Inspired by Saint Carlo Acutis, the Italian millennial known for using the internet to evangelize, two young Catholic brothers, Peter and Thomas Cooney, have developed “Acutis AI.” The newly launched platform is designed to harness artificial intelligence to support education, human dignity, and Catholic teaching, offering a faith-based alternative to mainstream AI tools.
The idea for Acutis AI emerged when the co-founders noticed that popular platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude often provided responses on moral, ethical, and theological topics that conflicted with Catholic doctrine. Co-founder Peter Cooney highlighted that while mature adults might recognize these discrepancies, younger users seeking guidance on complex moral issues or fundamental questions of faith might be led astray by generic or secular answers.
To address this gap, Acutis AI relies on a curated library of primary Catholic sources. By embedding documents such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica, papal encyclicals, and official Church texts, the system grounds its responses in established Catholic doctrine and explicitly cites its sources rather than drawing from unverified internet data.
Despite its capabilities, the creators emphasize that the technology is strictly a tool and not a substitute for pastoral care or genuine human connection. Cooney stressed that while the AI can process information dynamically, it remains a machine driven by algorithms and cannot replace spiritual direction, personal relationships, or community within the Church.