How this Catholic Business Uses AI

Emily Wahl
Jun 30
6 min read

Updated: Jul 1

woman holding a phone and an AI is on the screen for catholic business

“The task that stands before us is that of being builders of communion, rather than architects of Babel.”

AI is all the rage

It feels like people have been talking about artificial intelligence non-stop for the last two years.

And I get it. AI has huge potential to either tremendously help or devastatingly harm human flourishing. In many ways, it's already demonstrated bot its pros and cons. It has instilled great fear or great hope in many. Either way, seldom will you find anyone with an indifferent opinion on AI.

AI is so pivotal that Pope Leo XIV recently published an encyclical all about these potential impacts on humanity.

Full disclosure: I’ve not yet read the encyclical (I’ve been working on and just finished my first read of The Lord of the Rings!).

At this point I’ve only listened to podcasters who have read and reflected on the pope’s words. However, I do intend to read the encyclical because, like most young professionals today, I make use of AI in some capacity.

GASP!

Let me explain. My view on and use of AI is much more nuanced than what you might think!

Today, I simply want to share my own thoughts on AI and how I use it for my business. In a later post, I will discuss how other Catholic businesses and apostolates can leverage the power of AI to ethically grow their business and spread the Gospel.

Caveats

Before we dive in, I want to state up front that I do not use AI to design anything.

I sell creative services made by humans, for humans. This is why I set my prices the way I do. I do not sell creative assets made by an AI bot. I want to create high-quality design for incredible ministries. AI simply can't hold a candle to a seasoned graphic designer (yet! That's a later discussion...).

That’s why I do not sell art or design created by AI.

At times, I will use the brilliant Generative Expand function in Photoshop, but other than that, I don’t use AI to create images for me.

So what do I use AI for?

AI as a Notetaking Tool

Perhaps my favorite use of AI in my business is note-taking during meetings.

I prepare extensively for discovery meetings with potential clients, and during those meetings I take carefully organized notes. However, this process juggles between ensuring notes are taken accurately while ensuring the client feels like I am giving them my undivided attention. There’s always the risk I’ll miss vital information.

So I use Fathom to take notes as a safety net during my meetings.

This AI tool drafts written minutes of our meeting that recap what we talked about. It will also list out any action items that we discussed.

Fathom does not sell data to third parties! However, I do give my clients the option to opt out of my AI note taker for peace of mind. If you are interested in booking a meeting with me, you don’t need to worry about Skynet listening in if you don’t want them to. I’ll always be taking my own notes.

AI for Research & Calculation

There’s no question that AI can be a very powerful research tool.

I frequently use AI to help me research topics and business ideas. For example, I’ve recently participated in my first few tabled events. I used AI to help me brainstorm ideas for my setup and determine how many flyers and stickers I’d need to print.

I’ve used AI for researching other things like Google AdSense, how best to market my business, and how to use design tools I’m unfamiliar with.

I don’t blindly follow everything AI tells me nor do I use it as my single source of information and research. I am always challenging AI to explain its findings. I am also reading articles and books myself. AI is a really helpful tool to get me started.

I will also use AI to write formulas or do some complex math for me. As a creative, this tool is a time (and life) saver! Don't worry, I often ask it to show its work and I do my best to double check it!

Do you use AI?

AI for Supplemental Idea Generation

Besides math, let’s not forget the bane of every creative’s existence: creative block.

If I’m experiencing creative block or want additional ideas, I’ll often ask AI to generate more ideas under strong constraints. I then comb through this list and evaluate every item myself.

Goodbye creative block!

Also: When using AI for any form of research, always verify!

AI usually presents its information confidently, but the times I’ve called it out about inaccuracies, contradictions, or discrepancies I notice, it admits, “I totally short-circuited and missed that. Thank you for catching that!”. Be sure to verify AI’s findings by doing your own research. Also, don’t blindly accept anything AI tells you! Use your brain when chatting with AI.

AI for Verbal Processing

Admit it. Human thought is complex. Many times it’s difficult to process and problem solve when all the thoughts are jumbled in your head. That’s where verbal processing with another comes in handy. Sometimes, simply articulating ideas out loud can help you evaluate them.

However, I don’t always have a person available, confidential, or expert enough to chat through many ideas at a moment’s notice. With the amount of verbal processing I’d need from a human, I would likely need to hire an assistant or constantly pepper my business mentor.

That’s where AI comes in handy for me. I articulate the idea I need help evaluating, see how AI responds, and evaluate the idea myself. I find this method to be a little less invasive than talking through every idea with a friend or my business mentor.

The Nuanced Case for AI for Catholic Business

AI is a tool, plain and simple.

Like any tool or new piece of technology, AI has both its moral and immoral uses: It has the potential to be used for great good or great evil.

For example:

The invention of the printing press was a huge technological advance in its day. Books that were once affordable only to the wealthy were then made affordable to all. This one invention helped spread the Gospel in ways that were previously impossible. On the flipside, the printing press allowed bad ideas to spread too. Does that make the printing press inherently evil? I would argue, no. It simply has the capacity for evil and for good. It depends on how we use it.

AIs like Truthly.ai and Magesterium AI are bots that have been trained with the Catechism, accredited documents like encyclicals and councils, the Bible, and more. I would argue Catholic AIs have a positive impact on society by being an accurate teacher and easily accessible source in a time when priests and Catholic teachers are strapped for time and don’t always have answers to complex and nuanced questions. Further, these bot always cite their sources with every prompt!

On the other hand, AI has been used for great evil. One most notably is using it to generate explicit content and to replace jobs with bots in roles ought to be worked by humans.

As Catholics, and especially as Catholic business owners, it’s important that we hold ourselves to a very high standard and keep the goal of authentic human flourishing in mind when using AI tools. Or any tool, for that matter.

As I’ve heard others reference what Pope Leo says in his encyclical, it’s important that we rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, not build a new tower of Babel.

I believe that the solution to the question of the morality of AI is more nuanced than outright rejection or fully embracing it. I think we ought to attain a certain level of understanding of its capacities for good and evil, educate the masses of these pros and cons, and pass just laws accordingly.

AI has already made some positive impacts. It’s giving access to small businesses like me to powerful thinking. Without AI, most small businesses can’t afford to hire that help and therefore, don’t achieve their greatest potential.

There are many other instances where AI has had a positive impact for humanity. I think AI’s capacity to promote human flourishing is as good as our imagination for it and I think it is our responsibility to reach for those possibilities.

I welcome your thoughts! Do you agree with me? Or do you think I’m totally missing something? Let me know in the comments below!

In a nutshell, what do you think about AI?