As part of our ongoing commitment to responsible AI integration across the College, the Religious Education faculty is launching a new learning sequence that teaches students to use generative-AI tools as critical partners in faith-based inquiry.
Why AI in RE? Modern AI systems can synthesise Scripture commentaries, summarise Church documents, and surface ethical analyses within seconds. Yet, as Pope Francis reminds us, technology must serve the common good-never replace authentic human discernment. Our goal is therefore two-fold: digital literacy and spiritual formation.
Over the coming weeks, Year 10–12 classes will practise three core skills:
1. Critical dialogue – Students will prompt chatbots with challenging theological questions (e.g. “How does Catholic Social Teaching inform environmental stewardship?”). They will then interrogate the response for nuance, bias, and theological soundness, mirroring the Socratic method employed by Church scholars through the ages.
2. Challenging presumptions – Boys will be asked to detect assumptions embedded in AI-generated arguments—such as secular or materialist world-views—and articulate how Christian anthropology might affirm or contest those premises.
3. Cross-referencing evidence – Every AI claim must be verified through authoritative sources: Scripture, Catechism, papal encyclicals, or accredited academic journals. This practice reinforces academic integrity and trains students to see AI as a starting point, not a final authority.
To guide this work, students will complete AI Planning Sheets that record prompts, highlight potential inaccuracies, and track corroborating evidence. Teachers will model effective prompting and demonstrate how small wording changes can reshape an answer’s tone or depth.
Assessment will reward thoughtful critique over mere AI output. By the unit’s end, each student will compose a brief reflection on how emerging technologies can either enrich or erode our call to “seek truth and do justice.”
In equipping our young men to question, verify, and discern, we honour Edmund Rice’s commitment to rigorous scholarship while preparing students to navigate an AI-infused world with faith, reason, and courage.
Carmela Wilson
Head Of Religious Education
Assistant Principal- Mission & Identity