Who is Brendan McGuire, California pastor and AI consultant?

- Courtney Mares, Vatican City (OSV News)

Earlier this year, Ireland's Brendan McGuire was one of the religious leaders invited by Anthropic, the AI company responsible for the Claude chatbot, to advise on the creation of an ethical framework to regulate how the AI system addresses complex moral issues. 

A bridge between two worlds

Father McGuire, 60, holds an engineering and computer science degree from Trinity College Dublin, and completed the executive business program at Stanford University. He worked for years in Silicon Valley as an executive in the technology sector before leaving it all to be ordained a priest of the Diocese of St. Joseph 26 years ago. 

“I come from that world,” Father McGuire told OSV News. “-My heart has never left it, but it's really with the Lord.” “I've always felt my role was to bring those two worlds together,” he said.

In an interview granted at the Vatican after the promulgation, on May 25, of the encyclical of Pope Leo XIV “Magnifica Humanitas: On the Stewardship of the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,» Father McGuire underscored the urgency of the Pope's message.

“What worries me most is that, as humanity, we are not taking this moment seriously,” he said. “If we remain silent and passive, this could have very negative consequences for us.”.

Reflection on the dismantling of algorithms

The Silicon Valley priest said he was particularly impressed by Pope Leo's call for a “disarming of algorithms,” a deliberate slowing down of the competitive race to develop ever more powerful AI systems.

“There is an algorithmic race going on,” Father McGuire said. “And to disarm it, we must think carefully about it. It can be dangerous, just like the nuclear arms race. And I thought it was a very shocking idea.”.

In 2019, Father McGuire co-founded the Institute for Technology, Ethics and Culture (ITEC), a formal collaboration between the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University and the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education, which brings together business, academic and religious leaders to address the moral challenges posed by artificial intelligence.

“What Pope Leo XIV's encyclical highlights today is a reorientation of artificial intelligence toward human flourishing,” he said.

Participation in AI, everyone's responsibility

Father McGuire stressed that the Pope's challenge is not directed solely at technologists. He argued that governments, regulators, ordinary users and even those who never use a smartphone have an interest in how this technology develops.

He added that we all have a responsibility to participate.

“This is not just about Silicon Valley techies, investors or entrepreneurs making decisions. We all have to play a role and participate at all levels,” he said. “Even non-users need to speak up. Why? Because this will affect them.

Father McGuire is very realistic about the economic forces at play. Trillions of dollars are being invested in AI development, and investors will demand returns. That reality, he said, is precisely why the ethics of AI development cannot be left to the market alone.

“Capitalism needs human guidance. And this is the human guidance that the Pope is asking for,” he told a group of journalists after Chris Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, spoke at the Vatican press conference with Pope Leo XIV to present the encyclical.

“Transparency builds trust and leads to accountability.”

The priest is also skeptical of industry self-regulation. He argues that transparency is the necessary first step towards accountability. 

“Transparency breeds accountability, and accountability breeds trust. And with trust we will achieve responsible AI. But we can't get to that point without transparency,” he said. “If we don't know how these technologies are developed and what they do, how could we regulate them? It's impossible.”.

Some think that AI will destroy humanity. Others think it will save it.

However, Father McGuire resists both ‘technoutopianism’ and ‘techno-apocalypticism’.

“There are those ... who think it's going to destroy humanity. And then there are those at the other extreme who think it's going to be the great savior of mankind,” he said.

Father McGuire said he falls between those two extremes. 

He acknowledges that many in the AI industry are acting in good faith, although he insists that good intentions are not enough.

“I've seen men and women-and not just at Anthropic, but at other AI companies as well-with genuine good will who are trying to do the right thing,” he said. “If we don't have those good intentions, we're not going to get anywhere, so we need to find the good intention and then engage in a dialogue.”.

The opportunity is now

The opportunity to shape this technology is open now, but, he warned, it may not remain open.

“We're at a time when it's still malleable. It's still in constant change. We can change it. And if we can intervene now to bring about positive change, we will all benefit, to the benefit of all humanity,” he said. “This is the time.”.

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- Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney