Five Swiss Churches and Church Bodies Publish Ten Joint Guidelines on Artificial Intelligence
Five Christian churches and church associations in Switzerland have jointly published ten ethical guidelines for the responsible use of artificial intelligence, the Protestant Church in Switzerland (EKS) announced in Bern on October 12. The document, titled “Menschlichkeit im digitalen Zeitalter” (Humanity in the Digital Age), comes from the EKS, the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, the free-church umbrella body Freikirchen.ch, the Christ Catholic Church of Switzerland and the Swiss Evangelical Alliance.
Its common yardstick is human dignity. People are persons, the churches write, created and addressed by God, and technical possibilities must be judged by whether they serve the wellbeing of people and the world around them. The ten principles state that humans are different from machines, that relationships depend on embodied experience, that personal formation cannot be delegated and that technology does not write history. They add that truth requires checking and transparency, participation must be protected, people are more than their data, ecological responsibility applies in the digital world too, digital power needs limits and shared access, and society shapes the AI revolution together.
What it means in practice
The guidelines are aimed at church institutions, parishes and charities, but the signatories also present them as a contribution to the wider debate about who decides, whom people can trust and where a human must stay accountable. Peter Schneeberger, president of Freikirchen.ch, noted that congregations already use AI for translation, administration and communication. Bishop Frank Bangerter of the Christ Catholic Church said AI must not benefit only those who already hold power. EKS president Rita Famos welcomed the fact that five churches and associations are speaking with one voice, and Bishop Charles Morerod, president of the Bishops’ Conference, said that talking about AI always means talking about people as well.
The text adds a civil-society voice to a Swiss debate that has so far centred on Bern, where a new parliamentary AI group has formed and the Federal Council has named five priority areas for AI in the administration. It also sits alongside academic discussion such as the ETH AI policy summit held under Council of Europe auspices.
What to watch: the ecumenical conference “Ghost in the machine” on October 20, where the guidelines will be presented in depth, and whether parishes turn the principles into concrete rules for their own AI use. The full text is published at menschlichkeit-digital.ch.