic, he said the key to using it responsibly is by acting according to Christ’s teachings – namely, for the common good and preserving the dignity of all humans.

Connors told the audience that there are two types of AI. Generative AI takes its cues from human programing and can help people create content, access and sort information, and more. This is what Connors called “the good type of AI” – as opposed to agentic AI, which Connors called “one of the scariest things to ever come out of Silicon Valley.” Agentic AI allows systems to operate autonomously, make decisions, and perform tasks with minimal human intervention. Connors said Facebook and Instagram are examples of the dangers of agentic AI, as the goal of the algorithms on those social media sites are used for one purpose: to get the user addicted.

Connors mostly focused his talk on good uses of AI. One example he gave was a social media site for Catholic parishes. The site will assist parishioners in making connections in their church.

Another option is found on an app that assists with learning great theological works, as artificial intelligence can assist in teaching virtue according to St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica.

“There’s an app called Grow Virtue that summarizes the Summa Theologica,” Connors told the audience. “There are 44 habits that St. Thomas Aquinas talks about in the Summa. This app helps you keep track of these virtues and coaches you – and even better, in the first month of use, there has been a 23 percent improvement according to users,” he told Today’s Catholic.

AI can also be used to solve pressing issues in the city of Fort Wayne and beyond.

Connors shared that many families struggle to pay the bills and provide for their children. A way that AI can assist is through self-driving cars. Specifically, Connors mentioned Waymo’s autonomous vehicles.

“This is going to be transformational for vulnerable families,” Connors said. “When the robo-taxis start coming around with AI driving them, families will be able to save a lot by skipping out on a car payment and just subscribing to one of these systems,” he said.

There is also a housing crisis in Fort Wayne that strains the budgets of families even more. With AI, professionals have figured out how to make low-cost housing quickly.

“Rent is the number one expense today, and there is a housing shortage. AI gives you mechanical connectors that allow you to perfectly stack the apartments that are made in modular factories,” Connors said. “You don’t need plumbers or electricians on site for the vertical stack of buildings. We bring this to Fort Wayne, and we can solve the rent problem in Fort Wayne quickly.”

Nick Meyer, a member of the Communications Office for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, said he felt apprehensive about AI before the lecture.

“I am someone who has used AI and is kind of scared of what it can do,” Meyer said. “The talk really helped me see there can be good. Tim Connors showed us that there are really good ways to use AI – and there are really bad, evil ways,” he said. “AI can help people who are in need,” Meyer said. “It can help build houses for homeless and vulnerable communities. It can create jobs, but he also reminded us that it can be used for evil, and we should watch out for that.” He continued: “We just need to keep the teachings of Christ in mind.”

Matt Smith, chief development officer for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, echoed Meyer’s sentiments.

“For me, a major takeaway was that AI, like many things throughout history, has the power to do great good for humanity, but it also has the power to do bad things.”

Formerly the dean of arts and sciences at the University of Saint Francis, Smith helped to begin this lecture series alongside Dr. Lance Richey, president of the University of Saint Francis. Smith said he has enjoyed listening to the talks and applying insights to his work at Catholic Charities.

“We’ve used AI already in our development work and some other things at Catholic Charities, and there’s potential to use it even more for improving efficiencies. I also think some of the solutions that he talked about, for housing and hunger, Catholic Charities would certainly want to be a part of,” Smith said.

After further thought, he concluded: “It really just comes down to developing consciences. We need to develop good consciences and act in virtuous ways in order for AI to be used for good.”

Clare Hildebrandt is a staff writer for Today’s Catholic.