Photo: Wikimedia Commons Most people don’t know how many AI startups have emerged over the past few months. Even in our Catholic circle, Magisterium AI has been the forefront of the Catholic AI space, with a robust database and thousands of users that have found the website extremely helpful. Other big tech companies have now made it their second nature to just say the word ‘AI’ to get people interested in their products, the more AI there is, the more likable they are.
Pope Leo
Pope Leo is someone who isn’t a fan of such products. During his first few months as Pope, he openly called out AI as technology that could hinder the development of children and young people. However, AI has its perks, with the ability of making life much easier. But easier shouldn’t be lazier, and that is the big debate regarding – some would say – the 5th industrial revolution.
In 2025, we are seeing startups and businesses getting higher evaluations because of the AI tag line, that could be a good or bad opportunity for them”
In every website I visit or app I use, AI is a feature, and it’s spreading faster than anything. This got me thinking of a very similar phenomena I learned about during my bachelor’s and master’s degree: the ‘.com’ crash. The famous incident that crashed the so called ‘.com bubble’ created panic, which led to companies shutting down in the matter of months. ‘Pets.com’ one of the most famous, had a super high evaluation with a failed business model. The only reason it was listed? It was a ‘.com’ business model.
Only few players survived: Amazon, Yahoo, eBay… Just because of the term ‘.com’, investors overestimated value and were overconfident to look for other aspects of the business model. Just the idea of being on the internet allowed many companies like Pets.com to be listed.
Now in 2025, we are seeing startups and businesses getting higher evaluations because of the AI tag line, that could be a good or bad opportunity for them. For instance, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, mentioned that we are in some sort of “new bubble”, which could be a win or lose situation for many.
Bubble Burst
With a ‘bubble burst’, it could lead to many job losses in an already struggling IT market. MIT had a recent study that 95% of AI pilots tend to fail to return on investment, and there has been around $40 billion poured into the AI marketspace. There are startups that have no clue what their business models are, and I see founders who, when asked about their idea, often pivot towards the usual buzz words.
AI tools like Magisterium AI can help so many people understand the religion more, and for people who want to get back into faith, it is a perfect way to do so”
I always preach the idea of young and old people getting educated about AI. Parishes can host talks on how AI can have both a positive and negative impact in daily life, with companies like Magisterium AI showcasing a good representation of what AI technology can offer. I am fascinated by the database it has stored in, with centuries old information just a search away. AI tools like Magisterium AI can help so many people understand the religion more, and for people who want to get back into faith, it is a perfect way to do so. All information is citied and referred from actual Church documents, which makes it more credible. It is a perfect balance between technology and education, and more AI models should embrace getting credible sources.
Opportunity
As a technology enthusiast and someone who has worked in the IT industry, I believe every day is a new opportunity to make life easier, and I would like to call programmers, innovators and everyone else involved, ‘artists’ because they imagine something impossible and make it possible with blood, sweat and tears.
I pray that the newly canonised St Carlo Acoutis, a computer geek himself, guides all IT individuals to create products for the better of humanity.