The director of one of Georgetown University’s leading Catholic research groups will serve on the U.S. bishops’ national artificial intelligence (AI) task force, the university announced Oct. 22.
Kim Daniels — who directs the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, which promotes faith-based dialogue — will serve as one of three consultants for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) task force on “preserving human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.” The task force, established in September, will also include eight bishops from across the country and two professors from the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic University of America.
Daniels said her approach to AI policy focuses on preserving human dignity and the common good, as outlined by Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas.”
“As a teacher, as a parent, as a member of the Georgetown community, I’m really struck by the importance of keeping our appreciation of what is most human about ourselves front and center,” Daniels told The Hoya. “Namely, our ability to love and care for others and be loved, our appreciation of what’s transcendent, our ability to understand the human dignity of each and every person we encounter.”
Georgetown administrators have adopted a similar ethos as the university attempts to position itself as an AI leader, announcing plans to establish a university-wide framework and creating a faculty-led steering committee. The College of Arts & Sciences inaugurated an AI ethics and application certificate this semester, while the School of Continuing Studies debuted a new master’s degree focused on AI and leadership.
Anthony Granado, USCCB associate general secretary, said the Catholic Church’s role mandates a human-centered approach to AI.
“The Church, as a moral voice, has a pivotal role in raising the importance of ensuring that technological development always places the human person at the center,” Granado wrote to The Hoya. “Practically speaking, the USCCB task force will help further coordinate and make recommendations to the bishops on policy and pastoral concerns.”
Daniels said she hopes the task force’s work results in concrete policy changes.
“I hope that in the long term, the bishops and Catholics’ conversations and efforts around ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ might also result in policies that put human dignity and the common good at the center,” Daniels said.
Granado said the technology industry is crucial to the task force’s success because of AI’s holistic impacts.
“A year from now, success could mean the task force is working closely with USCCB standing policy and pastoral committees; the Vatican Commission on Artificial Intelligence; and partners in technology, academia, the dioceses and other key sectors,” Granado wrote. “This collaboration will be crucial in developing and recommending policies and guidelines that address the moral, pastoral, social, economic and cultural impact of artificial intelligence.”
Eswyn Gray (CAS ’27), a student fellow for the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, said Daniels’ academic experience will allow her to advocate for Georgetown students’ perspective on AI.
“She’s a clear leading expert on the Catholic Church and Catholic social thought, but she’s also a professor,” Gray told The Hoya. “She works at Georgetown, so I think she really sees that student perspective, and that’s unique to Georgetown — how students are affected by AI, how young people are affected by AI.”
“I think that Georgetown students in the Georgetown community can look at Professor Daniels’ appointment to the task force as a way of saying, ‘Oh wow, look, we also have a seat at the table,’” Gray added. “We have a role in this conversation. Our voices are being heard.”
Daniels said Georgetown’s Jesuit values provide a foundation for the university to be a leading voice on AI regulation, informing her role on the committee.
“Georgetown is very well positioned to lead as a Catholic and Jesuit university with a commitment to care for the whole person and strong leadership on AI ethics and policy. It can lead in the national conversation,” Daniels said.
“It can lead on what it means to be an institution of higher education committed to human dignity at this transformative moment,” Daniels added.
