Beyond information : wisdom, human judgment, and catholic religious education in the age of generative AI

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) intensifies a long-standing question for religious education (RE): what is education for when information, explanation, and polished synthesis are available on demand? Using Catholic religious education (CRE) as a situated case, this conceptual article argues that wisdom should orient RE without displacing knowledge. Drawing on virtue ethics, Catholic thought, philosophy of education, and recent scholarship on digital religion and AI, it develops four dimensions of wisdom-centered RE: epistemic judgment, practical-moral discernment, relational responsibility, and tradition-situated orientation toward ultimate goods. It concludes with implications for curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, teacher formation, and interfaith and public RE.