Brazil archbishop establishes rules for use of AI in archdiocesan communications

The archbishop of Aracaju in Sergipe state, Brazil, Josafá Menezes da Silva, has established rules for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in archdiocesan communications. The guidelines, addressed to priests, deacons, lay ministers, and the entire people of God of the Archdiocese of Aracaju, are based on documents of the Church’s magisterium regarding human dignity, communications, and the use of technology.

The principal resources used by Menezes are the message for the 60th World Communications Day and the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, both by Pope Leo XIV, regarding the safeguarding of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence; the document Antiqua et Nova, a joint note from the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and Dicastery for Culture and Education, signed by Pope Francis concerning the relationship between artificial intelligence and human intelligence; and a reflection by Father Doriano Vincenzo De Luca, head of the social communications service for the Archdiocese of Naples, Italy.

“The starting point for all the Church’s reflection on artificial intelligence is the unconditional defense of the dignity of the human person,” the archbishop of Aracaju explained. The prelate highlighted that the note Antiqua et Nova “places human dignity at the center of discernment regarding artificial intelligence and reminds us that technology must be guided by the good of the person and of society” and that “human intelligence must guide the use of technology for the sake of the ‘authentic good of the person.’”

Therefore, “in light of the guidelines of the Church’s magisterium and with the aim of guiding discernment regarding the proper use of artificial intelligence tools, ensuring respect for the principle of human dignity by ‘preserving faces and voices,’ and ensuring these tools serve as an aid rather than replacing the responsible work that only a human being can perform, we hereby establish” certain guidelines within the territory of our Archdiocese of Aracaju, the bishop said.

Review and transparency

Menezes mandated that “all art produced with the aid of artificial intelligence” within the archdiocese must “undergo a mandatory human review before publication” and that “any and all content generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence” must also “be labeled and clearly distinguished from content created by humans, especially when the use of AI could affect the perception of the reality being presented.”

Prohibited uses for clergy

Regarding the clergy, Menezes directed that “generative artificial intelligence must not be used to reconstruct or simulate the appearance of a bishop, priest, or deacon when the result replaces their actual photograph or could be interpreted as an authentic representation of their appearance or of a situation they experienced.”

He also established that “generative artificial intelligence must not be used to reconstruct or simulate the voice of a bishop, priest, or deacon in a message or speech not originally delivered by them” and that “one must not attribute to a real person an appearance, speech, action, or situation that does not correspond to reality.”

In addition, the archbishop prohibited the use of artificial intelligence to “reconstruct a real person’s face, replacing their photograph”; to “significantly modify a real person’s features”; to “create an artificial appearance presented as their actual appearance”; to “produce images placing a member of the clergy in situations that did not occur”; to “produce a synthetic representation that could be mistaken for a real photograph”; and to “create audio files attempting to simulate a person’s voice in a message or speech not actually delivered by that person.”

AI as an auxiliary tool

According to the archbishop of Aracaju, “artificial intelligence can be used as an auxiliary tool” in nine situations: creating backgrounds, creating textures, generating abstract elements, creating illustrations, suggesting layouts, working with colors, assisting with composition, assisting with editing, and helping to create visual concepts.

“These guidelines are based particularly on the message from Pope Leo XIV for the 60th World Communications Day, in which the Holy Father warns that the simulation capabilities of artificial intelligence can fabricate ‘parallel realities,’ usurp faces and voices, and make it increasingly difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction,” Menezes explained.

According to the archbishop, “the same document” also “draws attention to the need to protect people’s images, photographs, audio recordings, faces, and voices, preventing harmful uses such as digital fraud, cyberbullying, and deepfakes that can violate privacy and personal intimacy without consent.”

At the end of the decree, Menezes exhorted “all pastoral workers, communicators, and the faithful to act with prudence, always consulting their respective ordinaries and respecting current regulations, so that technology may serve the mission and never distort it.” He further emphasized that “everything the Church communicates must be truthful in content and responsible in its manner of representation.”

The archbishop ended his directive with the prayer “May Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of our archdiocese, intercede for us and help us preserve, in every communication, the dignity and beauty of human faces and voices called to reflect Christ.”

This story was first published by ACI Digital, the Portuguese-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.