Fr. Nicolas Kazarian: AI must be evaluated through the dignity of the human person

Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Nicolas Kazarian addressed the challenges posed by artificial intelligence and their relationship to Orthodox Christian anthropology during the international conference marking ten years since the Holy and Great Council of Crete.

Speaking in Chantilly, France, on October 7, Fr. Kazarian presented a paper entitled For the Life of the World and the Social Ethos of the Holy and Great Council , arguing that the Council’s documents remain important theological resources for confronting rapidly changing social and technological realities.

He stressed that neither the Council of Crete nor the 2020 document For the Life of the World could have anticipated the rapid development of contemporary artificial intelligence. Their value, however, lies not in providing predetermined answers to every new challenge but in offering a theological framework for discernment.

“The Church does not need to possess a predetermined answer to every future question,” he said. “She needs the theological resources and ecclesial capacity to discern new questions faithfully.”

Fr. Kazarian emphasized that AI raises fundamental questions concerning human freedom,…