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Second Mercy Communications Café takes place on the fantastic implications of AI
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We hosted our second Mercy Communications Café on Tuesday 13th May 2025 on Zoom. Our guest speaker Fr Philip Larrey spoke about the fantastic implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In his address Father Philip gave us a definition of what AI is, shared the story of AI to date and introduced us to some of the developers of AI. He spoke about deep fakes, and the troubling development of AI generated images including the image of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket which went viral, despite being utterly fake.
Father Philip also spoke about some of the potential threats of AI and whether it respects the truth. He shared some of the possibilities of AI as it is applied in research and medicine.
He went on to share the news about the recent passing of a law relating to the regulation of AI. On April 29, 2025, Congress passed the TAKE IT DOWN Act. The act prohibits the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated deepfakes, and requires websites and social media platforms to take down such content.
He introduced Communications Café attendees to Magisterium which he cites as an example of a wonderful use of AI.
Magisterium AI is from a company called LongBeard. This is an AI trained on the official documents of the Catholic Church. It is very reliable because of the data sets used. It has been endorsed by many Bishops around the world. It is now used by more than 200,000+ people weekly.
He said the Church has a role to play in relation to AI and recommended the Vatican document Antiqua et Nova was published in January 2025.
Father Philip concluded his address by encouraging the Mercy World to get informed, to educate themselves and to always ensure that ethics are to the fore when working with AI.
Positive or Negative towards AI
We took a straw poll during the Communications Café of what participants thought and the response to AI was mostly positive with qualifications!
Where in the World
People took part in our Mercy Communications Café from across the Mercy World including:
- Cork, Ireland
- Devon, UK
- East London
- Melbourne, Australia
- Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Baggot Street, Dublin,
- Donegal, Ireland
- Newfoundland, Canada
- Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Boston, USA
- Papua New Guinea
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Belmont, NC, USA
- St Louis, Missouri, USA
- Mercy Education, Maryland, USA
- Grand Rapids, MI, USA
- Merion, Pennsylvania, USA
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Cork (again)!
- The Curragh, Co Kildare, Ireland
- Malahide, Dublin
- Terenure, Dublin
- The West Of Ireland
- Omaha, Nebraska, USA
- Burlingame, CA, USA
- Manchester, England
Next Meeting
The Mercy Communications Cáfe will meet again in July, September and November. The date and topic for July will be confirmed asap.
If you would like to be added to our email list for the Mercy Communications Café please let us know. If you would like to suggest a speaker or a topic you can also do so by email. Email: brendadrumm@mercyinternational.ie.