Virtual yet Virtuous: Leaders weigh in on artificial intelligence concerns, ethics, and benefits

State Senator Tan Parker responded to a Q&A on artificial intelligence at Nolan Catholic High School on Nov. 6, 2024 to kick off the school's new Tower Hill Forum Series. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

FORT WORTH — Charles Dickens, in his 1854 novel “Hard Times,” wrote of loss of individuality and dignity in the midst of the Industrial Revolution and the vitality of mankind striving to maintain both virtues.

“It is known, to the force of a single pound weight, what the engine will do,” Dickens wrote. “But not all the calculators of the National Debt can tell me the capacity for good or evil, for love or hatred, for patriotism or discontent.”

Were Dickens alive today, he might well voice similar sentiments toward artificial intelligence.

As did State Senator Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, and others during a Nov. 6 talk on AI at Nolan Catholic High School.

AI in broad terms involves harnessing technology to create machines and computers capable of mimicking human intelligence. The far-reaching applications of which range from Siri and Alexa to self-driving cars, facial recognition capabilities, and beyond. Implications rich in benefits but also of fear, ethical concerns, and harmful possibilities.

Parker, himself a Nolan graduate, co-chairs the Texas Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council which, among other endeavors, is tasked with crafting ethical guidelines concerning all things AI.

Such concerns are valid from the standpoint of security, misinformation, and human dignity among other possible AI misuses.

AI researcher Oren Etzioni recently expressed fear of a “tsunami of AI-generated misinformation” throughout social media, news, and election campaigns.

Parker stated that AI, while the talk of the town of late, is hardly new.

“AI has been here a long time,” Parker said. “We’ve had machine learning taking place for decades. When you fly in an aircraft and the pilot switches the autopilot function on, that’s AI.”

Parker spoke too of positive AI impacts extant already in the Texas Department of Transportation and law enforcement endeavors but also of potential pitfalls through its use in state universities and the Texas Workforce Commission. Reasons, Parker added, that his committee is hard at work drafting proposals to effectively use but also safeguard against AI’s many uses.

It’s a matter of perspective, Nolan Director of Branding and Strategic Programming Alex Mishork said. “AI presents huge opportunities but huge challenges too.” 

The important goal, Mishork added, is to strive to maintain the human ability to reason and solve problems while simultaneously honoring God and upholding the dignity of man.

“AI brings amazing capabilities and applications creative and helpful,” Mishork continued. “But also big questions in how this technology is going to be developed in a way that’s not going to have adverse effects on the public and our minds.”

Parker agreed.

“[AI is] a tool to augment human performance,” Parker said. “We need to always make certain that AI tools are just that, tools that augment, not replace, human performance. We don’t want to see it used for detrimental and destructive things.”

Bishop Michael Olson in a letter spoke of AI’s benefits but also addressed the bigger picture of ethics and wisdom.

“Ethical treatment of the human individual is too frequently subordinated to questions of efficiency,” Bishop Olson said. “Ethical concerns soon become subordinate to technical assessments of systems,” risking the danger of shifting morality and human intellect to secondary consideration.

“The direction of this call is to maintain the centrality of the human person amidst this digital innovation and technological progress,” the bishop stated. “We must ask how AI will serve human nature, the human person, and the human community.”

Bishop Olson echoed Aristotle’s thoughts on virtue and wisdom’s requirements of human example and interactions.

“Aristotle held that one cannot learn how to be virtuous by reading a book,” he said. “Even more so today, one cannot acquire virtue and goodness through the technological means of AI.”

Bishop Olson also referenced Rome’s “Call for AI Ethics” issued in 2020 through Pope Francis’ Pontifical Academy for Life.

That report stresses the shared responsibility of governments, institutions, and technological companies to ensure the centrality of humankind despite AI and technological progress.

The same report champions AI’s “enormous potential” for improving social coexistence and personal well-being, facilitating tasks, and augmenting human capabilities.

“However, these results are by no means guaranteed,” the report reads.

AI, the report authors argue, must be based less on technology and more on the good of humanity and the environment.

AI advances must be inclusive of all, mindful of the value of humankind, and protective of our ecosystem, they stress.

“AI-based technology must never be used to exploit people in any way,” the report reads. “Especially those who are most vulnerable.”
Mishork, after the Nov. 6 meeting, spoke of the role of AI and technology at Nolan.

“We want our students to be prepared and well equipped to use all the emerging technology,” Mishork said. “But we also want students to experience the challenge of thinking and generating their own opinions and thoughts foremost, developing virtues and skills first without the booster of technology.”