In this episode of Catholic Futurist, host Benjamin Crockett sits down with Fr. Michael Baggot, LC (Assistant Professor, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum) to explore one of the most pressing questions of our time: Can AI ever truly understand us?

From “digital companions” that imitate empathy to chatbots designed to fill emotional gaps, Fr. Baggot unpacks the rise of artificial intimacy—and the loneliness it both exposes and deepens. Together they discuss why technology can mimic attention but never suffer with us, how the Church can guide authentic human connection in a disembodied world, and why our capacity for love, compassion, and relationship must remain at the center of the AI age.

• Why Catholic AI Matters
• The Moral Status of AI
• Dangers of Artificial Intimacy
• AI and Future Unemployment
• Hopes for Catholic AI
• AI's "No-Fly Zones"