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Beware of the Deepfake Magisterium, by M. V. Dougherty – Brown Pelican Society of Lousiana

Beware of the Deepfake Magisterium, by M. V. Dougherty

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Deepfakes. Real and AI-produced images of Pope Francis and Marc Cardinal Ouellet. (Screenshots courtesy of the author, M. V. Dougherty)

By M. V. Dougherty, Catholic World Report, Jan. 27, 2025

M. V. Dougherty holds the Sr. Ruth Caspar Chair in Philosophy at Ohio Dominican University. His recent publications include the book New Techniques for Proving Plagiarism: Case Studies from the Sacred Disciplines at the Pontifical Gregorian University (2024) and a journal article in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly (2024). ..

 

The use of artificial intelligence to produce fake celebrity endorsements of dubious products is not new and is well-documented, and scores of people have fallen victim to such deceptions.

Prelates of the Roman Catholic Church have not been silent on the general dangers posed by the misuse of AI. On several occasions last year, Pope Francis offered remarks about the potential misapplication of various AI technologies. More recently, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, revealed that his department of the Roman Curia is working with the Dicastery for Education and Culture to produce a document on the ethical use of AI.

Some may recall the deepfake images of Pope Francis sporting an oversized designer puffer jacket that circulated on social media in 2023. In late 2024, artificially generated images purporting to depict the Pope in the embrace of an aging pop star drew further attention. These instances of deception, however, may seem innocuous compared to some recent AI-generated appropriations of the likenesses of members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. …

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