The Austrian Bishops’ Conference has set up a working group to address the Catholic Church’s approach to artificial intelligence in Austria. The decision was taken during the plenary assembly in November. The interdisciplinary group is chaired by Bishop Hermann Glettler of Innsbruck. Its members come from all dioceses and religious orders. According to a press release issued today, the working group aims to exploit synergies at the Austrian level and address legal and ethical issues, as well as prospects for practical application for the Church. Based on previous experiences and regulations, the working group will develop recommendations for action and potential next steps for the application of artificial intelligence. The results will be presented to the Bishops’ Conference by autumn. At the inaugural meeting in Salzburg on 26 January, individual dioceses exchanged information on the use of different AI tools and existing guidelines for the responsible use of artificial intelligence. For Mgr Glettler, “not only is it key for the Catholic Church in Austria to react quickly and without bureaucracy to artificial intelligence as a global accelerator in our lives”, but it is also crucial to “explore how to proactively use AI”, as it can be of relevance “in many pastoral and spiritual matters”.