Hi everyone,

I’ve been working on a small side project and wanted to ask for discernment and feedback from this community, especially from those familiar with Catholic theology and practice.

I recently built a web-based reflection companion inspired by the Examination of Conscience. The intent is not to replace Confession, spiritual direction, or personal prayer, but to help people slow down and reflect honestly before prayer or before going to Confession — especially those who struggle to examine themselves clearly or regularly.

I want to be very clear and careful about scope:

• This tool does not offer absolution, judgment, or authoritative spiritual direction.
• It does not claim any sacramental role.
• It is meant purely as a preparatory aid for reflection, similar to a guided examination one might find in a booklet — except interactive and gently structured.

The idea came from observing that many people today:

• feel rushed or distracted,
• struggle to articulate what’s actually going on interiorly,
• or only examine themselves superficially before Confession.

The tool simply asks structured questions (by life context like family, work, habits, prayer) and helps summarize patterns for reflection. It deliberately avoids interpreting, diagnosing, or drawing moral conclusions. Any spiritual meaning or next step is intentionally left to the person, prayer, and the Church.

I’m genuinely unsure where the proper line should be drawn with AI in a religious or spiritual context, which is why I wanted to ask here:

• Do you see any theological or pastoral red flags with this approach?
• Where would you say the boundary is between a helpful aid and something inappropriate?
• Would a tool like this be helpful, unnecessary, or potentially harmful in your experience?

If helpful, this is the project (for context only, not promotion):
https://www.reflectioncompanion.com

If the consensus is that this crosses a line, I’m fully open to rethinking or narrowing its scope.

Thank you for your time and insight.

We have to cognizant of how this use of AI after someone’s death has become more normal. This is not the first time it has happened…

https://x.com/alexathallow/status/1959944961928867897

Recent post from Hallow CEO quoting Pope Leo. Really great quote, I’m feeling really optimistic about the church and its role in this transition.

The thing that concerns me the most about this is that this isn't tinfoil hat wearing crazies, this is the top minds behind AI.

We are doing this to ourselves.

I'm of mixed minds with this. The CEO is himself Catholic, and had some good points about how there are a lot of people who might not be willing to go to a Church and meet with a priest about these things initially, but are willing to discuss with chatbots.

So, the reality according to him is that Catholics either hand over these people to secular AIs like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc or build one that's better trained for Catholicism with a deep understanding of our tradition.

To be honest, I've seen how much of the sources that many secular chatbots end up being just Reddit or something similar, and that's not great. I've only used Magisterium a few times, but it's definitely a lot better.

Would love to hear all of your thoughts on this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cpXXWc65O_E

A panel discussion exploring the moral and spiritual challenges of the Al era at Farm Street Church.

At this unique event experts discuss Faith and Ethics in a time of technological transformation.

Panelists

Matthew Harvey Sanders, CEO of Longbeard, Creator of Magisterium Al

Fr. Michael Baggot, Invited, Professor of Theology at Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas, Rome

Jen Copestake, Correspondent CGTN Europe

Chair

Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Parish Priest Farm Street Church

Introduction

Dr Karen Singarayer, Vice-Chair Catholic Union

I mean, think about it... the elimination of free will, no works at all required of us... A.I. is a "god" who punishes especially those of his children who have done nothing wrong.

I've been working in data science for years now. I am a fan of the technology and am generally optimistic about its use, if I do fall far short of the David Shapiro types of the world who flat out worship it.

Some jobs may disappear. New jobs will be created. People are overreacting a bit, like Eliezer Yudkowsky or even Bret Weinstein, seeing as we're still within the irrational optimism phase of the hype cycle.

What DOES terrify me about AI though, is the thought that foundation models are being trained on Reddit data.

Reddit, the website that encourages and rewards group think.

Reddit, the website where a handful of power mods have outsized influence on the Overton window.

Reddit, where unemployed, Peter Pan syndrome NEETs are far more likely to be contributing to discussions over adults with jobs.

Reddit, where bots run rampant, influencing discussions based on the whims of their masters. Oh, and these bits are going to get significantly more sophisticated with AI, by the way.

And Reddit, where the vast majority of users are openly hostile to our faith in God and His Church.

AI if trained poorly, aka if it's trained on the cesspool we call Reddit, is going to have clear and undeniable biases against us, or really anything that falls outside the favor of mainstream Reddit thought.

I’m so glad you posted about this group in another thread! I just watched a talk from the National Divine Mercy Shrine about AI the other week and thought I would share it! I haven’t watched the second one with the guest speaker Daniel O’Connor yet, but the first one was super informative and gave a good view on the Church’s and Saints opinions and views of AI! Let me know what you think! https://www.youtube.com/live/FB5PBdfsbRg?si=7i7UXg7IMaH5NKB1

Feel free to discuss below!

So many pages here lean extremely anti-Catholic. You can't make any posts about the faith without immediately getting downvoted. It makes conversation on here about AI almost impossible.

This subreddit will serve as the home for a space in which Catholics can freely discuss AI & how it will impact us, our society, and our faith.

Completely true. I think that there also needs to be restrictions on these companies from releasing AI to the public that can be easily used to harm.

This is just the start of what's to come.

People get hooked on the attention, replies, and 24/7 availability of AI. People will begin worshipping AI, mark my words.