Truth, Prudence, and Technical Mediation: A Theological Foundation of Responsibility in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14422/ee.v101.i397.y2026.005Keywords:
artificial intelligence, moral theology, prudence, truth, responsibility, Antiqua et Nova, Thomism, AI Act, digital anthropologyAbstract
The expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the production and mediation of knowledge poses critical challenges and unprecedented opportunities for moral theology. This article analyzes the phenomenon from a systematic and proactive perspective, moving beyond both technophobia and normative reductionism. The research promotes the enhancement of AI development through a theological foundation of responsibility that enables humans to achieve superior levels of knowledge and efficiency, always under the governance of prudence. The study establishes an operational distinction between three dimensions of truth: informational (data), practical (prudential judgment), and revealed (faith). Drawing on the Thomistic tradition and the recent Antiqua et Nova instruction (2025), a model is developed in which AI fulfils a legitimate and powerful role in the deliberative phase (consilium), while the command of action (imperium) is reaffirmed as a faculty untransferably linked to the human subject. This theoretical framework harmonizes with recent European regulation (AI Act) to offer a synthesis in which technological development is integrated as an instrument of hope and justice at the service of personal dignity and the common good.
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