Forming Fully Human Hearts and Minds in an Age of Artificial Intelligence

Last week, Pope Leo XIV sounded a clear and urgent warning about artificial intelligence, asking leaders in Rome a question that now hangs over our entire civilization: What does it mean to be human in this moment of history? 

He reminded the world that our dignity does not lie in processing data faster than a machine, but in our ability to reflect, to choose freely, to love without conditions, and to enter into real, living relationships.

At St. Joseph Academy, we are intentionally choosing a path that protects and nourishes that dignity:

• Phones are banned so that faces, not screens, remain at the center of our school day.
• Children play outdoors, sing real hymns, and serve real people—not virtual avatars.
• Socratic seminars, memorization, and collaborative projects require students to think, argue, and create for themselves.
• Small classes and personal mentorship ensure that no child is ever reduced to a “data point.”
• Daily prayer, weekly Mass, retreats, and time in silence before the Blessed Sacrament open hearts to wonder and to God.

In an AI age that can produce brilliant but hollow men and women, we are working with you to raise young people who know how to think without a search engine, to love without a filter, and to wonder without a simulation. Even if every server on earth went dark tomorrow, our graduates would still know who they are and how to live with courage, joy, and generosity.