From Data to Faith: Why Real Knowledge Transcends AI

Can we truly centralize all our knowledge to a platform like AI where all of us can go to if we are in need of answers? The answer is no. Friedrich Hayek, a Nobel prize winner in Economics in the 20th century wrote an essay entitled “The Use of Knowledge in Society,” which gives us a good reason why. Hayek told us that a platform being controlled by only a few, and attempts to contain all human knowledge or at least the knowledge that matters most, does not take into account that society is made up of individuals with different degrees of knowledge that change over time spontaneously. Hayek taught that the randomness and uniqueness of individual knowledge cannot be valued in a way that allows knowledge to be channeled as pure logical data into one place. Hayek’s perspective and answer in his essay are very much worth exploring, yet his solution only gets us to a half answer. He looks at this knowledge problem only in the light of economics which does have merit, but he neglects all together the solution that religion offers. In this article, we are going to look at how the Church channels spiritual knowledge through the community, the Sacraments, and the Holy Spirit.

Many of us today, even us Catholics, correlate knowledge as purely subjective, that is, what “we feel” or what “we think to be true.” To know however, is not purely subjective. It is also being able to grasp reality–what actually is. This concept of knowledge gives us a much clearer reason why a centralized all-knowing platform like AI cannot be our ultimate source of knowledge. Apart from the fact that AI cannot feel, the data that it contains also cannot grasp reality–AI is unable to possess what truly is– the “I am who I am.” (Exodus 3:14). This also applies to us, but in a much more intimate and serious manner. Regardless of how we feel or what we think, there is truth, and it is us who choose to possess and live this truth or not. Unlike a digital platform which is enslaved to its own algorithm realities, we are free to choose what reality we live in.

This point of varying realities is very important for us to reflect on, and is precisely why Hayek observed that knowledge cannot be allocated to one place. The countless realities that exist in society and in the world make this impossible. For example, a baker’s reality in Switzerland is not the same as a tech CEO in Silicon Valley. To begin to even try to quantify only these two individuals, and what they know into one place is irrational since true knowledge is not static. What these big AI companies cannot understand or just ignore all together, is that knowledge cannot be fixed in time nor in one place. They also need to understand that knowledge is not purely intellectual (logic)–knowledge requires both intellect and will (conscience). This means that knowledge is not just how we gather it, but how we consciously direct it to the good.

To truly know the reality of the baker and the reality of the CEO of a tech company would require us to know fully their conscience which is working on ordering itself to what is true, good, and beautiful. Can an AI platform do that? No it cannot. AI fails to do so because it does not freely seek to know what is true because AI does not have a soul that is seeking God. AI does not discern what is good or evil because it does not seek its own salvation. It lacks a true relationship to what is beautiful because it will never be able to look at the beatific vision–God.

As we began this article with Hayek’s important teaching, and then briefly explained what is the true nature of knowledge that reveals AI’s limitations, we need to now explain what is the knowledge that we must actually be seeking and where do we find it.

The answer is simple and we have already mentioned it. We need to be seeking knowledge that helps us to judge and discern our path to God. All other knowledge is folly. Where we find this knowledge is from three places:

1. The Community of the Church: The Church transmits knowledge from an unbroken chain that leads all the way back to the Apostles. As well, the witness of our Saints who lived the truth. The knowledge from the Church and Her Saints is not abstract, but rather it is a reality that is experienced and shared in the community of the faithful. AI can never model the charity that is taught in the living community of God’s people.

2. The Sacraments: The Sacraments are not just signs, but instruments that lead us to true knowledge. For example, confession offers us knowledge of our sins, weaknesses, but at the same time, the infinite love and mercy of God. AI can never offer such a great lesson in forgiveness.

3. The Holy Spirit: With the Holy Spirit the entirety of knowledge is perfected: a. Intellect is enlightened b. Will is strengthen c. Our souls are moved toward God

With all three in our life, we Catholics can experience true knowledge, and this is what the Acutis platform wants–for all of us to be truth seekers which means that we are all searching for a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God. Technology does not need to be an obstacle. It can be a tool that can be used to point us to these three spiritual sources of knowledge mentioned above.

We pray to the Holy Spirit that He enlightens all of us and brings us to true knowledge.

Joseph Daniels

Acutis AI Writer

IG: @Catholically_Conscious